Hundreds take plunge into 2017

Nate Smallwood
Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017 2:06 p.m. | Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017 2:06 p.m.

Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review

Participants in the Polar Bear Jump leap into the waters of the Monongahela River on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017.

Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review

Participants in the Polar Bear Jump leap in and climb out of the waters of the Monongahela River on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017.

Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review

Participants in the Polar Bear Jump wait to jump into the waters of the Monongahela River on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017.

Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review

A book is placed on a table for participants to sign after doing the Polar Bear Jump on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017.

Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review

A City of Pittsburgh River Rescue boat keeps an eye on the jumpers during the Polar Bear Jump on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017.

Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review

Participants in the Polar Bear Jump wait to jump into the waters of the Monongahela River on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017.

Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review

Tom Durkin, 52, of Mt. Lebanon, jumps into the water of the Monongahela River while participating in the Polar Bear Jump on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017.

Five-hundred people on Sunday flocked to the Mon Wharf in Downtown Pittsburgh to leap into the new year as part of the annual Polar Bear Jump.

Some wore costumes, others swimming attire. But all took the jump into the Monongahela River.

At exactly 9:30 a.m., participants started leaping into the cold water, and shouts of “Happy New Year!” rang out among exclamations of just how cold the water was.

“It's not that bad now,” Tom Durkin, 52, of Mt. Lebanon, said with a towel draped around himself as he dried off. Durkin, who had wanted to do the jump for years, took the plunge Sunday for the first time.

Some were in the water for a few seconds, while others swam and waded to the shock of the bundled-up onlookers.

Nate Smallwood is a Tribune-Review photographer. Reach him at nsmallwood@tribweb.com.