Too cold? Nah!

Polar Bears brave icy Atlantic at Super Bowl Splash

Freezing swim benefits Make-A-Wish Foundation

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Temperatures hovering in the 30s and a recent blizzard did little to dampen the spirits of the thousands of Long Beach residents and neighbors who gathered for the Long Beach Polar Bears’ 16th annual Super Bowl Splash last Sunday.


“Everyone is really in a great mood,” event co-founder Pete Meyers said. “Long Beach is the coolest town around, and people want to be associated with it.”

Each year, thousands of brave swimmers run into the ocean in the middle of winter to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The event has benefited the organization since 2000, but the tradition of taking a dip on Super Bowl Sunday goes back two years further.

Meyers and his friend Kevin McCarthy went for a swim in the ocean on Super Bowl Sunday in 1998, and two more friends, Mike and P.J. Bradley, joined them the following year. According to McCarthy, once they did it the first time, there was no reason not to keep doing it again every year.


They eventually decided to turn the tradition into a fundraising event for Make-A-Wish, in honor of Mike’s son, Paulie, who had died of cancer in 1997, at age 4. Mike’s wife, Patti, died in 2009, and the Splash now honors her as well.

“This is a wonderful event that started with just two people, and look at it now,” City Council President Anthony Eramo said, admiring the large crowd on the beach on Sunday. “It’s absolutely wonderful.”

“This is one of the best days of the year for our community, and I’m really excited to be a part of it,” said newly minted State Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach), who was taking part in his first Splash as a legislator. “It’s freezing — I wish it was last year, but I’m going in anyway.”

Through the years, the Polar Bears have raised more than $4 million for Make-A-Wish, which grants the wishes of children who have life-threatening medical conditions. Last year, the event raised about $670,000 — which funded roughly 60 granted wishes.Many families who have had wishes fulfilled become regular participants in the Splash. Gillian Cohen, of Merrick, had her wish to go on a Disney cruise granted in 2002, when she was 4. Cohen now volunteers at the foundation as a “wish ambassador” and attends the Polar Bear Splash every year. “The amount of people that jump in is really impressive,” she said.

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