Cold freezes out town Polar Plunge

BY CAMERYN OAKES

Participants in the Polar Plunge expect to get cold – they quite literally sign up to subject themselves to freezing cold waters for the purpose of raising money for the Special Olympics New York. But ironically enough, the North Hempstead plunge scheduled Feb. 4 was canceled because it was too cold.

“It’s the winter,” Bayside resident and plunge participant Jamey Kohn said jokingly to his friends. “It’s supposed to be cold.”

But it wasn’t just cold. Director of Development for Special Olympics New York Rebecca Hoffmann said it would have been “completely fine” if it was just really cold, but it was the negative windchill at North Hempstead Beach Park in Port Washington that made the plunge there no longer safe.

“It is a polar plunge so you’re supposed to be cold, but safety does come first,” Hoffman said. “It was a hard decision, but we knew it was the right decision.” water would have been about 40 degrees, Hoffman said that upon exiting the water attendees would be subjected to hypothermia.

Plungers included Special Olympic athletes and Hoffmann said it would have been dangerous for them due to their health issues.

The event also included a celebration on the shores beforehand with awards and sponsors present. It was decided that even the pre-plunge activities were not safe as attendees were vulnerable to frostbite if they were simply outside for more than 15 minutes.

But Kohn, who is the executive director of Temple Israel of Great Neck, is not afraid of extreme activities paired with extreme temperatures. While this would have been his first Polar Plunge, Kohn has participated in ultra-marathons, one of which was a 100-mile race in Buffalo two years ago in February. He said the temperatures ranged from 7-30 degrees during the 27-½-hour race, with his water bottle freezing after the first 30 minutes.

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She added that they were monitoring the weather with the town of North Hempstead and the Port Washington Fire Dept. in the week leading up to the event and were hopeful the plunge could still happen. As they got closer to the 24hour mark, the temperature continued to drop and Friday afternoon they made the decision to cancel the event.

The Polar Plunge involves participants jumping into freezing cold waters, so even though the

While Kohn was not fazed by the cold weather the morning of the plunge, he said even going on a nine-mile run at 6 a.m. that day, his disappointment in the plunge’s cancelation was coupled with an understanding of the risks at hand.

“Would I have done [the Polar Plunge] anyway?” Kohn asked. “I still would have tried it despite the temps, but I understand. It’s a dangerous situation. The water is a scary place for people — even more so in less extreme temperatures.”