They came, they plunged, they shivered at the annual midwinter swim at Whanganui's Castlecliff Beach yesterday.
And while we're only a couple of days shy of the shortest day of the year, the weather was quite benign. Apart from a blustery wind, conditions were certainly not arctic-like. The More FM Polar Plunge started with about 100 brave swimmers from in front of the surf club pavilion.
Swimmers were confined to a small section of the beach under the watchful eye of a couple of surf lifesavers who made sure no one went out further than waist-deep into pretty turbulent surf.
Participants were encouraged to dress up and there were prizes for the best and wackiest costumes.
There were more than $400 worth of prizes given away thanks to the generosity of local businesses.