He’s freezing the day!
A Brooklyn mannequin has spent almost each morning with a bone-chilling dip within the icy waters of Coney Island for many years — and this weekend’s monster Winter Storm Fern wasn’t altering his plans.
Stephen Niese, of Flatbush, wore nothing however his swim trunks when he swam his regular 100 yards alongside the enduring shoreline, the place the blistering 36-degree water temperatures have been paired with a 22-degree wind chill forward of this weekend’s snowstorm.
“It’s like a rush. You’re feeling superhuman after you come out of the chilly,” Niese, 62, informed The Put up after what he known as a calming dip.
The swim was on the simpler aspect for Niese, who has confronted way more intense temperatures — together with on Wednesday, when not even a brutal unfavorable 2-degree windchill and ice-covered rocks may cease him.
It did, nonetheless, take him greater than the standard two hours to get the sensation again in his toes.
The mannequin — who has a number of TV credit to his identify — has been doing his year-round, each day dunks at Coney Island for a decade, preceded by one other two at Rockaway and Atlantic seashores for each the bodily and psychological well being advantages.
The roughly 100-yard swim between the 2 jetties in entrance of the Coney Island amphitheater is much like the more-popular ice baths, with Niese saying it offers his immune system a lift and stops irritation.
It’s additionally meditative — the self-described “King of Coney Island” spends two hours earlier than his swim beachcombing for seashells, coral and seaside glass, and tries to solely give attention to the open blue sky above him as he backstrokes by means of the waves.
“It clears your thoughts,” Niese defined, including that he loves “the liberty of it.”
“How will you not push your self while you’re wholesome?”
Plus, he’s had some unimaginable experiences — just a few weeks in the past, a small seal popped up beside him and floated close by for his whole swim.
That’s to not say there aren’t days Niese wonders: “What the hell am I doing?” — regardless that his Wisconsin roots might have him primed to resist the temperatures.
Final yr, the mannequin almost received frostbite from strolling barefoot by means of the 4-inches of snow that blanketed the seaside, and he nonetheless says a prayer each time he dives below the primary wave.
“It’s important to make your self do belongings you don’t need to do. Most individuals have a snug life and while you’re comfy on a regular basis, you don’t know what it’s wish to really feel uncomfortable. You get settled in a sure life, so it’s good to push your self slightly bit,” Niese stated.
“It’s good simply to do one thing out of your realm.”
The Brooklynite started posting his each day dunks on TikTok final yr in hopes of boosting his skilled profession, however as a substitute slowly started choosing up a loyal fanbase who’re amazed at this willpower.
He additionally will get loads of real-life gawkers who take their very own movies, and a few who strategy him to inform him how loopy they suppose he’s.
However Niese loves the fun and gained’t let something stand in his method — at the same time as forecasters predict that the fast-approaching monster winter storm may batter town with as much as 18 inches of snow by means of Monday.
“I actually don’t need to do it, however I’ll in all probability come out and do it,” Niese stated, relenting that he’ll change his swimming location to 1 with a shorter stroll to the bogs to chop out the time within the wind.
“I’m not going to kill myself!”
