A crowd of approximately 800 people came to be part of or witness Polar Plunge 2010 at Alki Beach on Sunday, Jan 24th. The event, to benefit and support Special Olympics of Washington saw people and police officers from 6 departments show up, some in full dress uniform to leap in the chilly waters of Puget Sound. Also on hand was Rob McKenna, Washington State Attorney General and host of the event Chris Cashman from KIRO and ESPN.

Before the plunges (there were several groups of people), the crowd was entertained by the Seahawks band and those crazy enough to not only jump in the roughly 43 degree water but to do so in the silliest possible costume.

Chief of the Washington State Patrol, John R. Batiste said, "Special Olympics is a group that has been adopted as a group by law enforcement for many many years. I came to be engaged in this by invitation of the Seattle Police Department. A good friend of mine, Dick Belshay, a captain.... challenged me to come out and take part in this activity and I was more than happy to do so, after a little prodding."
Captain Belshay was brave enough to dive in with a thermometer only to emerge a few moments later and pronounce the water, "Cold".

McKenna said, "Thanks a lot to Special Olympics for putting on this great event, this wonderful fund raiser... I'm proud to be part of it, proud to be down here with all my friends from Seattle Police Department, State Patrol, Pierce County, it's been a fun morning. Now I'm going go get dry and warm...I hope."

The Special Olympics get support by participants collecting pledges and plunging into various frigid waters all around Washington State.

Each individual must raise a minimum of $50.00 to participate and receives an official Polar Plunge t-shirt, lunch and entry to the post-event party. There are six Polar Plunges scheduled in 2010.