Plungefest 2011
On January 29, 2011, Special Olympics Maryland, the Maryland State Police, and a number of other organizations once again held a polar bear plunge at Sandy Point State Park near Annapolis, where people ran into the Chesapeake Bay to raise money for Special Olympics. This year, the event was called “Plungefest”, and celebrated the 15th anniversary of the event.
Unlike the 2010 event, where the final plunge of the day was cancelled due to a snowstorm in progress during the event, dropping several inches of snow across the state, in 2011, the weather cooperated. While a significant snowstorm, complete with “thundersnow“, did hit the state earlier in the week, causing treacherous road conditions and widespread power outages, by the time the weekend rolled around, the snowstorm had passed, the roads had been cleared, and most of the power outages had been eliminated, and the polar bear plunge event was run to its conclusion. However, the snowstorm did leave the beach covered with a layer of snow, reinforcing the point that this was indeed a winter event, and the water was cold. The nicer weather also meant that, unlike last year when the ongoing snowstorm forced me to stow my main camera, the Canon, and switch to “Duckie”, my waterproof camera, I was able to photograph with the Canon, with better picture quality as a result.
The day consisted of three main events: the first plunge at 1:00 PM, a VIP plunge at 2:00 PM featuring Joe Flacco from the Baltimore Ravens, and then the second plunge at 3:00 PM. The biggest change to the event in 2011 was that the polar bear plunge was now an alcohol-free event. Previously, the event had contained a “beer tent“, where people could purchase and consume adult beverages. This was eliminated in 2011 for safety reasons, as event organizers determined that cold-water swimming mixed with alcohol was a dangerous combination.
For more information about Plungefest, visit www.plungemd.com.
As in 2010, the people were festively dressed. There was a man in a zentai suit, several people festively dressed and handing out twistable balloons, a JMU family, and so much more. Some of these folks had every intention of jumping in and taking the plunge, while others were ready to cheer the plungers on from the shore.
The first plunge was certainly a lively event. Hundreds of people ran into the Bay and took a quick mid-winter swim. There were people in drysuits standing a short distance out in the water both to form a boundary for the plungers, as well as to provide support should anything go wrong. Due to the large numbers of people in the first plunge, the designated “Plunge Zone” was closed off to anyone who was not plunging or directly providing support to a plunger, and thus all spectators were relegated to the sides of the event.
One thing that I enjoyed photographing in the first plunge was facial expressions. The larger numbers in the first plunge made it difficult to follow individuals’ plunges from start to finish, but the expressions on the faces of people in the water were priceless, as some were just smiling and laughing like they jumped into freezing water every day, while some people’s expressions showed shock, surprise, and perhaps pain from standing in the freezing water, as well as people’s expressions changing to that look that says, “Hey, I really did it!”
After the conclusion of the first plunge, there was an intermission of about and hour and a half before the second plunge, during which time the VIP plunge occurred (of which I got no usable photos). The second plunge consisted of a number of latecomers, people who wanted to plunge a second time, and people who simply held off plunging during the first go-round. The mood felt far more intimate than the first plunge, likely due to the smaller numbers for the second plunge. Because of the first plunge’s higher numbers, spectators were relegated to the sidelines. But due to smaller numbers, spectators were allowed into the plunge zone, thus we got to watch as the plungers plunged all around us. I was able to follow a few people’s plunges from start to finish, plus being able to shoot straight on certainly has its benefits.
All throughout the day, the one thing that surprised me more than anything else was the amount of abandoned footwear on the beach. It seemed that more than a few people, in the process of plunging, either took off their shoes – mostly flip-flops – before going in and then never retrieved them after coming back out, or they lost their shoes in the water and they later washed up on short or were tossed back out. One would think that people would be more careful about keeping their footwear on, but I suppose not…
On January 29, 2011, Special Olympics Maryland, the Maryland State Police, and a number of other organizations once again held a polar bear plunge at Sandy Point State Park near Annapolis, where people ran into the Chesapeake Bay to raise money for Special Olympics. This year, the event was called “Plungefest”, and celebrated the 15th anniversary of the event.
