A man in a penguin suit, two scantily clad OU police officers and girls in wet suits plunged into Dow Lake on Saturday along with 62 other participants in an effort to raise money for Special Olympics.
Phi Kappa Theta, in conjunction with Special Olympics Ohio, held the first Freezin’ for a Reason Polar Bear Plunge Saturday at Strouds Run State Park.
Participants collected pledges, raising $8,267, to benefit Special Olympics, said Jeff Madachy, a junior and philanthropy chair for Phi Kappa Theta who headed the event.
The Ohio University Police Department helped organize and sponsor the event. Members of Delta Zeta and the women’s club soccer team also participated.
The day was sunny and though part of the lake was still frozen over, participants said they were in good spirits.
Plungers slid down a muddy hill on their bellies to pass the time before the plunge at 1:30 p.m.
When it came time to jump in the lake, they ran into the water and then back out amid screams and laughs.
Emily Hutzel, a member of Delta Zeta, said she was happy with how the plunge went, though she said her feet and hands were numb.
Hutzel and other Delta Zeta members said on a coldness scale of one to 10, the water temperature in Dow Lake was an 11.
All the plungers received long sleeve T-shirts and free wings at BW3’s following the event, as well as other prizes for those who raised above the required $50 in donations. There were also prizes given out for best individual costume and best group costume.
Madachy entered the costume contest wearing a furry pink robe and a cowboy hat, but his fellow fraternity member Matt McCurley received the best individual costume award for his penguin outfit.
Sgt. John Stabler and Lt. Steve Noftz of OUPD won the group costume prize in partial uniform, substituting Speedos and cut off shorts for pants.
Madachy said he was very pleased with how the event turned out, and plans to make the Polar Bear Plunge an annual event.
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