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Hamilton polar dippers make a splash on New Years Day [Video]

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Sean Bodkin emerges from his annual Lake Ontario polar dip on the Hamilton beachfront Jan. 1.

Matthew Van Dongen photo

A blue-painted, kilt-wearing Bill Themeles rushed into the frigid embrace of Lake Ontario with sword in hand to celebrate his 25th annual polar plunge on New Year’s Day.

Actually, that’s pretty much what the “Braveheart”-inspired polar dipper does every year on Jan. 1 — but this time, he wrote the year across his chest in marker to make sure he can differentiate anniversary photos from more than two decades of similarly icy dips.

Matthew Van Dongen is a reporter with the Hamilton Spectatorspecializing in transportation and the environment. Reach him atmvandongen@thespec.com.

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