400 take plunge for Special Olympics

More than 400 people dressed as cows, superheros, doctors, leprechauns, chickens and more, showed up for this year's Special Olympics Northern California and Nevada "Freezin' for a Reason" 2010 Polar Plunge and raised almost $73,000.

"People really got into it," said Maggie Schwarz, Regional Vice President of Special Olympics in Nevada.

That's almost double the attendance from last year's plunge and about $20,000 more in donations.

"We are so thrilled it's catching on," Schwarz said. "It's word of mouth, it's fun and it's for all the right reasons."

Participants came from all over the region and beyond, from Carson to Tahoe to Vacaville, Calif. to Texas.

The money raised goes to provide thousands of developmentally disabled athletes with free training and competition opportunities.

Last year, 200 people from Carson City, Reno and various Lake Tahoe communities plunged for Special Olympics and raised more than $53,000.

After the plunge, many attendees headed over to the MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa

for a post-party, where many awards were handed out.

First place for costumes went to Sevey's Survivor's team, followed by the U.C. Davis Police in second place and the Greater Nevada Credit Union Superheros in third place.

The highest fundraising team was Nella Oil, which raised $12,982, followed by the Tracy Police Department Heavy Hitters with $7,345 and the Special Olympics High on Quack team with $6,760.