WASHINGTON — Imagine jumping into the Chesapeake Bay every hour for 24-hours in the dead of winter. That’s what the Super (Polar Bear) Plungers were doing. Around 9 a.m. on Saturday at Sandy Point State Park, they took their final frigid dip in the bay.
“Not a better feeling in the world. The next best feeling is going to be getting a hot shower,” says Hyattsville Police Chief Doug Holland. But he also has a different title which he like a lot.
“I’m Desi’s (Desiree) dad. Desi is a Special Olympics Athlete, Super Plunger and I just have the honor of being her dad,” he says.
Adam Hays was also on the beach Saturday, dressed in Hawaii-style shorts.
“I’m in my shorts because I’m jumping in 24 times in 24 hours,” he explained.
Hays, a Maryland Special Olympic athlete, was one of about 40 Super Plungers. Ten were special athletes.
“It’s freezing but you don’t really seem to feel it until you run out of the water. It wakes you up but I love doing it,” Hays says. When asked, he enjoys talking about his two gold medals he won in June at Special Olympics USA, held in New Jersey.
Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman came back for a second year to do the Super Plunge.
“Because Olympics does so much for some many individuals in our state and especially in my county as well. When I think about those folks and what they do with them, the least I can do is jump in the water 24 times to help them out,” Kittleman says.
The Super Plungers raised around $340,000 for Maryland Special Olympics. But of course, the main event on Saturday was the “Polar Plunge,” with about 7,000 people expected to jump into the frigid bay.
This was the 19th year Maryland State Police hosted the Polar Bear Plunge & Plungefest, which benefits Special Olympics Maryland. Jim Schmutz, president and CEO of Special Olympics Maryland, says this year’s annual plunge total is short of the $2.5 million goal.
He says the mission behind Special Olympics is to transform the lives of adults and kids with disabilities.
“The athletes participate at no cost,” Schmutz says. But in Maryland there are only 6,973 special athletes, even though, he says, there are 115,000 people with intellectual disabilities. Schmutz says he knows not everyone will do a sport, but says they have to reach out and recruit more athletes.
Schmutz says the Polar Plunge is a great event to raise awareness and funds for Special Olympics.
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