On February first 2009 the 18th annual Polar Bear Plunge held to benefit Delaware Special Olympics went off without a hitch. I’m not sure what the official count was but there were thousands of people in attendance and hundreds if not more “Plungers”
The water temperature was a chilly 37 degrees while the air temp was only slightly warmer at 55 degrees.
The State Governor and Miss Delaware were in attendance.
This year’s plunge raised $490,000
Why it’s called the Lewes Polar Bear Plunge but held in Rehoboth is a mystery to me but I’m sure there is a reason for it.
The Lewes Fire/Rescue team put on a great show with their water cannons and kept an eye out for swimmers who could be overcome by the surf or the cold temperatures. I saw at least two members of the fire /rescue team in dry suits monitoring the plungers activities from the frigid waters.
I personally shot an hour of video footage of the event that I will post as soon as I find time to edit it and I’ve got hundreds of photos that I will be uploading to flickr.
Sounds so cool… or should I say… COLD!
Polar bears should be hibernating this time of year and not shivering in the icy waters of the Atlantic. Brrrrr!!!
Wow… some folks are just fearless!!!!
I’m sorry, that looks far to cold to be fun, but who am I to question tradition!
To think it looks like such a nice warm day in those photos. I can handle a quick 20 second blast of cold water but to actually jump in BRRR!
Nice Job. Like it.