By MADDY VITALE
Ocean City’s First Dip, when brave revelers rush into the chilly water to get a fresh or rather refreshing, albeit brisk, start to the New Year, is back after a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For some, it is a zany and memorable way to spend a few minutes on New Year’s Day. For others, it is a ceremonial event that has become an important part of their tradition to signify new beginnings.
“We think it is a great way to kick off the New Year in Ocean City. It wraps up our First Night events and takes you into the First Day events,” Michael Allegretto, aide to Mayor Jay Gillian, said Sunday. “It continues to grow and get bigger each year.”
The plunge is scheduled for 2 p.m. on New Year's Day at the Eighth Street beach next to the Music Pier.
Ocean City residents and friends, Carl Wanek and Joe Schneider, have been taking the dive into the chilly water for 12 years.
They didn’t miss the chance to continue their tradition last year and did their mad dash into the frigid water, despite the official First Dip being canceled.
Carl Wanek and Joe Schneider follow Wanek's son, Carl Jr., and friend Tripp Crowley into the waves for their traditional "First Dip" on New Year's Day in 2021.
And this year they will certainly be at First Dip, making it their 13th year.
“We do it regardless if they cancel or not. We are just excited to be able to do it and have basically 2,000 or 3,000 other maniacs like us to do it,” Wanek said. “It cleans off last year and is almost like a baptism, a rebirth, into the next year with a clean slate.”
And each year, Wanek and Schneider dress in different costumes to take the plunge.
“Sometimes it is like last minute ideas and other times it is well thought out,” Wanek explained. “I have an idea for this year, but I am trying to get Joe on board.”
One year, Wanek dressed as the Elf on a Shelf. Another time he was a masked wrestler. He wore a Donald Trump-inspired outfit another year. In 2019, he was an Eagles fan, fitting for the Super Bowl win. For him and Schneider’s dip in 2020, he was a French-Canadian tourist.
Wearing Donald Trump-inspired outfits, Carl Wanek, left, and Joe Schneider emerge from the brisk ocean in 2018 when the city canceled the official First Dip due to the cold.
And sometimes, their kids even take a jump in the water. Last year Wanek’s son, Carl Jr., and his friend, Tripp Crowley, also of Ocean City, joined the duo for the unofficial First Dip.
“I am sure the kids will be there. But every year, they say they will do it and there are like 10 or 15 of them, but only a couple end up doing it,” Wanek said with a laugh about the kids and their friends joining in.
Schneider, who wore a dark suit and Donald Trump mask for his dip in 2021, said he is looking forward to continuing the wacky tradition.
“Carl and I do the plunge every year because it is a great way to bring family and friends together on the beach to celebrate the beginning of a new year,” Schneider said.
A big crowd of participants and spectators anticipate the start of the plunge in 2020.
The popularity of the First Dip continues to grow.
Several years ago, Ocean City made the decision to move First Dip from the Moorlyn Terrace beach side of the Music Pier to the Eighth Street side.
“There is more room for people to run in and out,” Allegretto pointed out, noting the jetties on the Moorlyn Terrace beach side.
And the need for more room is a major priority considering how many plungers dive in.
“Obviously, it is bigger when the weather is warmer, but there is always at least 1,000 people who show up for it each year,” Allegretto said.
Carl Wanek, of Ocean City, dons an old-school bathing outfit and a straw hat as he prepares to run into the Atlantic with his family in 2020.
The mayor canceled the event in 2018 due to the extreme cold temperatures.
The event was started by the First Night Committee about 20 years ago. The committee created family-friendly events for a safe, alcohol-free way to ring in the New Year with events and activities at venues throughout town. They also created the First Dip.
“The First Night Committee really did a great job building up the event over several years before turning it over to the city,” Allegretto said of First Night and First Dip.
