Most mornings, the Blue Boobies arrive in waves at the Albany Beach parking lot.

Some days, they start as early as 6 a.m., appearing in the dark, attaching themselves to lit buoys and venturing out, barely visible in the predawn light. Then, another wave around 7 a.m., after the sun’s up, and another at 8. This swim group’s name is not only a reference to the blue-footed seabird but also the, well, physiological impact of prolonged cold water exposure to female bodies. It’s also a nod to a U.K.-based open-water swim group called the Bluetit Chill Swimmers, a group that grew out of a pandemic-era shift toward open-water swimming that’s become global and now has chapters around the world.

But you won’t find these swimmers calling themselves polar bear swimmers. That’s for people who swim i

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