“Essentially, they’re jumping into cold waters to freeze their body, but open up their hearts to what the athletes do on a day-to-day basis and how their funds can impact them and our organization to put on our year-round programming,” said Madison Nelson, Law Enforcement Torch Run coordinator for Special Olympics Iowa.

Four teams and around 60 people registered to take the plunge on Sunday, Nelson said. Participants were encouraged to wear costumes and many did, including a turkey, a leprechaun, a zombie and Darth Vader.

Typically, polar plunge participants run into Badger Lake’s freezing waters. But with the lake being drained for improvements, instead they jumped into the 2,500-gallon traveling tank. The tank was filled earlier in the day by the Badger Fire Department.

As the participants lined up to take the plunge, the water measured at about 48 degrees.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Kim Gordon, of Fort Dodge, dressed as a turkey for the Special Olympics Polar Plunge at Kennedy Park on Sunday afternoon.

“It literally took my breath away,” Fort Dodge Police Capt. Dennis Quinn said as he climbed out of the tank.

Special Olympics Iowa raises about $350,000 each year at the 11 polar plunges held across the state, Nelson said. In all, around $9,000 was raised by the Fort Dodge polar plunge event, she said.

Lt. Matt Lundberg, with the Fort Dodge Police Department, received recognition for raising the most online donations. According to the event webpage, Lundberg raised $441.

Jodi Peterson, a Special Olympics athlete from Fort Dodge, was the biggest individual fundraiser, collecting more than $3,000 for the polar plunge.

“She did really great,” Nelson said.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Fort Dodge Police Department Capt. Dennis Quinn did a cannonball into the Special Olympics Polar Plunge tank at Kennedy Park on Sunday. The tank water was around 48 degrees, and the outside temperature was 32 degrees for the event.

“I have been an athlete for 24 years and I have been doing this polar plunge for eight years,” Peterson shared in a post-plunge speech. “My favorite thing about Special Olympics is meeting new people. Without your support, we wouldn’t be having the opportunities we do.”

Some of the funds raised by the polar plunge event directly benefits local Special Olympics athletes, said Liz Rusher, area Special Olympics event coordinator.

“It helps us pay for uniforms for them,” Rusher said.

Rusher said events like the polar plunge help the parents and siblings of Special Olympics athletes get involved as well.

Rusher was part of a team from the Fort Dodge Community School District that made the plunge. She said she prefers jumping into the lake rather than the tank.

“It’s cleaner (the tank), but it’s colder,” Rusher said. “[With the lake] you’re running in versus jumping into it.”