The weather was perfect, the sky was absolutely clear, the sun was shining over South Beach, as over a thousand people gathered to participate in “freezing for a reason.” Although  sunny, the temperature was only 40, with 20 miles per hour winds. “It felt  20 degrees colder, standing there in my bathing suit,” said Athena McGowan.

The  Polar Plunge is a yearly event held on December 7, where participants enter a body of water, despite the below freezing temperatures. The money raised from the event goes to the Special Olympics. This year’s  New York City sight was South Beach where the crowd gathered on the cold sand  to raise  $81,843.

The  Curtis Warrior team  came in ninth place raising a total of $2,424, beating their goal of  $1,000. Top fund raisers  from Curtis were Anna Siewers, Samantha Boyer, and Ryan Minkoff.

Although they were there for a good cause, it was still tough on the participants. “The sand was so cold,” said Junior Stein Weisner.

“It was good though, we stood on the sand for the longest time, so by the time we entered the water, we could barely feel it because we were numb,” said Ben Mannino. Despite the cold both Weisner and Mannino wanted to do it next year, and get more of their friends to join in on it too.

Junior Rachel Kearns summed it up best, “It’s for an amazing cause, which makes it much more worth it. It is exciting to see the unity of our island come together to help each other out.”