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More than 100 take plunge to benefit Special Olympics
By Sean Barron
CORTLAND
Alex Rosowicz was determined to do his part to help those with intellectual and physical challenges, and he didn’t let little things such as a 28-degree air temperature, a persistent, stiff wind and subfreezing water get in the way.
“I couldn’t feel my body when I got out,” the shivering Cortland man said, referring to having taken a dip in Mosquito Lake.
Rosowicz’s daring venture into 34-degree water was part of the cold and colorful festivities that made up Saturday’s 10th annual Mosquito Lake Polar Plunge, which took place at the Mosquito Lake State Park beach off state Route 305.
More than 100 people of all ages who wore bikinis, shorts, bathing suits, T-shirts and creative costumes dared to enter and, in a few cases, go under the water. Others who took the run were shirtless and barefoot.
Sponsoring the gathering were Special Olympics Ohio, the Cortland Moose Family Center 1012 and the Ohio Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics.
The 15-minute series of plunges were to raise money for the Columbus-based Special Olympics Ohio organization. Special Olympics Ohio provides the state’s estimated 23,000 children and adults who have special needs with year-round sports and other athletic competitions, noted Paige Ludwig, marketing and development director.
On Saturday, the event likely brought in more than the organization’s $20,000 goal, Ludwig said.
For his part, Rosowicz, who is also a construction worker, added a mermaid tail to his outfit. He participated in the bone-chilling venture largely because he knows several youngsters with Down syndrome who also enjoy sports, Rosowicz said.
Also, many participants made up several teams, including the “Red Beavers,” “Freakishly Frozen” and “Team Gage.” Others, such as Sam Rakocy, came on behalf of Youngstown State University.
Rakocy, a YSU senior majoring in mathematics and a member of the university’s Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity, noted that he raised $750 within about a week. The money will go toward Special Olympics, he continued.
A major part of his motivation for raising the funds and taking the plunge was a neighbor who is in Special Olympics, he explained.
“It was frigid. None of us have ever done this before,” Rakocy said, adding that about nine other fraternity members joined him, along with several students from a YSU sorority. “It is worse when you get out [of the lake] and it hits you; it was unbelievable how cold it was.”
Rakocy and Rosowicz said without hesitation that they would take part in future plunges if the money raised were to go toward good causes.
Ludwig noted that Saturday’s Polar Plunge was the first of nine such fundraising events to run through mid-March that will benefit Special Olympics Ohio. In addition, the organization is valuable to its clients in other ways, she said.
“Special Olympics helps them get out into the community and make friends,” Ludwig added. “It builds self-esteem. They should be seen for their abilities, not their disabilities.”