Cold water is snow-problem for hundreds plunging into 2026
Hundreds rush into Onset Bay during the annual Polar Plunge. Photos by Bobby Grady
A snow-capped Onset Beach.
Morgan Wealti, left, and Kate Cunningham got festive for the event.
Evie and Josie, two 7-month old Whippets patiently wait for treats.
Guy Pacheco dances off the cold from his dip.
Fun 107's Chris "Gazelle" Arsenault keeps the party going.
The Buzzards Bay Coalition mascot CW made an appearance.
Arsenault leads the charge into the water.
Theresa Roux during the plunge.
Hundreds rush into Onset Bay during the annual Polar Plunge. Photos by Bobby Grady
A snow-capped Onset Beach.
Morgan Wealti, left, and Kate Cunningham got festive for the event.
Evie and Josie, two 7-month old Whippets patiently wait for treats.
Guy Pacheco dances off the cold from his dip.
Fun 107's Chris "Gazelle" Arsenault keeps the party going.
The Buzzards Bay Coalition mascot CW made an appearance.
Arsenault leads the charge into the water.
Theresa Roux during the plunge.
Some start the new year tackling their resolutions, some like to stay up and watch the clock strike 12, others like to brave the cold and dive head first into the water.
Around 400 people chose to start the new year by diving into the near freezing water of Onset Bay Thursday, Jan. 1 during the Onset Bay Center’s annual Polar Plunge.
“I think it’s a great way to really start the year off fresh and feel a good sense of community,” Onset Bay Center director Angie Weldon said. “Everyone’s here for the same reason, start the year off doing something different and getting out of their comfort zone.”
Prior to actually taking the plunge, participants lined up on Onset Beach which was covered in the morning’s snowfall and many said the snow made the day more memorable.
“It makes me feel like I’m in a cold water jacuzzi,” Theresa Roux said. “We’re not in the Adirondacks but it is the perfect time of year. It just makes the feeling more nostalgic.”
Roux added she’s no stranger to cold plunges, saying one of her biggest motivators for doing the plunge this year was the energizing feeling cold plunges give her.
“I feel like there’s a vitality that makes you feel kind of alive, or more alive than normal. It gives you an intense feeling of motivation,” she said.
And she plans on putting that motivation toward her new year’s resolution.
“I want to be happy every day,” she said. “Cold water plunges can make you feel that motivation to feel that happy. I also want to do the things that I enjoy.”
Participants and Onset residents Jeanette Geribl and Sue-Ann Murlay agreed with Roux, the snow was making the day more fun and offered a “good way to refresh and restart.”
And while this was not Geribl’s first plunge, it was Murlay’s.
“I was just a spectator before and I felt like a wimp so now I gotta do it,” Murlay said.
After the hundreds of participants ran head first into the bay, Deb Alfonso had one word to describe the experience.
“I’ll give you my reaction, it was invigorating,” Alfonso said with enthusiasm.
Alfonso is a member of the volunteer non-profit the Onset Bay Association that puts on events like the Harvest Moon Festival and Summer of Love Concerts throughout the year. She said seeing people come out to support the Onset community has been great.
“It’s great to see the turnout get bigger and bigger every year,” she said. “It supports the [Buzzards Bay Coalition] and the [Onset Bay Association] so it’s for a good cause.”
