Frigid beads of Boulder Reservoir water flew through the air on Saturday as locals splashed around with fierce determination, continuing a nearly two-decade-long tradition of raising money and lowering body temperatures. 

Special Olympics Colorado’s Polar Plunge at the Boulder Reservoir on Saturday afternoon raised nearly $80,000 for the nonprofit’s free programs that boost sports, health, leadership and education for those with intellectual disabilities. It has been a Boulder staple for over 15 years. 

“We support more than 23,000 athletes or individuals with intellectual disabilities at no cost to them or their families,” President and CEO of Special Olympics Colorado Megan Scremin said. “All of the money that we raise, the awareness that we raise here ensures that our programming can be sustained in both the Boulder community and across the state.”

Local agencies, like the Boulder Police Department, and citizen teams raised money before running head first into the chilly reservoir. Although temperatures on the sunny day neared 60 degrees, the water was still hesitance-causing, with some runners taking a brief pause before jumping in. 

Special Olympics Colorado students and athletes were asked to raise a minimum of $50 before plunging. Anyone else was asked to raise $80. 

The Boulder event’s top fundraising team, the Boulder Parks and Recreation’s EXPAND program, raised over $16,500. 

Ali Rhodes, director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Boulder, said that raising the money is something they deeply care about, especially with EXPAND, the city’s program for therapeutic recreation. 

Some members of EXPAND are directly impacted by programs from Special Olympics Colorado, making the fundraising effort that much more meaningful. 

“It’s the reason we serve our entire community, including folks with disabilities,” Rhodes said. “When the community can fundraise and recreate together, it’s stronger for all of us. Our participants with disabilities care as much about health and well-being as the rest of our community.”

Not every team was an agency or department, though. Some private teams did their part, as well.

Jeffery’s Jumpers, for example, was a team of five local residents who raised money in honor of one of their fathers, Jeffery, who passed away last year. They raised $800 through social media.

“We just decided to honor him by jumping in some cold water. He would have thought it was funny,” Codey Davis, part of Jeffery’s Jumpers, said. “It was great to be a part of it. It’s fun to see everybody in their costumes and it makes running into the cold water a little easier.”

The Colorado chapter of the Special Olympics holds eight different polar plunges across the state every year. There are still three more left in 2024, with ones in Aurora, Colorado Springs and Windsor still coming up.

The goal this year is to reach $726,000 over the eight plunges — the highest Polar Plunge fundraising amount in the state’s history.

“I encourage everyone to come out. Just a couple seconds of freezing for a reason,” Scremin said. “Our athletes challenge themselves every day, so this is our chance to challenge ourselves for a few seconds.”