RU students prepare to chill at annual Polar Plunge

Dozens of Radford University students will take a dip in the icy New River on Feb. 28 during the Highlander Polar Plunge, a Special Olympics fundraiser.

Hosted by the Special Olympics Virginia and the Radford City Police Department, the annual event continually draws participation from the university community.

At Bisset Park, "brrrave" swimmers will splash around in frigidly-cold water to show their support for Special Olympics, an organization that helps individuals with intellectual disabilities overcome barriers through sports.

As of 2013, the organization had expanded its reach to more than 4.4 million athletes around the world, according to its most recent Annual Report.

At each polar plunge event, individuals must raise $50 to participate. Additional money raised rewards participants with special incentives, such as T-shirts and towels. This year, plungers who raise more than $700 will receive personalized bow ties so they can "freeze in fashion."

Among the participants will be members of the RU chapters of Alpha Sigma Alpha and Phi Sigma Kappa. Both of the chapters' national organizations support the Special Olympics as their charity of choice, and both groups annually compete with Virginia Tech chapters to fundraise the most money.

Check-in for the Saturday event begins at 10:30 a.m. followed by the plunge at 12:30 p.m.

Register online with Special Olympics here.