BOONVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — Two days in a row, warm bodies gathered in Boonville to swim in frigid cold waters for the 2023 Polar Plunge.
Although Saturday’s temperatures were slightly warmer, firefighters still had to break apart the ice before participants dove into Scales Lake.
People took turns sprinting into the water to high-five firefighters before swimming back to shore. One of the people brave enough to leap into the icy water was Eyewitness News Gabe Neff.
Neff is a producer here at WEHT and tells us participating in the Polar Plunge has been on his bucket list for quite some time.
“It is something that I have always wanted to do,” he says. “But to find out that they are partnered with Special Olympics — there was no way I could say no. It was weird, first running in you just go numb. It’s really on the way back that it hits.”
All proceeds raised benefit more than 16,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities around the U.S. and helps them participate in sports, health and education programs.
