Special Olympics and Wollongong Police representatives Kellie Henson, Anthony Collier, Timothy Walsh, Tara Elliffe, Karen Cook, Fraser King and Holly King at the launch of the 2026 Polar Plunge. Photo: Keeli Dyson.
Illawarra police, emergency service personnel and community members are set to shiver as they jump feet first into frosty winter waters to help support local athletes with intellectual disability and autism in reaching sporting success and personal potential.
At a time when many might be looking to pull on their winter warmers, our police are among those preparing to embrace the cold for a good cause at the region’s second annual Polar Plunge.
“It’s an exciting opportunity for us to work with other community groups, emergency services and community sporting groups to raise funds for Special Olympics athletes,” Wollongong Police District Superintendent Karen Cook said.
“Last year, local police raised over $8000 with over 120 people jumping into a very cold pool.
“So far this year we’ve raised $6000 but we hope to achieve and outdo our target from last year.”
The event was traditionally held in Sydney before it branched out to other parts – including the Illawarra – in 2025 to allow more people to get involved.
And now that the waters have been tested, it’s hoped the event will continue to grow to help support athletes from the volunteer-run Special Olympics Illawarra to represent and achieve their best without financial limitations being imposed on their families.
“Last year was an experiment; this year we’re hoping for heaps more people,” Special Olympics Illawarra chair Kellie Henson said.
“It’s all about providing opportunities for our athletes to ensure that they can perform at their best.
“We’ve got 13 athletes going on the state team to the National Games from the Illawarra and we want to help them get there because it’s a huge expense for their families; we don’t want any of them to miss out.”
Tara, Fraser and Tim are testing the waters ahead of the plunge in July. Photo: NSW Police.
One of the athletes who will be competing at the games is Fraser King, who is representing in basketball, a milestone achieved from years of dedication and training.
“It’s been a lifelong goal of mine to make it to nationals and so I’m very excited to live out the dreams I’ve had for a long, long time, so very appreciative and grateful,” Fraser said.
For Fraser, the plunge itself is nothing new with winter swimming part of his regular routine, but the atmosphere on the day with the community rallying around the athletes is still something pretty exceptional.
“It’s definitely really refreshing because in the earlier days we struggled to get that community support and have people come on board but it’s nice to see everyone buying in to what we’re doing and getting the funding and support we deserve because it’s been a bit of a long journey to get there,” he said.
Although the day will be cold, those involved are already starting to fire up, with the community being urged to get involved and support the athletes.
“We’d really like to put the invitation out to the community to jump onto the website and join either through a community group or a sporting organisation,” Superintendent Cook said.
“But we really put the challenge out there to the other emergency services as well – the ambulance, the firies, SES, RFS, to come and join us and raise funds for these wonderful athletes.”
“We need people to help us; we need the community to come on board,” Kellie said.
“We want as many opportunities as possible for other people with an intellectual disability to be able to join in sport.
“We’ve got athletes here who’ve won medals at World Games and we’ve got athletes who train every week and make friends – no matter what the level, every single person is important.”
The Polar Plunge will be held at the Continental Pool in Wollongong on Saturday 4 July.
To register or donate, visit the Polar Plunge website.
