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Puddle Jump 2022

An annual Bates ritual returns in all its glory

By Bates College

February 18^th, 2022

And, We're Back!

Among the lessons of the pandemic is how quickly our important tradition and rituals, big and small, can be disrupted. No wonder that the return of the Puddle Jump, after a year’s hiatus due to the pandemic, was met with such unbounded glee on Friday, Feb. 11, 2022.

In fact, besides sports, this year’s Puddle Jump was the college's first large, fully unmasked campus event since, well, the last Puddle Jump, when the pandemic was just a wispy cloud on the horizon — how great to see all those faces!

Established 47 years ago, the event is overseen by the Bates Outing Club as part of Winter Carnival. The Puddle Jump, in the words of one of its founders, represents a chance for “exuberance” in winter.

You’ll find that emotion on full display — plus delight, surprise, and joy — as you view some unforgettable moments below.

Puddle Jump 2022

Approach

A parade of participants walk on ice as they approach the carefully crafted square hole in the ice. The numbers:

Hole dimension: 13 feet by 13 feet
Cutting tool: 20-inch Makita chainsaw, handled by Jack Fruechte ’22 of Minneapolis
Temperature: 43 degrees
Wind direction and speed: South at 15mph
Ice thickness: 6 inches, topped by another 6 inches of crusty snow

Puddle Jump 2022

Restless Spirits

“A number of small but restless spirits took every chance of getting a licking and their death of cold and went swimming in frigid waters of the James River.” — Jamestown Weekly Alert, May 31, 1888

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Jump

The leaping begins. The Scottish poet Robert Burns said, “Oh, would some Power give us the gift; To see ourselves as others see us!” If these students had the power to know how we see them, they’d know that we think they’re awesome.

Puddle Jump 2022

33 to Five

“Five Fremont youths, in order to retain their membership in the Twelve Months club, for those who have taken a swim in an outdoor body of water monthly since last August, splashed down a narrow lane of water fringed with ice 14 inches thick. The club had an original membership of 33.” — Nebraska State Journal, Jan. 9, 1928

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Character Driven

“Frankly, I loathe it. But it’s good for my character.” — Eleanor Roosevelt, on her daily swim at Campobello, Republican and Herald, Pottsville, Pa., May 25, 1963

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Breathe

Mid-dip, jumpers manage their response to the cold.

Puddle Jump 2022

Something About Elizabeth

“There is something exhilarating about a swim in cold water.” — Elizabeth Peters, age 20, quoted in The New York World, Dec. 28, 1898, about swimming in the Hudson River near the George Washington Bridge

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Gasp

Post-jump moments: out of the water, and into the cold air!

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Tonic Water

“The tonic and reviving qualities of cold water are of the most remarkable character!” — The Science of Swimming, 1849

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Applaud

J.T. Tangishaka ‘25 (center) of Goodyear, Ariz., and Davonte Fuentes ’25 (right) of Brooklyn, N.Y., spent hours, on ice, greeting fellow Bobcats with enthusiastic high fives.

Puddle Jump 2022

Chill Out

“The Eskimo Club members firmly believe in the health-giving benefits of swimming in frigid waters, the very thought of which strikes chills to the hearts of most people.” — The Journal of Meriden, Conn., Feb. 22, 1936

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Warm Up

Facility services built a full-bodied bonfire to warm post-dip jumpers.

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Peaceful Easy Feeling

“The heart rate accelerates, and after the rush of endorphins, there’s a peaceful feeling.” — The Finnish Way, describing the benefits of winter swimming, or avanto, Finnish for “hole in the ice”

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Huddle

Friends grab each other for additional warmth as they conclude the Puddle Jump experience.

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Young, Not Younger

“I’m trying to stay young, not get younger.” — Mary Velkovitch, age 65, on her regular winter swims off Coney Island, The Daily Item, Dec. 28, 1990

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Slowly, they jumped

Watch a video of the Puddle Jump by Multimedia Producer Theophil Sylso.

Footnotes

Produced by the Bates Communications Office , with photography by Anna Gouvia ‘22 and Phyllis Graber Jensen, video by Theophil Syslo, and text by H. Jay Burns.

FootNotes

Produced by the Bates Communications Office , with photography by Anna Gouvia ‘22 and Phyllis Graber Jensen, video by Theophil Syslo, and text by H. Jay Burns.

© 2026 Bates College

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