Due to the COVID pandemic, there will be no set time for the start of Friday’s annual New Year’s Day run and swim from Mystic to Esker Point Beach in Noank.

People are encouraged to participate individually or in very small groups throughout the day to maintain social distancing. In past years, up to several hundred people have gathered for the event, beginning at the John Kelley statue on West Main Street in downtown Mystic.

Organizers hope that the popular tradition, which dates back to 1969, will resume as a group activity on Jan. 1, 2022.