Polar Bear Plunge in Seaside Heights is back Saturday

☑️ The Polar Plunge is Saturday in Seaside Heights

☑️ Security will be high to protect 8,000 plungers

☑️ NJ 101.5's Big Joe Henry is the host for a 29th time

SEASIDE HEIGHTS — From security to the plunge participants, all is ready for the annual Polar Plunge benefiting Special Olympics New Jersey.

Nearly 8,000 "plungers" will get "freezin' for a reason" and make the run into the Atlantic Ocean in Seaside Heights near Spicy's at 1 p.m.

Fortunately, Saturday will be one of the warmer days of the week, according to New Jersey 101.5 Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow.

"After a week of ridiculously cold temperatures and ferocious winds, the forecast for Saturday's Polar Bear Plunge is looking good. At plunge time Saturday afternoon, the air temperature in Seaside Heights will be about 40 degrees, fairly typical for late February. After a cold winter, that frigid ocean is going to hurt — water temperatures are around 34 degrees, notably below normal for this point of the year," Zarrow said.

Police Chief Tommy Boyd said undercover officers and SWAT teams will be strategically positioned around the beach and boardwalk.

"We are beyond ready. We have so many things in place right now security-wise, which obviously I can't go over. But because of what happened in New Orleans, we've stepped it up a notch," Boyd told New Jersey 101.5. "We have so many protocols in place right now, and there's going to be so many from air support. We're gonna have multiple drones up in the air, numerous SWAT teams. We're gonna have people all over."

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High security on land and sea

Boyd said that by Saturday, nearly 8,000 plungers will be ready to run into the chilly 40-degree ocean. The Coast Guard, State Police marine unit and boats Bradley Beach, Lavallette and Seaside Park will be on duty.

Any road work going on will be picked up. The borough parking authority will direct drivers the Boulevard and to open parking areas.

Special Olympics New Jersey is expecting to at least match the $2.5 million raised by the 2024 plunge.

"You get those people that come and say, 'Oh, it's a bucket list thing. I'm only going to do this once. And then they come out and experience the camaraderie, the sea of humanity that the people that are there for one united cause just to support our athletes. You meet an athlete or two, you come and then you get hooked," Special Olympics NJ spokesman Jeremy Davis said.

"That feeling of doing good is something everybody needs these days, and it's just positive. There's just, there's no drama, there's just just fun, and it's a good time."

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Support for programs

The funds raised go toward the annual Special Olympics games in June as well as year-rounf health initiatives, school initiatives, sports programming, competition and  training.

The Polar Bear Plunge wouldn't be official without New Jersey 101.5's Big Joe Henry, who is hosting for the 29th time. Davis says Big Joe is the best ambassador the games.

"He says that every year on the air he believes in this cause. And we need more people like that, more celebrities, more ambassadors that can go out there and tell the world. We can stand on top of a mountain and yell everything we do and how great our programs are, but until great supporters and great ambassadors like Big Joe go out and tell the world, then nobody really knows."

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'Warm and fuzzy'

Big Joe says the "warm and fuzzy" feeling he gets from the fact that Special Olympics serves 25,000 individuals through their programs is surpassed by only the support from New Jersey's law enforcement community.

"When I started with it was about 100 to 200 people that went in, and I think they raised close to $60,000 $50,000 which at that time was huge. It was a small event held in Point Pleasant Beach. To watch it over 30 years grow into 8,000 people participating, 100,000 people on the beach watching it and raising over $2.2 million is just an amazing an amazing story. It really is," Big Joe said.

It's not too late to do the plunge. Full information can be found at PlungeSeaside.org.

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