The brave, the strong and the foolhardy dressed as cows, penguins and pirates and stood patiently in line Sunday morning, waiting to throw themselves into 36-degree water at the annual Polar Plunge at Boulder Reservoir.
The first to go in at high noon was Charlie Cooper of Parker, who said he had taken the brazen New Year’s Day dip once before.
“I’ve been in training, standing out on my deck in a pair of Crocs and a swimsuit,” he said, as he disrobed a red “For Mom” sweat shirt on the shore of the reservoir. “I’m gonna cannonball in.”
Cooper, 38, got the honor of hitting the frigid waters before anyone else because he raised the most money — $1,359 — for the Alzheimer’s Association of Colorado.
He said his 67-year-old mother had just entered a nursing home last month because of Alzheimer’s.
