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Date: 2/9/2022
WESTFIELD – It was one of the coldest Penguin Plunges ever, by many accounts, but participants of the 2022 Penguin Plunge had few regrets about jumping in the icy waters at Hampton Ponds State Park.
As participants waited in the pavilion before willingly putting themselves into water that hours earlier was under a sheet of ice, Amelia Park Children’s Museum
Treasurer Chuck Kelly stood on top of a table sporting a unicorn hat, a bathing suit and a T-shirt. He happily informed the crowd that the water of Hampton Ponds was 35 degrees Fahrenheit, much warmer than the 16-degree air they were standing in.
Kelly is a veteran of the Penguin Plunge, participating each year with his granddaughter to help raise money for the children’s museum in Westfield.
One participant, Elliot Reed, wore only a bathing suit and Batman mask. Reed is a veteran of not just the Penguin Plunge, but also a similar icy swim that takes place on Coney Island in New York City. Many people that do these kinds of events say that the best thing for participants is to get acclimated to the cold before hitting the water, and to wear their plunge attire for at least 10 minutes outside beforehand.
When asked if he felt acclimated to the cold just before the Penguin Plunge began, Reed answered with a somewhat philosophical question: Can one really ever get acclimated to that kind of cold?
When Kelly finished his annual swim, he remarked that it was one of the coldest Penguin Plunges he had ever done. Like many of the people who had just gone through the path of broken-up ice, he said that the water was noticeably warmer than the air, especially because of the wind whipping in from over the ice.
Brianne Zulkiewicz participated in her first Penguin Plunge this year. After drying off in one of the heated tents, she said that it wasn’t as bad as she was expecting. Even after learning that it was one of the coldest Penguin Plunges on record, she said that having no frame of reference for how cold it was may have helped.
“Now I’m going to go home, have some tea, and not go swimming again until at least May,” said Zulkiewicz.
State Sen. John Velis has taken part in the plunge every year since 2014 except for the year he was deployed with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, and last year when the plunge was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“And this year was one of the colder ones,” said Velis as he prepared to leave Hampton Ponds.
Velis said his goal is to get his wife to join him for the plunge in 2023.
Folks interviewed after a foray into Hampton Ponds said that they had no regrets, especially because their participation helps fund Amelia Park. Each person also had exactly the same plan of action in mind: get home, take a warm shower, and stay out of the cold for a bit.