(MURFREESBORO) At 10:00 o'clock Saturday morning (1/8/2022), the air temperature was 32-degrees and there was snow and ice covering the ground at the Boro Beach when several hundred enthusiasts took the 20th Annual Polar Bear Plunge at SportsCom, corner of DeJarnette Lane and Memorial Boulevard.
The plungers had been warm and enjoying the Arctic Adventure inside the gym at SportsCom prior to the frigid body-shock event.
Each person brought cans of non-perishable food that will be donated to Greenhouse Ministries. The hour and a half pre-plunge gathering began at 8:30AM Saturday morning and featured games, food and music inside the warm gym.
Then the doors flung open and the throngs rushed outside to be greeted by a jovial shark, who looked a tad hungry. He noted that "his dad was in the water."
That was SportsCom Superintendent Bart Fite's outfit for 2022. His costumes have become a fashion statement each year, which keeps the community abuzz speculating what trends the New Year might bring.
Despite the fact that Director Williams stressed that plungers could stay and swim for free as long as they wished, the entire event was finished and shivering bodies were quickly heading into warmer locker rooms within a total of 8-minutes and 47-seconds.
A special thank you to the Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation Department's life guards who stood guard along with Murfreesboro Fire-Rescue's water rescue team that was on-the-scene to help if needed.
Well, another Polar Bear Plunge is in the record books with the twenty-first jump schedule the first-Saturday of next year. See you then.
