Record number of ‘polar bears’ takes plunge
CONNELLSVILLE – More people than ever participated in this year’s Polar Bear Jump into the Youghiogheny River.
Organizers had feared that ice on the river would mean the event would have to be canceled, but Nancy Jacobyansky said the ice and snow were cleared away from a small pool of water at the Yough River Park and 10 to 15 people at a time were able to plunge into the frigid waters.
“It was really fun doing it that way. You were able to watch other people go in, take pictures and cheer them on,” Jacobyansky said.
In past years, all of the participants rushed into the water at once. Jacobyansky said it took about a half hour for all of the groups to get in and out of the water this year, with a record 334 people taking the plunge.
Jacobyansky said 176 people were participating for the first time and about a dozen participants came from Ohio, Virginia or Maryland. The jump attracted participants between the ages of 4 and 75.
“We had a family of five who were visiting from Australia and they participated in the jump as well. It was the first time we had international participants,” Jacobyansky said.
While the plunge into the river has been an annual adventure in Connellsville for the past seven years, starting with just 41 people, Jacobyansky said the main purpose of the event is to gather food donations for the Connellsville Community Ministries. Jacobyansky said that effort was also a success.
“We filled up a van and a half of a van with food items. It’s nice to see people support that. This area has been hit so hard,” Jacobyansky said.
Jacobyansky said the warmer air temperature this year made the jump seem a little easier to deal with physically than past years.
“The water temperature never really changes that much. It’s always 35 or 36 degrees. Last year we had snow on the ground and, it was actively snowing when we jumped in. This year, it actually felt warmer when we got out,” Jacobyansky said.