Nome Polar Bear Swim: midnight sun and freezing water.

• Author: Anderson, Tasha
• Position: ENTERTAINMENT

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Alaskans hit the beach in Nome in a celebration of warmer weather much like those in more southern locations--though, of course, Alaskan swimmers need to watch out for ice. This doesn't dissuade the Nome Polar Bear Swim participants every June as they plunge into the frigid Bering Sea.

Leo Rasmussen, former mayor of Nome, was around for the Swim's creation, though he didn't participate right away: "I wasn't one of them at first, but within a couple years I was one of those crazy people."

He credits an old group of friends with initiating Nome's Polar Bear Swim, with Mike Murphy "putting it all together." Rasmussen says, "I had some friends that were looking for something to add some spice to their lives." They decided that leaping into frozen waters was just that spice, and started doing so in the 1975.

Originally, the plunge was in May, but has been moved to June. "About twenty years ago the Rotary Club took it over...