Image: polar bear dip

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Swimmers Start New Year With Icy Plunges

Brave souls around the world plunged into frigid waters to kick off the new year on Sunday.

 / Updated 8 PHOTOS
Image: New Year's Eve celebration in Scheveningen

Netherlands

Bathers in nurse outfits return to the beach during the Nieuwjaarsduik, or New Year's Dive, in Scheveningen.

— Bart Maat / EPA
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Image: polar bear dip

Canada

Revelers brave pack ice as they participate in the annual New Year's Day polar bear dip in Charlottetown Harbour on Prince Edward Island. High winds pushed the ice against the shore, forcing swimmers to improvise.

— Andrew Vaughan / Canadian Press via AP
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Image: A man dressed as Santa Claus participates in the annual Polar Bear Plunge in Coney Island in the Brooklyn Borough of New York City

New York

A man dressed as Santa Claus participates in the annual Polar Bear Plunge in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

— Stephanie Keith / Reuters
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Image: New Year's Day Swim in Berlin

Germany

Swimmers with the Berlin Sea Dogs hold sheets of ice in their hands during a New Year's Day dip in Berlin's Lake Orankesee.

— Clemens Bilan / EPA
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Image: Revellers take part in New Year's Jump into the Sea in Portoroz

Slovenia

Revellers jump into the sea in Portoroz.

— Srdjan Zivulovic / Reuters
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Image: New Year celebration in Gdansk

Poland

A group of New Year's Day swimmers stands together in the Baltic Sea in Gdansk.

— Adam Warzawa / EPA
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Image: SPAIN-SWIMMING-NEW-YEAR-CELEBRATIONS

Spain

A large crowd enters the water at Sant Sebastia beach in Barcelona.

— Pau Barrena / AFP - Getty Images
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Image: Revellers take part in a New Year's dive in Ostend

Belgium

Revellers take part in a New Year's dive in Ostend on the North Sea coast.

PHOTOS: New Year's Eve Celebrations Around the World

— ERIC VIDAL / Reuters
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