After three years, the annual Special Olympics Polar Bear Plunge has finally made its home at Marina Park.
The ice dip into Lake Superior hasn’t stayed at a single location since it started. The first plunge was held at Lakeview Lodge and then moved to the Neebing-McIntyre Floodway last year. Once the Marina opened in December, the event was ready to make the docks its home.
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Event Coordinator Warren Geirtuga said they had always planned to have Marina Park be the home for the event but had to wait until construction was finished. With about 80 registered participants, he said it’s the biggest plunge they have ever had.
“It’s become more of a community event down here than in a more isolated area,” Geirtuga said. “It’s great venue with great access. People want to come down and see the area. Our plan is to keep (the event) here. We have this at various locations but our ultimate goal was to get it to the Marina.”
He added he hoped the event will raise $25,000 for the Special Olympics.
Participants had the choice of either walking into the partially iced up Lake Superior or take the true plunge and jump from the dock. Divers were on hand to give swimmers some help back to shore.
Kevin Jollow, a first year civil engineering student at Lakehead University, decided to cannonball into the icy waters. The 21-year-old, who raised $100, said he figured if he was going to go in, he may as well have some fun.
“It wasn’t that bad,” Jollow said afterwards. “It was definitely a shock to the system. I got prepared by taking my shoes off and just standing around in shorts and t-shirt for a while to get the chill of the air before taking the plunge.”
Seeing Jollow jump into the waters, his friends were inspired to take the plunge next year. Jollow said he`ll be right there with them.
Katie Ashworth and Megan Sartoretto went into the water as a team. Together they raised $520.
The pair, who are from Toronto, said they’ve never done anything like this and there wasn’t anything like this in their hometown.
“The worst part was the beginning,” Ashworth said. “It got warming toward the end. It’s for a good cause and it’s fun to do each year. It’s our first year starting but we`ll keep doing it.”
