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1,600 jump into icy Lake Ontario

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ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Organizers of a "Polar Plunge" in New York said about 1,600 people jumped into the icy waters of Lake Ontario to raise $225,000.

The 12th annual event, which occurred Sunday and raised funds for Special Olympics New York, took place during a snowstorm in the Rochester area that filled the lake with ice and slush, The (Rochester) Democrat and Chronicle reported Monday.

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"This was the coldest and the worst," said Andy DeMarco, 49, of Rochester, a retired sheriff's deputy who has participated in the event for several years.

But Randy Crum, 51, of Buffalo, a seven-year veteran of the Polar Plunge, said jumping into the frigid water is "not as bad as everybody thinks it is."

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