Seven members of a fundraising team representing Wesleyan plunged into the frigid waters of Middletown’s Crystal Lake on March 3 to earn $1,803 for the Greater Middletown Special Olympics, the highest total for any school involved in the seventh annual Penguin Plunge.
The team consisted of Jess Markowitz ’08, Alicia Dodds ’07, Kayla Bennett ’10, Krista Perks GRAD, Sarah Carroll from the Best Buddies state office, Jennifer Suzio from the Best Buddies state office, and a girl who joined the team at the last minute. For their efforts, Wesleyan’s “Penguins” were presented with Middletown’s “Rockin’ Schoolhouse Award,” which went to the school or club that raised the most money for Special Olympics athletes by asking people to sponsor the plunge.
“I’ve been involved with Special Olympics for many years and first decided to get involved with the Penguin Plunge last year after reading about it in the SOCT [Special Olympics Of Connecticut] monthly newsletter,” Markowitz said. “So I organized a group of Wes students to attend last year, and we went and we plunged and it was great, but we didn’t raise as much money as I would have hoped. So this year I was especially motivated to get people involved and raise money.”
Markowitz told several friends about the plunge, listed it as an event on Facebook, and contacted several campus groups about it, garnering interest from three fellow students and two workers from the Best Buddies state office.
“The seventh girl that went in with us was just a random person who did not have a team,” Perks said. “So I just told her to come with us…She happens to play on an ice hockey team that practices at Wesleyan.”
Perks, who heard about the plunge through an e-mail that Markowitz sent to members of the Outing Club, received a late-arriving $20 donation after the final tallies, lifting the team’s already award-winning amount of money raised from $1,783 to $1,803.
According to Markowitz, there was a huge crowd at Crystal Lake for the plunge, and teams took turns running into the water.
“They counted down and we dropped our towels and blankets and ran in a pack into the water,” she said. “Once you hit the water it’s cold, but it doesn’t really register how freezing it is until you’re in further and submerged, and then all of the sudden you realize: oh crap, it’s freezing… Then it’s a mad dash to race out and grab the blankets and get warm again.”
Perks described the day of the plunge as a sunny day, but the water was still freezing cold.
“I had never jumped in a frozen lake before,” Perks said. “So it was a good excuse to try it. When I’ve gone in Miller’s [Pond] when it is cold, I remember that it feels like you can’t breathe, so I thought this time—since the lake was actually frozen—it would be a million times worse and I would not be able to move to get out… and drown… But the water wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. After we started running out, I kind of wanted to get back in.”
Perks said a lifeguard in scuba gear was sitting on the ice in case there was an incident in the water.
“My favorite thing at the plunge may have been the ice blocks and penguin statues that they put around the swimming hole,” Perks said.
Dodds heard about the plunge through Wesleyan’s Best Buddies chapter.
“I saw pictures of some of the buddies and college buddies from last year’s plunge, and it just looked like so much fun and for such an awesome cause,” she said. “Right before the plunge, the team was standing in line together, seeing the other teams come out of the water absolutely freezing, so it was a little intimidating… I think I just kind of blacked out while our team was actually running toward the lake in our bathing suits and bow ties.”
According to Markowitz, some people were wearing costumes, while others wore bathing suits and bowties, loosely resembling penguins.
“I remember all of us yelling to ‘go under,’” Dodds said. “Some teams weren’t dunking all the way, and we thought we were better than that. It was quite a rush.”
Several friends and four buddies from Wesleyan’s Best Buddies chapter came to witness the plunge.
“Even though I wasn’t brave enough to do the plunge myself, I wanted to come support the Wesleyan team,” said Susie Kim ’07. “I was really impressed by the enthusiasm of the Wes students who took the plunge.”
This year, 183 people participated in Middletown’s Penguin Plunge and raised over $56,000.
“It was great to see such a wide range of people come to participate and show their support,” Kim said. “There was even a woman in her 70s who did the plunge.”
Markowitz said she plans to be part of next year’s plunge as well.
“It’s one thing to send in a check but a completely different thing to come together with the group to support the community and the organization and also have fun,” Markowitz said. “I’ll definitely be organizing for the plunge again next year, so hopefully we can get an even bigger crowd then!”
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