80 brave frigid Sound for ALS victim

January 2, 2009

RYE - The garland and Christmas balls strung outside Seaside Johnnie's restaurant in Rye should have been enough of a clue that yesterday wasn't a day to dip a toe - let alone your whole body - in nearby Long Island Sound. The 20 mph wind making it feel like 6 degrees also should have been a sign.

Given all that, Dan Rube of Harrison wasn't quibbling when asked whether his thought process needed a tune-up.

"It's hard to disagree with that," he said, trying to towel off in the wind while hopping from foot to foot on the cold sand.

Rube, his 11-year-old son, Matthew, and about 80 other swimmers spent about 10 seconds of the first day of 2009 in the Sound in support of a good cause. By splashing around at Oakland Beach in January (instead of the more popular "J" swimming months of June and July), the crowd raised money for the Friends of Claire Foundation and awareness of an uncurable disease.

"She just feels so blessed because of all the support," said Phil Gormley, the brother of Claire Gormley Collier, for whom the foundation is named.

Collier, the mother of three young children, was found to have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, in 2003. The progressively fatal disease attacks motor neurons and makes even simple body movements nearly impossible. Victims generally face paralysis in the later stages, though their minds are usually unaffected.

Gormley said the money collected every year goes toward defraying the costs of Collier's medical needs, such as helping pay for 24-hour nursing care. Last year's dip raised about $4,000.

The event started nine years ago when Ray Kelly of Rye, a triathlete, jumped in the Sound to raise money for charity while Gormley snapped a photo to prove it.

Gormley went in that next year. More people each year leave their sanity and winter layers on the sand. Kelly linked the event with the Friends of Claire Foundation in 2005.

"He is a smooth-talking guy," Regan Andrews said of Gormley. "It sounded reasonable on the phone. The good news is the water's warmer than the air."

Jokingly, Kelly said he prepares each year by first taking a "tepid" shower and then lowering the water temperature on each successive bathing until he is laying in a tub full of ice cubes.

"But, really, it's just mental, getting here and doing it," Kelly said.

Chris Connolly of Port Chester said he's done the New Year's Day dip for about 5 years.

"It's sudden, it's a shock and it hurts," he said.

Everyone dressed as fast as possible after the swim. No one seemed to mind that the beach's showers were turned off and they couldn't rinse the sand off their feet.

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