What does it take for someone to jump into frigid ocean water on a freezing winter day? Irish Coffee. Lots of it.
With the help of the Irish whiskey and coffee concoction, Weehawken resident Richard Clarke dove – along with about 300 other people – into 40-degree water in the seaside town of Sea Bright on Jan. 9 for the annual “Polar Bear Plunge” to raise money for Catholic schools in the state.
Also getting wet was Clarke’s daughter, Nicki, a sixth-grader at St. Francis Academy in Union City who had been hard at work raising $250 for her school leading up to the plunge.
“It’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever done.” – Richard Clarke
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Warming up to the idea
The “Polar Bear Plunge” is not for the faint of heart. Although many St. Francis families and teachers participated in the fundraiser, with approximately $1,000 ultimately raised for the school, only four had the nerve to get drenched to the core in the name of charity.
Nicki Clarke was one of them. After making the rounds requesting donations from families and friends, she requested something of her father: an icy swim.
With his wife, Nanci, the school’s guild president (the equivalent of a public school’s PTA) urging him on, Richard quickly accepted.
“She has to participate in everything [at St. Francis] in one way, shape, or form…even if at my expense,” he joked.
But to be honest, it didn’t take much convincing.
“I like doing nutsy things like that,” he said, referring to his ascent up Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro last year with a friend for his 50th birthday.
Father and daughter have always been close. Richard made Nicki a video log of his mountain journey, and has always been keen on instilling his passion for adventure in his daughter.
“[The fundraiser] was just so good for the camaraderie of the school…and just for my relationship with [Nicki], too,” he said.
Taking the plunge
On the day of the event, the Clarkes, along with Nicki’s classmate Hanna Valente and Sister Catherine Finnery of St. Francis Academy, took the trip down to Sea Bright to become the first ever participants from the school in the Plunge.
It was a cold and windy day, about 28 degrees, Clarke recalls, colder than the 40-degree ocean water.
Despite the less-than-ideal weather, it was “a mob scene” down at Sea Bright that day, with members from about eight different Catholic parishes from all over the state there to brave freezing waters.
“There were just great people down there,” he said. “There was a spirit to make Catholic schools better.”
After downing about three Irish Coffees “to keep me safe” and even passing some to Sister Catherine, Clarke ran for the water holding hands with his daughter while his wife snapped pictures.
Though the plan was for Nicki to just dip her feet in the water, like most of the kids there, she got pushed all the way in, her father said, laughing good naturedly – perhaps by one of the many “very big, burly Irish guys” in attendance.
“We ran for the car after,” he said, describing their mad dash to get redressed in warmer clothes. “It took literally 15 minutes to peel off our clothes.”
So did the experience live up to his adventuresome expectations?
“It’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever done. It’s absolutely nuts,” he said. “I’m going to make it an annual ritual.”
Deanna Cullen can be reached at dcullen@hudsonreporter.com.