I am half polar bear!

Today, I covered the annual polar bear plunge here in Sheboygan. 491 people dove into the cold waters of Lake Michigan. And while I can't say I was one of them, I can say I was pretty darn close.
I was going to shoot video of the event by standing in the water. Sam loaned me his waders and I had every intention of wearing them. But after interviewing polar bears for my article, I was running behind.
I had a choice, take five or 10 minutes to put the waders on or grab the camera and try to not get wet.
Choice B seemed right.
So I got infront of the mob, and I stood on the shore. I couldn’t get the shot I wanted, so I moved back a little bit. Then a little more. Then my feet were wet.
At that point, I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t going to stay dry so I went in further.
The polar bears ran toward me, splashing me with water. The waves hit me a couple of times. Soon I was soaked up to almost my waist.
I was in the water for a good 20 minutes. It was pretty cool. The video will be on The Sheboygan Press’ website tomorrow. I’ll post a link in the afternoon. For now, I’m happy I’m half a polar bear. A guy in a polar bear outfit said my trek counted, but I’m only going to take half credit.