Hitting your thumb with a hammer is painful, we can agree on that. But cold water isn't sore. It may give you a shock, but that's all, you immediately become used to it. There's no reason to dislike it at all.
As for it being dangerous, I know that to be nonsense, there's an assault course in the UK called "Tough Guy" in Wolverhampton, England. 4000 people a year (myself included several times) enter it, and I've seen for myself the kind of people that enter it. Most are not athletes or particularly fit. They're just everyday people doing it for a laugh or a dare. The assault course involves jumping into ice cold water many times and swimming or wading through it up to your neck for several minutes each time (along with some running and climbing aswell). The whole race lasts for most people about 1.5 to 3 hours. Many people do it shirtless, or in bikinis, or silly costumes, or shorts and tshirt, some even barefoot. In the few decades it has run, there has been only one fatality, somebody with a pre-existing heart condition, and that was over exertion, not cold. The other 4000 times 30 years of people were fine (except for a broken leg and a broken neck, but that's nothing to do with the cold).