They were splishin’ and a splashin’ at Saturday’s Polar Plunge fundraiser for Special Olympics.
North Bay’s Polar Plunge, supported by the North Bay Police Service was one of 28 plunges held across the province as a fundraising event of Special Olympics Ontario.
This year, instead of going out onto Lake Nipissing at the government dock, fundraisers jumped into a six-foot-deep tank set up at Nipissing University and Canadore College.
Participants liked not having to shuffle along the ice and jump into a black hole.
As always, divers were in the water for added safety.
“You’re going upstairs, you’re above everybody, able to look over everybody and you’re jumping into a tank that is clean, you can see the bottom of the tank which is different from the lake. In the lake, you’re basically jumping into an open hole,” described Constable Merv Shantz.
“It is nice here. We’ve got the sauna’s set up and it is in a parking lot which makes it easy to set up and it’s safe, you don’t have people sliding on the ice.”
While logistically it was much better, it was still cold.
Like other participants, Trent O’Brien was physically shaking after his jump.
The Aussie joined his team members with the Nipissing Men’s Volleyball Team, doing the plunge in a show of support for the Special Olympians.
“It was cold. Very, very, cold” said O’Brien through chattering teeth.
“I’m not a big fan of ice baths either, so yeah it was cold. But it is a really good cause, and it is great to be a part of this.”
In case anyone thought jumping in a tank would be warmer than jumping in the lake, bags of ice were dumped into the water for good measure, just minutes before participants jumped in, giving them a sense of that Lake Nipissing experience.
“It was actually freezing,” laughed Deputy Police Chief Michael Daze of the North Bay Police Service.
“We put the water in yesterday, so I think it really cooled down overnight, and the idea of putting 100 bags of ice in, really dropped that temperature. I’m not sure it was a good idea at the end of the day.”
Daze brought 12 years of plunging experience with him going back to his years policing in southern Ontario.
North Bay is his first northern plunge, and he expressed pride in his service for supporting the cause.
“We’ve been partnering and working with Special Olympics to fundraise and do great events like this, so I’m proud of our members who go out and do their job every single day to keep the community safe, and then volunteer to do these things too. It is really a great community, police partnership.”
Rob Saunders, coordinator for the Near North Special Olympics says all money raised is put to good use.
“The money raised goes towards our athletes for our big games, so Provincials, Nationals, and World Games. It helps cover the majority of the costs for all the athletes,” explained Saunders.
Special Olympians participate in a variety of sports, indoors and outdoors all year round, following the motto “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”
“We just had three of our athletes come back from our national games out in Calgary, and they did really, really well out there,” shared Saunders.
“And we have three athletes heading off to the spring games in Waterloo.”
On the morning of the plunge multi-sport athlete Riley Bell was told by Saunders that she has been selected as the recipient of the Special Olympics Award of Excellence, to be handed out by the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame.
“I like sports, I like floor hockey and swimming and I like all the people,” said 19-year-old Bell who has earned many medals during her time with Special Olympics.
“I’m very proud of myself,” expressed Bell about her Award of Excellence.
As a Special Olympics coach, and Riley’s mom, Kristin Bell was thrilled to hear about her daughter’s award.
“I was pretty excited for her, she was shaking,” laughed the older Bell.
Special Olympics is important to the entire family.
“It gives Riley a sense of purpose, and sports is her main enjoyment in life. Where her sister has art and she wants to be a doctor, Riley’s whole joy comes from sports. And we usually go as a group, so my husband and Riley’s sister are both volunteers. We all go together, and we spend the day with her and the rest of the athletes.”
Together participants, donors, and sponsors managed to surpass this year’s fundraising goal of $25,000, hitting the $31,000 mark.
“It has been phenomenal. Especially over the last week, we saw the donations really ramp up,” noted Constable Merv Shantz.
