The Brighton Beach Icebreakers are famous for one thing: walking into the Atlantic in January, on purpose, in bathing suits, while spectators in parkas film them. Less known is that the club never actually stops. Every Wednesday at 7 a.m., all year, a dozen or more members meet at the foot of Brighton 4th Street and swim, even now, when the ocean is a forgiving 74 degrees.

"People think summer is our off-season," said Ludmila Portnoy, 58, the club's president, toweling off after Wednesday's swim. "Summer is training. You cannot decide to be brave in January. You have to be in the habit of showing up."

The club, founded in 1981 by a group of Odessa-born regulars from the boardwalk chess tables, counts 63 dues-paying members and one unofficial mascot, a herring gull the swimmers call Boris who has learned the schedule. Dues are $20 a year and are spent, in their entirety, on the January 1 pot of coffee.

Summer swims have a softer character: longer distances, more conversation, the occasional interloper. Newcomers are welcome any Wednesday, no polar credentials required. "Everyone starts in August," Portnoy said, looking out at the flat morning water. "August is the door. January is just what's on the other side of it."