Cold water swimmers

December 13, 2022 3:55 pm • Last Updated: December 13, 2022 3:56 pm

By Sarah Gordon
Staff Photographer

Friends Brad Guarino, left, and Beto Zuniga, of New London, walk out of the water onto a beach along Pequot Avenue in New London Tuesday, December 13, 2022. The group of friends, sometimes as many as six, started cold water swimming as something to do at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and now swim about three times a week. “Some days we’re in the water for five minutes, some days we swim for half a mile,” said Guarino. “It all depends how you feel when you hit the water.” (Sarah Gordon/The Day)
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Friends Brad Guarino, left, and Beto Zuniga, of New London, talk as they stand in the water along Pequot Avenue in New London Tuesday, December 13, 2022. The group of friends, sometimes as many as six, started cold water swimming as something to do in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and now swim about three times a week. “Some days we’re in the water for five minutes, some days we swim for half a mile,” said Guarino. “It all depends how you feel when you hit the water.” (Sarah Gordon/The Day)
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Anne Bernhard, of New London, walks out of the water after swimming at a beach along Pequot Avenue in New London Tuesday, December 13, 2022. A group of friends, sometime as many as six, started cold water swimming as something to do in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and now swim about three times a week. “Some days we’re in the water for five minutes, some days we swim for half a mile,” said Brad Guarino who also swam. “It all depends how you feel when you hit the water.” (Sarah Gordon/The Day)
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Beto Zuniga, of New London, walks out of the water from a beach along Pequot Avenue in New London after swimming with friends Tuesday, December 13, 2022. The group of friends, sometimes as many as six, started cold water swimming as something to do at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and now swim about three times a week. “Some days we’re in the water for five minutes, some days we swim for half a mile,” said Brad Guarino who also swam. “It all depends how you feel when you hit the water.” (Sarah Gordon/The Day)
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New London – Friends Brad Guarino, Beto Zuniga, and his wife Anne Bernhard, all of New London, swim from the beach along Pequot Avenue in New London Tuesday, December 13, 2022.

The group of friends, sometime as many as six, started cold water swimming as something to do at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and now swim about three times a week. “Some days we’re in the water for five minutes, some days we swim for half a mile,” said Guarino. “It all depends how you feel when you hit the water.”

“I never in a million years thought I’d go in water this cold,” said Bernhard. She started the group with a polar plunge on New Year’s Day in 2021. “I hated it. I was screaming the whole time,” she said of her first time. “But I felt so good after I knew I had to go back.” She said she feels like she’s almost addicted now and when she swims it’s often the best part of her day.

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