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Image courtesy eternalimage.net

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Sunday, February 24, 2008
BY SHARON ADARLO
Star-Ledger Staff

Minutes before the icy plunge yesterday, the massive crowd of swimmers was getting restless. They whooped. They hollered. They pumped their fists in the cold air.

Then on signal, they stampeded across the sand and leapt headlong into a wall of razor-cold water. And BRRRR, many ran back for a towel and clothes. Dressed in nothing but a pair of swim trunks for his swim at Seaside Heights, all that Eric Kish could muster was a teeth-chattering smile and, “It’s cold!”

Kish, 23, joined some 2,500 swimmers who braved the weather to take part in the 15th annual Polar Bear Plunge, benefiting New Jersey Special Olympic athletes such as Kish himself.

Wrapped in a large towel, the Spotswood resident, who has Down syndrome, posed for pictures and gave high-fives to people who recognized him from past Polar Bear events. Yesterday was his 11th plunge.

“It’s really good they come up and swim for the Special Olympics,” said his mother, Pam Kish, as she wiped his head and dried his red face. “They’re always supportive of Eric.”

The swim drew people from more than a dozen states and raked in about $800,000 for Special Olympics New Jersey, according to organizers.  The oldest swimmer was an 86-year-old man from Toms River, and the youngest was a 3-year-old boy from Maryland, organizers said. Also among the participants were many police officers from departments across the state.

“It floors me that so many officers of New Jersey have this passion and dedication,” said Andy Johnson, one of the organizers. “They love the athletes. It’s just amazing.”

So was the water temperature: a cool 38 to 39 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.The event hit close to home for Johnson, who has an autistic 5-year-old daughter, Alexis. She is part of the Special Olympics’ young athletes program, where children learn to use coordination and social skills.

“It’s easy for me to be passionate about it, but to see them out there — it floors me,” Andy Johnson said. Currently, there are around 16,000 athletes in the Special Olympics program with 20,000 volunteers. Athletes compete year-round in 23 different sports from baseball to tennis, according to organizers.

The annual icy plunge began when organizers thought the challenge would attract more people than a typical fundraiser, Johnson said. It started with 85 swimmers who raised $22,000 in the first year and took off from there.

Team Jager Bomber, a group made up of 20 police officers and firefighters in Union County, raised more than $5,000 this year, and organizers said they hope to draw more participants and raise more money next year.

“It’s a great way to do some charity,” said a shivering Dave Krill, a Union County sheriff’s officer.
It was also a good excuse to wear silly hats. Krill wore a horned Viking helmet because it seemed appropriate to the weather, said his pal, Sal Valentino, a Union Township police officer.

“We’re wacky, crazy guys,” Valentino said. “Vikings go with the cold.”

Other swimmers wore inflatable gear, floppy Lady Liberty visors and the odd intergalactic space helmet.

“We always do community service projects such as collecting canned food or Toys for Tots,” he said.

One of the biggest groups at the swim were the correction officers at the PBA Local No. 105, based at the East Jersey State Prison in the Avenel section of Woodbridge. About 200 people from the union took the plunge, said Chris Hoff, a senior corrections officer at the prison. They raised around $20,000.

It was a good cause, Hoff said. And maybe a way to test yourself.  “Pain is weakness leaving the body,” he said about his chilly swim.

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Click here for the full article, video clip & interview with writer/director J.G. Birdsall

Official Venus Rises web site