Polar Plunges for New Years Day!

At some point in ancient history, a prehistoric attempt to capture the strength and fearsome virility of the ferocious polar bear (in the north – or the fearsome … er, penguin … in the south) led our primitive ancestors to jump into the water in the middle of winter.

Remarkably, natural selection never curbed this instinct, and in recent years polar plunges have been proliferating faster than slush at a Del’s convention. Here are the best we could find from among this year’s entries – feel free to add more to the comments, if you know of more!

Newport Polar Plunge. Yell, “Shrinkage!”, hold your nose and jump into the ocean (not the bay) at Easton’s Beach. This plunge has been going on since 1969, making it the chill grand-daddy of plunges. It benefits A Wish Come True. Plunge at noon. Atlantic Beach Club, Memorial Blvd., Newport.
gonewport.com or Facebook.

3rd Annual Winter Wish Swim. As in, “I wish my private parts weren’t quite so frozen.” This benefits Children’s Wishes and sends you off into the wild blueing yonder of Bristol’s waterfront at the Bristol Town Beach (Colt State Park), 50 Asylum Rd. Yep, Asylum, as in crazy. 11 am registration, Noon swim. cwishesri.com

Fall River – 4th annual Sandy Beach Polar Plunge to benefit Forever Paws. Fall River Mayor William Flanagan jumps in right along with the rest of the pet lovers in this one. Contact Forever Paws for more info. facebook.com/events/1442619629292467, 508-678-0804 or foreverpaws.com

Jamestown 1st Day Plunge. This second annual happens at East Ferry in Jamestown. It benefits the Jamestown Education Foundation and Bridges, Inc. Register at the Jamestown Rec Center, 41 Conanicus Ave. Opens at 10, plunge at noon. Jamestown1stDayPlunge.com

Punk Rock Plunge. This second annual takes place at Marley’s on the Beach and has teams (yes, team “Frozen Sausage,” team “Common Shrinkage,” and team “Coxsicles” are taken), trophies and … shirts! 11:45 am until you thaw. 885 Oakland Beach Ave. in Warwick. punksforaprincess.com

Penguin Plunge. This is the 8th annual event to benefit the WARM Center (making it the best thematic match between charity and ice cold water). Expect lots of fowl jokes at the Andrea in Misquamicut. Register at 10:30 for some noon swimming. warmcenter.org

The Frozen Clam. At Goddard Park, this raises clams for the RI Mentoring Project and is organized by Laid Back Fitness. Time pending. 1095 Ives Rd., East Greenwich. laidbackfitness.com

Block Island Plunge. Hosted by the BI Lions Club. The plunge is at noon at the Town Beach, 7 Corn Neck Rd., Block Island. Soon to be posted at blockislandchamber.com

Narragansett Pier Plunge. This is a fundraiser for the Narragansett Lions Club. What is it with Lions and really cold water? Registration at 10 am. Narragansett Town Beach. narragansettlionsclub.com

Matunuck Polar Plunge. At Tara’s Tipperary Tavern, 907 Matunuck Beach Rd. Wakefield. This is to benefit MS, and is in its 15th year. Time is 12 sharp – these seem to be a noon-sort-of-hangover-cure, so that makes sense.

North Kingston Polar Plunge. Help out the Food Pantry with your own homage to freezers. This one looks like it happens at 1:30 pm, so if you hurry you could hit it after one of the noon plunges. It’s at the North Kingstown Town Beach. No website was available at press time.

Tiverton Penguin Plungers. This event should happen at noon at Grinnell’s Beach, sponsored by the Tiverton Yacht Club. Last year’s plunge benefitted the Tiverton Library.

Little Compton’s South Shore beach hosts a plunge. 125 S. Shore Rd. We’re guessing noon.

Annawamscutt Seal Society targets the end of Annawamscutt Rd. in Barrington, and has been producing human popsicles since the mid ‘80s. There is no after party for this one, so bring your own hot cocoa.

Farnham Farm, the historic site on Prudence Island, built in 1805, typically hosts a polar plunge at noon.

Seawall Splash will also supercool your doughboys on New Years Day, begining with a gathering on the beach at 10:00. The plunge is at noon – all takes place at the Oakland Beach Seawall on Oakland Beach Ave, right behind Iggy’s Doughboys.