OCEAN CITY, Md. -- Combine New Year's Day, a frigid Atlantic Ocean, and fun costumes; you've got the perfect recipe for the 31st annual Penguin Swim.
On Tuesday night, people around the world counted down to midnight. On Wednesday, hundreds of people on the beach in Ocean City counted down to noon.
As soon as the clock hit 12:00 p.m., horns blared, people cheered and then made a mad dash for the ocean.
"Refreshing, renewed, I mean it's the best feeling," said Rick Roll.
The freezing-cold swim often lends itself to mixed reviews, though.
"Cold, wet, out of breath," said Morgan Brozena after getting out of the water.
The brief portion of the Penguin Swim, where people sprint into the ocean, gets most of the attention, and understandably so, but the event is so much more than just a few seconds of craziness.
There's the Bull on the Beach Parade, social gatherings in the Princess Royale atrium, and of course, the mental gut-check people have to do to prepare themselves for their dip into the Atlantic.
"I'm pretending like I'm in Costa Rica," said Pam Taylor.
From the outside looking in, the Penguin Swim might seem odd, perhaps even insane, but event veterans embrace that.
"The psychoticness of jumping in the ocean on January 1st," said Taylor when asked why she keeps returning.
Plus, the participants know their wild sides are being unleashed for a good cause: raising money for the Atlantic General Hospital Foundation.
"Whether it's stretchers, putting money towards x-ray equipment or different functions they may need," said Caitlin Evans, Co-Chair of the Penguin Swim and a board member of the AGH Foundation. "We get to give directly back to the hospital and then see our efforts go right back into the patients."
So far, this year's swim has raised $124,048. The foundation's goal was $112,000. The $124,048 also beat last year's record-breaking $111,000.
