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NEW JERSEY COPS ■ MARCH 2014
The great challenge
Three Locals clash to be longest to splash
■ BY JOSHUA SIGMUND
At every Polar Bear Plunge, three flags representing three PBA
Locals can often be seen at the front of the pack rushing the
Atlantic and protruding from the ocean long after most
plungers have retreated back to the beach. In the plunge’s version of Cops vs. Cops vs. Cops, the Locals challenge each other
to be the last one to stay in.
Representing Guttenberg Local 88 at the 2014 Plunge, Investigator Joe Keselica psyched himself up while fighting those
pushing their way down to the beach from the Seaside Heights
boardwalk.
“We’re in the longest,” he stated, recalling his previous record
of more than 30 minutes in the 2013 Plunge. In his sixth year
participating, Keselica set his sights on remaining in the frigid
Atlantic for 45 minutes, “if not longer,” he said. “The weather is
better than it normally is, and if you’re willing to support the
cause, you will do the best you can.”
For Rahway Local 31, Detective Tom McComb was easily
seen in his Green Bay Packers Jersey and distinctive cheese hat.
“I have to wear it every year,” he stated. “I’m born and bred in
New Jersey, but I just love the Packers.”
Bayonne Local 7 Sergeant Wayne Grapstul and his Patrolman Officer wife
Kimberly are keeping up their end of
the challenge. Wayne, who is retiring
on April 1 after more than 30 years
on the force, intended to go out
with a bang for his last Plunge as an
officer. “I usually stay in at least 30
minutes,” he noted.
The competition between these
three Locals goes back at least six years,
but nobody really knows for sure.
“A couple years ago, someone said he wasn’t getting out,”
recalled McComb. “Then others said they weren’t getting out
either. Eventually, the lifeguards threw us out.” McComb has a
simple philosophy when it comes to his reason behind the
freezin’: “Once you’re cold, you’re cold. I’ve been to doctors
before the last few events and they said you could really get sick.
But I just told them, ‘That’s why there are lifeguards.’”
In the end, the extreme low water temperature forced all
Local challengers to evacuate the ocean after about 26 minutes
– but not without a fight.
“We all would have stayed in longer, but the lifeguards told us
to get out,” explained Keselica. “Either way, we had a blast.”
With nearly $10,000 raised between the three Locals, and a
fair tie going to the plungers, the real winner of the challenge
was the Special Olympics, which was certainly the true motivator to out-freeze each other.
“You do it for a good cause so you can’t give up,” emphasized
McComb. And proving again that this year’s Plunge was the
biggest and best yet, Rahway’s personal challenge was to beat
its last year’s total money raised.
“We try to raise more and more money every year,” McComb
continued. “It’s showing that even in these hard times, it’s well
worth it to see the kids and put a smile on their faces.”
Grapstul and McComb were barely dry when they already
began thinking about next year’s Plunge, and how they could
stay in even longer.
“I just got off the phone with Wayne, and we’re already making plans for next year,” McComb said. Grapstul agrees:
“I’m most definitely staying with the Plunge next year, even
after retirement,” he stated. “If you can’t make a sacrifice for one
day, there’s something wrong.” d