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Comox Valley, B.C., resident Leasha MacLennan doesn’t need a coffee to wake up in the morning — she has found a different way.
“I just started getting up in the morning and forcing myself in the water every day,” she told Global News.No matter the weather — it could be warm, cold or icy — MacLennan hasn’t missed a morning dip for more than three years.“I’m allowed to say no,” she said. “I’m allowed to say, ‘OK, not today,’ if it’s too cold, too dangerous, too whatever.”But so far, that hasn’t happened.
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MacLennan has been doing this morning ritual for 1,293 days and counting.Mostly she will take a dip in the Oyster River but she has also taken a dip in the ocean, river and various lakes. “We bring spouses, we bring warm clothes, we bring fire, food,” MacLennan said.“But you really have to be aware of what’s going on around you and keep yourself safe.”
Despite the cold temperatures B.C. has been experiencing lately, MacLennan said she continues to perform her morning ritual because it makes her body feel great and wakes her up.“You’re like, ‘Cool, that didn’t kill me,’ and you kind of just have this new lease on life,” she said.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
