TAKING THE PLUNGE
‘Super Plungers’ raise thousands for Rhode Island Special Olympics
WOONSOCKET – Given the weather last weekend, you could certainly call the Super Plunge team’s 10 members crazy, but you would have to add a lot of superlatives like dedicated, committed and giving when you consider they raised $86,578 for RI Special Olympics with their icy antics.
The team members, including retired Woonsocket fire and police department members Rick and Ron LaBreche, were continuing a tradition set by Richmond Police Chief Elwood Johnston in 2013 when he took a freezing plunge into winter ocean waters every hour for 24 hours as a unique fundraiser for the RI Special Olympics. The chief’s effort was an expansion of the Penguin Plunge held annually for RI Special Olympics at Roger Wheeler State Beach on Jan. 1 which represented a single dip in the ocean for the participants.
The fifth edition of Johnston’s fundraiser was held from Saturday to Sunday at Salty Brine State Beach in Narragansett. Rick LaBreche, a retired Woonsocket firefighter, helped organized this year’s team.
Rick’s daughter, Sarah, is a Special Olympian with the Rhody Rangers, and his brother, retired police officer Ron LaBreche’s daughter, Elizabeth “Lizzi,” LaBreche, is also on that team.
“It is amazing to see the outpouring of support there is for this fundraiser,” Rick LaBreche said of the weekend’s tally of $141,000 for all the plunge events held at the beach over the weekend.
The festivities started off at noon on Saturday with the high school and middle school unified plunge, a single run into the ocean for fundraising, and then continued when the Super Plunge Team began its fundraising work at 1 p.m. with the first of its 24 plunges into the ocean, LaBreche said.
Although the ocean is expected to be cold in March, Saturday and Sunday were particularly cold this year and the plungers not only had to contend with the icy water but also air temperatures of 14 degrees and wind chill factors making it feel like 20 below, according to LaBreche.
The ten-member team and their support staff stayed at the beach through the night as they all made a run to fully immerse themselves in the ocean at the top of every hour.
“It was beyond cold. It was like diving into shards of glass,” LaBreche said. “I spent 24 hours with the toughest individuals I know,” LaBreche said of the challenge to keep making the ocean runs.
The team had a little shed set up at the beach for warming and they followed a routine of getting ready to jump in the water and then quickly changing into warm clothes to await the next plunge, he said.
“On a good plunge, you are underwater for 5 to 7 seconds,” he said while explaining it was near impossible to take much more.
“It was by far the most physically and mentally challenging thing I have ever done, but it is also the one of the proudest accomplishments I have ever done as well,” he said.
In addition to the LaBreches, Chief Johnson and Michael Bullock, this year’s team also included Bo Mathews, URI Det. Mark Brasil, Cranston Det. Eric Leclerc, East Providence Det. Diogo Mellow, Foster Police Chief Bill Ziehl, and URI Det. Erica Vieira.
When they were all added up, the team together put in 240 plunges over the 24-hour run of the fundraiser.
LaBreche said the event concluded on Sunday with a Torch Run Plunge for R.I. Special Olympics for Police, Fire and Correctional officers.
Each of the Super Plungers had a website for their corporate and individual sponsors to use in making donations. The sites can be found at www.firstgiving.com under Torch Run Plunge for Special Olympics and remain active.