Chattanooga: Plunging into 2009

Some people will do just about anything for bragging rights.

While most of the city was still sleeping off their late-night partying, a group of die-hard scuba divers donned hooded wet suits and welcomed the new year with an icy dive in the Tennessee River.

“They’re crazy, but you know, my husband wouldn’t stop grinning all morning,” said Mendy Rosen, whose husband, Richard, joined members of the Chattanooga Underwater Divers Association for the first time Thursday morning.

For the past eight years the divers have braved the frigid waters for the short swim between the Walnut and Market street bridges. The first year the group showed up on the river bank at midnight, but quickly decided it was far too cold, so they came back nine hours later, and the tradition stuck.

“It’s just something to get the new year off to a good start,” said Bob Weaver, manager of Leisure Time Dive and Ski Center on Brainerd Road.

But even Mr. Weaver, a veteran New Year’s Day diver, began having second-thoughts Thursday as he stepped off the kayak launch on the outskirts of Coolidge Park and into the river.

“Hey, you know what? I changed my mind,” he said, laughing. “It’s going to take six hours for me to get the feeling back in my hands.”

But with an outside temperature just barely at freezing, and water temperature in the upper 40s, sometimes it feels better to be in the water than standing on the bank, Mr. Weaver said.

During the course of their annual excursion, the divers have found all manner of treasures on the riverbed, including a partial set of dentures, a toilet, boat anchors and a figurine of a Dutch girl. But the current was too swift this time around, so the only loot the group collected were two golf balls and a corroded cell phone.

Despite the low visibility on a dive he considered much too short, first-timer Mr. Rosen said he’d do the New Year’s Day dive again “in a heartbeat.” Next year’s swim may even be a family event as Mrs. Rosen and their daughter, Laura, hope to have their scuba license.

“I’m brave,” said 9-year-old Laura. “I take after my daddy.”