Polar Bears Brace for Super Bowl Sunday Plunge

Despite a brutal winter, complete with record snowfall and plummeting temperatures, thousands of hearty locals will head to the beach to take their annual early February plunge into the frigid Atlantic.

The Long Beach Polar Bears Club will hold its 12th anniversary dip in the ocean on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 6, when participants will meet at 12:30 p.m. at Riverside Boulevard Beach, in time for a 1:30 p.m. splash in the ocean. To date, the event has raised about $2 million for worthy charities such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, organizers said.

The event’s organizers are especially looking forward to the swim this year with the way the winter has been going.

“It’s like having a beach party in the middle of February,” said Pete Meyers, a co-founder of the annual Long Beach event. “It will give people hope that summer’s not too far away.”

Last year’s plunge drew some 5,000 participants and raised $580,000, and this year the Polar Bears hope to better those marks. About 6,000 people are expected to don their bathing suits for a chilly swim on Sunday. This year, “wish kid” Sean along with Metro NY Make-A-Wish President and CEO Pat Clemency will both take the plunge.

Three years ago, the temperature dipped into the single digits and some Polar Bears temporarily lost feeling in their hands and feet, but sustained no lasting problems. The temperature for Sunday is expected to be in the 30’s, which, without the wind, would make for perfect conditions under the circumstances, said Meyers.

“It should be fine,” he said, adding that lifeguards will be on duty as well as emergency services in case something should happen. “It’s invigorating. People do it — jumping in, screaming and yelling and hugging each other — because it’s a lot of fun.”

In addition to the roughly 6,000 participants, at least that many spectators are expected to attend, so Meyers suggested that they bring blankets to cover the snow.

“People who never came down before and say, ‘There’s no way I’m going in the ocean,’ should wear their bathing suits,” since many have second thoughts and wind up taking the plunge in their underwear, he said.

There’s no time limit on how long anyone should stay in the water. “Some may just run in and get out and others want to just dip their toe in the water,” Meyers said.

The Coney Island Polar Bears, who have been taking the frigid plunge for many more years on Jan. 1, inspired the Long Beach Polar Bears. Meyers said the Long Beach group has, in turn, inspired the Coney Island group to donate its proceeds to some of the charities like Camp Sunshine for kids with cancer.

Long Beach Polar Bears co-founder Kevin McCarthy said he’s amazed how much the event has grown over the years.

“I always thought that we’d have a steady couple of hundred people, a steady crowd because it’s a fundraiser,” said McCarthy. “But it’s been crazy the way people have come out. It’s all been good.

“I can’t believe the money we’ve raised the last three years, which has been the worst three years [for the economy],” he said. “But it’s been our best three years. Even in hard times, people remember these kids [in the Make-A-Wish].”

When McCarthy takes the plunge into the water in February, he’s not thinking about how cold it is.

“With all the work we do [preparing for the event], I look forward to taking that dip in the water,” he said. “It’s just one more year that we pulled it off and that’s almost like a relief.

“It’s a big high for me,” he said. “It’s such a great feeling and it’s all for a good cause.”

The event will also feature a DJ playing music and Stony Brook University will send its cheerleaders, dance team and mascot to entertain the crowd.

Before the swim, for $20 a buffet brunch will be held at Lola’s on Magnolia Boulevard, with those proceeds being donated as well.

To sponsor a participant or to sign a waiver, one can go to longbeachpolarbears.org.

Shortly before Super Bowl XXXII in 1998, Long Beach residents Meyers and McCarthy decided to jump into the Atlantic Ocean to celebrate McCarthy’s 40th birthday. Their friends, Mike and Patti Bradley, whose 4-year-old son Paulie died of cancer in 1998, had been searching for a fitting memorial for him. Mike’s brother PJ, a Long Beach police officer, suggested that the annual Long Beach Polar Bears swim could become a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which it did in 2000.

“They were very gracious to attach our son’s name to the event to keep Paulie’s name alive,” said Mike Bradley, whose son died before the young boy could fulfill his wish to surf in Puerto Rico.

His death was just the first in a string of tragedies for Bradley: P.J. drowned while bodysurfing in Long Beach during Hurricane Isabella in 2003, and Mike’s wife lost her battle with chronic pulmonary disease two days before Christmas 2009. Patti had worked for the Polar Bears Club for nine months each year, ordering the T-shirts and sweatshirts and handling the organization’s finances. This year’s event is being dedicated to her.

Commemorative items, such as Polar Bears T-shirts and sweatshirts, will be available for purchase on the boardwalk, where the Allegria Hotel and Starbucks will serve coffee and hot chocolate and Swingbellies will offer hot chili to Polar Bears.

Long Beach City Manager Charles Theofan said that free shuttle bus service will be available to residents and visitors.

"Due to the amount of snow still on the ground, parking will not be available on the superblock and foundation block between Long Beach Boulevard and Edwards Boulevard for this year's event," said Theofan. "We are urging everyone to take the free shuttle buses."

Buses will make round trips between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. from the east and west ends as well as from the LIRR municipal parking lot to the beach at Riverside. 

"Taking the bus will help to avoid congestion and delays at Riverside Boulevard," Theofan said.

* Joseph Kellard contributed to this story.