By KEITH GRANT
The crowd on Grand Beach grew by the minute, and when the signal was finally given, over 100 people made a mad dash for the ocean Sunday afternoon, earning official status as "Polar Bears."
The fourth annual Super Bowl Sunday "Polar Bear" plunge into the Atlantic was by all accounts the biggest, most festive cold weather swim, yet.
"It was great! What a turnout!" co-founder Pete Meyers said. Meyers and Kevin McCarthy started the tradition four years ago when just the two of them decided to take a winter morning dive, a dive that has now seemingly taken on a life of its own and become an unofficial Long Beach "event."
"This is kind of like having a new holiday," Meyers noted before the swim.
What made the latest edition of the polar plunge different was a tie-in with the Make-a-Wish foundation. According to Meyers, over $4,000 was raised on Sunday, with several hundred more dollars expected to be taken in by on-going T-shirt sales. All proceeds from the $20 shirts were donated to Make-a-Wish. (Anyone interested in purchasing a "Polar Bear" shirt can contact either Meyers or McCarthy, or call the Herald at 431-3400.)
After luring some 15 people into the water with them two years ago, and about 70 last year, Meyers and McCarthy had hoped for about 100 this year and easily got their wish. By 1:00 p.m. Sunday, a crowd of more than 500 people packed the boardwalk and the beach to watch the spectacle.
As antsy prospective swimmers tried to stay warm and loose in their sweat suits, one woman shouted to her husband, "You only have five more minutes."
"That means I can stay dressed for five more minutes!" came the response.
Dozens of still and video cameras captured every nervous minute as, finally, a collection of men, women, children, and seniors stripped down to bathing suits and made their way across the cold-cold!-sand to their starting point. Gathered together at an American flag planted in the sand by the VFW, the temporarily insane group clapped and cheered "Po-lar Bears! Po-lar Bears!" before the green light was given to charge for the ocean.
Seconds later, swimmers were sprinting back out of the water to their towels on the beach.
"That was COLD!" at least one toweling-down Polar Bear decided.
Despite its quick conclusion, Meyers felt lessons learned from last year helped make this dive a complete success.
"Last year was kind of disorganized," he said. "A couple of guys just ran in and caused a bit of a panic. Nobody knew what to do. People ended up going in different groups. This year, our goal was to get everyone lined up in one spot."
The plan worked as most Polar Bears felt the "mob mentality" helped get them pumped up for the dive.
"That primal scream helped," said second-time Polar Bear and city councilman Denis Kelly. "I was so jacked up I didn't feel anything."
Kelly said he was lured into last year's swim the way most people had been thus far: talked into it by Meyers or McCarthy. At a block party during the summer of 1999, McCarthy mentioned the dive to Kelly and drew out a commitment.
"He talked it up on a beautiful August afternoon, so you're not thinking about how cold the water's going to be," Kelly said. His wife was, likewise, talked into the dive by McCarthy's wife, last year.
As for what, other than lunacy, convinces people to run into 40 degree water in the middle of winter for the fun of it, Kelly said it was likely a combination of things.
"I think it's a love of the beach, a love of the community, and just a real love of life," he said, noting that the experience creates a bond among fellow Polar Bears afterwards.
Days after the dive, McCarthy said most of the divers were still overcome with the warm spirits of the event.
"Everyone's still buzzing about it," he said.
If the day had one downer, it was that the "positive waves" sent towards Florida by the swimmers to the Giants apparently only served to help drown Big Blue's offense. Several fans went into the water with Giants wishes painted on their bare chests and backs.
But while more than a few fans would later in the day be saddened by the Giants' loss, the spirits of the Polar Bears were nothing but positive. That can largely be attributed to the partnership with Make-a-Wish.
"We started thinking last year about doing this for some charity," said Michael Bradley, whose young son Paul had died of cancer three years ago. "My brother suggested we do it for Make-a-Wish in honor of Paul. It was just a case of we were having fun and figured some sick kids should have some fun, too."
Bradley suggested that even with the charitable attachment to this year's event, "fun" is the name of the game for those that take the cold dive.
"Having fun is what it's really all about," he said. "It's a nice way to start off Super Bowl Sunday."
As for early projections on next year's dive, McCarthy said, "We're gonna make it bigger and better."
