By Omar Younis
SANTA MONICA, California (Reuters) -Forget the beach or the bar. Californians are looking for love in a new place -- near-freezing ice baths.
Just outside Los Angeles in the coastal city of Santa Monica, single people have stripped down to swim trunks and bikinis for speed dating in a pool of frigid water.
Called Icebreakers, the event is designed to get conversations flowing. After a meditation and musical "sound journey" session, attendees are paired up at random to plunge into a tub of water set at 37 degrees Fahrenheit (2.78°C).
Employees provide waterproof cards with questions such as, "What does love mean to you?" for bathers to discuss while neck-deep in water during their three-minute sessions.
"At first it was hard to kind of focus in on what the question was because you're focused on how cold you are," said Caitlyn Moyer, a 25-year-old dancer, after she emerged from the water during a recent Icebreakers event.
"But then," she said, "we kind of locked eyes and just kind of focused in on how we were both feeling, and then it was easy."
Her bathing partner, 27-year-old engineer Miles Gibson, said it was "nice to have someone in there with me to kind of support me" while acclimating to the temperature.
Gibson said he attended the event to "show up as my authentic self and be open to whatever was sort of there for me. ... Not necessarily looking for love, but open to receiving whatever feels right."
The concept was created by Kyle Cassidy and his business partner Aryan Davani, co-founders of IcePass, a Venice Beach company that offers ice bath plunges and saunas. Ice baths have become popular among athletes, who say cold water helps relieve muscle soreness and speed recovery.
IcePass has held three speed dating events so far, each drawing roughly 30 to 40 people. Seven couples have gone on second dates and three are still together, according to Cassidy, who urged bathers to enjoy the experience as they seek a partner.
"If you're forcing it into existence, a lot of times you're pushing it away," Cassidy said. "The goal is to come here to just connect, and if love sparks, that's pretty special."
Whitney Hancock, a 36-year-old mental health worker, shared an ice bath with 39-year-old video producer Dustin Steward.
"I was surprised at how present that we could actually be with each other," Hancock said, "and how kind he was, even though we were both in, like, pain."