CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The ninth Polar Bear Plunge for ALS was held on Magee Beach downtown Monday morning.
There was a record turnout and a record breaking amount of donations to fight ALS, with the event raising $111,862, since it's creation in 2015.
"Freezing. It's really cold!" said Heather Aguilar.
More than 200 people turned out for the fun run and plunge in front of the Emerald Beach Hotel.
3NEWS caught up with Shawna Beard and two other participants as they were getting out of the water.
"It was colder than last year," Beard said. "It's a great fund raiser. It's for a good cause.
Organizer Alissa Mejia said the event raised a record amount of donations: over $18,000. After several years of not being held, Mejia restarted the plunge because of her dad, who died due to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
"It's not that cold. We're getting off the hook pretty easy this year. The water is in the low 60's and the air is going to hit nearly 70 by noon," Meija said.
But that opinion wasn't shared by everyone.
Brooke Bollinger and her mom, Kelly, said the event was a good start to the new year.
"It was freezing. But it was awesome. It was an amazing start to the new year. I loved it," Brooke said.
And even though everyone said they were freezing, many stayed in the water longer than you might think to celebrate the new year.