Coney Island swimmers prep for New Year’s Day polar bear plunge

In what may be the most bracing way to usher in the new year, brave swimmers looking to take a frigid dip in the arctic waters of the North Atlantic will again flock to Coney Island tomorrow for the polar bear plunge — alongside a mammoth crowd of onlookers and well-wishers who will root them on from the beach.

The 120-year-old Coney Island Polar Bear Club is hosting the annual event, which kicks off at about 10 a.m. on New Year’s Day.

But some had already taken to the beach on Sunday to prepare for tomorrow’s glacial duties — and they weren’t disappointed.

“The water had a bite to it,” club member Amr Elghaziri told The Post, in a comment that could be in the running for understatement of the year.

His friend, Jarred Lustgarten, was even more succinct when he told The Post that the water was “f—ing cold” as he toweled himself off after a test run.

The official after-party will be at the ongoing “Frost Fest” at Coney Island’s iconic Luna Park, which will keep its rides moving and its lights lit during the event.

“We’re super excited!” Priscilla Santos, head of the Coney Island Sharks, told The Post as she rallied children to the park’s gates Sunday.

“We love the year-round aspect of it,” she said of Frost Fest. “It can be desolate out here off-season.”

Luna Park staffers said all hands will be on-deck tomorrow to work the seasonal swimming spectacle.

David Brown watched the Sunday swimmers from the shore with a bit of apprehension — he’ll be hopping into the cold surf tomorrow for the first time, he told The Post.

“I’ve heard it’s good for the brain and resets the immune system, but those are not the reasons,” Brown said. “I’m going through a midlife crisis and want to do something insane.”

Of course, he doesn’t want to get too insane. He’ll be out of the water as quick as he got in.

“In and out,” he said.