"There were a couple of days where I was thinking, 'This may be too much!'"
The typical Polar Bear Plunge usually consist of pale Nordic bodies jumping into some glacial water for charity.
Every New Year’s Day, New Jersey pro surfer Rob Kelly, who is sponsored by Billabong, takes a swim/surf sporting only trunks.
This winter, as a personal challenge and with a level of commitment that rivals Seppuku, Rob decided to dip every day.
Rob surfs when theres swell, swims when it’s flat.
In trunks.
Current NJ ocean water temperatures are hovering around 39 degrees, (4 C) outside air temps averaging 19 degrees or minus seven.
But that don’t stop Kelly.
Neither do blizzards.
The New Jersey coastal cold is a unique beast with its own set of claws that can cleave your insides in two. A simple duck dive, even clad in a five mill suit, can feel like cinder blocks being dragged across your back and will literally take your breath away after resurfacing.
Which is what makes what Rob is doing all the more jaw-dropping.
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Rob told ABC 6 Action News in Philadelphia, “The whole rest of January has been the coldest, snowiest on record. I wanted a challenge, of course, I got one. Be careful what you wish for. There were a couple of days before I went in I was definitely thinking ‘This may be too much.'”
Kelly is no novelty act. You may remember Kelly from last winter where he caught the best faux replica Backdoor barrel Jersey juice is capable of.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Rob Kelly (@robkellysurf)
In classic Jersey form, Rob even gets a chuckle from the camera crew over at ABC Philly at the end of his interview when he highly recommends civilians do not attempt to surf in a blizzard wearing only trunks.