REHOBOTH BEACH — Looking back on 2020, it is hard to believe that the state’s last huge, single-day crowd for an event was Feb. 2.
It was Lewes Polar Bear Plunge Sunday, when 3,733 bears entered 42-degree saltwater in Rehoboth Beach and raised more than a million dollars for Special Olympics Delaware.
The buildup on a Sunday Plunge morning has always been quite something. You will see Vikings, nuns toting plungers, dinosaurs and scores of people wearing polar bear hats.
For those of you unfamiliar with this unique tradition, the bears shed robes and sweatpants as a countdown begins. Then, they dash into the surf.
Some go ankle-deep. Some dive in.
They scurry back with goosebumps, weaving through thousands of onlookers, hoping to quickly find their towel-holding friends.
“You see all that color and all that festivity,” said Ann Grunert, executive director of Special Olympics Delaware. “It’s Mardi Gras. You want to be a part of it. You want to revel in it.
“It’s that sweet moment of abandonment. We’re going to do something crazy for a good cause, and we’re going to be spirited as we do it.”
Unfortunately, the pandemic disrupted plans for the 30th annual Lewes Polar Bear Plunge, originally scheduled for today.
This year, it is all “brrrr-tual.”
As of Friday afternoon, more than 2,200 polar bears had registered for this year’s event. Many have already shared photos and videos of themselves creatively participating in the challenge.
Bears have made snow angels, dipped into kiddie pools, waded into lakes and creeks and withstood blasts of cold water from garden hoses. One woman, along with her dinosaur floatie-wearing dog, plunged into a trough with cows looking on.
The Special Olympics Delaware staff took a soaking from the Aetna Hose, Hook & Ladder Co. in Newark.
Check out the creative ways polar bears took the brrrr-tual plunge.
Ms. Grunert said the joy comes with the purpose.
“That it comes showering down on our athletes with acceptance is just that much more gratifying,” she said. “There is no question that the funds fuel our programs’ reach and impact across the state. We know this year is going to be different.
“We are certainly pleased with the number of people who have stepped forward in a virtual environment to stand with our athletes and say they matter during what is such a difficult time for so many,” said Ms. Grunert. “It’s no different for our athletes.”
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Special Olympics Delaware serves more than 4,200 children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
Pandemic restrictions first impacted the athletes last March when the basketball season ended abruptly. Ongoing precautions meant basketball was out again this winter. Even so, Kylie Frazer, director of sports for Special Olympics Delaware, said athletes were able to have some fall sports sessions outdoors. But the organization also has embraced the technology of the times and now recognize it will be part of future plans when social distancing is no longer required.
Two or three nights a week, the athletes gather on Zoom for fitness sessions.
“We see them returning week after week,” said Ms. Frazer.
“They are missing that social outlet,” she said. “It gives the social opportunity, but more importantly, it gets them up and moving.”
Ms. Frazer said the staff and volunteer coaches have begun planning for spring sports — tennis, aquatics, softball, powerlifting, bocce and track and field. Those are among the 19 sports offered through the year across the state with the help of around 300 volunteer coaches.
Until then, the athletes are loving the web sessions. Ms. Grunert said it is quite evident when they start gathering 30-45 minutes prior to the start of the Zooms.
“They’re all on, talking to each other and talking over each other,” she said. “While you and I talk about being ‘Zoomed’ out, they can’t get enough of it. They’re talking to their friends, and they’re just chattering. When they get ready to start the training, they have to put everybody on mute.”
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Registration for the virtual plunge is open through midnight tonight.
To learn more about this year’s plunge, photo/video contests and more, dive into the information at plungede.org.
The site has information on how to donate, including participation in Irv and Phyllis Levin’s Matching Fund tradition.
