Grown men in Speedos and thongs were ringing in the New Year with uppercuts and haymakers at Vancouver’s 89th annual Polar Bear swim Thursday.
The donnybrook heated up as hundreds of scantily clad brave souls waited to take the plunge into the frigid waters of English Bay.
On video captured by 24 hours, the melee appeared to break out between two combatants – one adorned in a pink boa and the other in red tights and wrestling mask – and spread to a battle between a man in a clown suit trading punches with another in red Speedos. Another man in a gold one-piece body suit, precariously hiked up his backside, can be seen exchanging blows with the clown on a YouTube version of the brouhaha.
Police broke up the incident and said charges aren’t expected.
“If there’s no weapon… we’ll break it up and send everyone on their way,” said Vancouver Police Department spokesperson Jana McGuiness.
