KINGSTON, R.I, — March 27, 2023 – University of Rhode Police Det. Mark Brasil is accustomed to taking a dip in the cold ocean water in March.

From Saturday, March 25, through Sunday, March 26, Brasil participated in the 10th Annual Torch Run Super Plunge – his fifth year “Freezing’ for a Reason” at Salty Brine State Beach. Benefiting Special Olympics Rhode Island. The weekend event started sharply at 1 p.m., with 12 plungers taking their first dip of the 24 to come. These determined participants plunged into the freezing Atlantic Ocean once an hour on the hour for 24 consecutive hours.

The annual event, started by Chief Elwood Johnson Jr. of the Richmond Police Department in 2013, has grown exponentially from one plunger, Johnson, to 20 teammates in 2019. The funds raised by the event help more than 4,000 athletes compete and participate in year-round events hosted by Special Olympics Rhode Island with no cost to them or their families. 

Brasil’s interest in and commitment to the Special Olympics developed during his time stationed in Guam with the U.S. Air Force in 1998.

“It was a volunteering opportunity that I was given by the Air Force and it’s something that I took pretty seriously … that’s where I fell in love with it,” he said.

When he was introduced to the program, he was inspired to join as a coach there because of his own athletic past, he said. With his expertise, Brasil felt he could truly help the athletes.

After his time in Guam, Brasil continued his military service in Italy, where such opportunities were not available. It wasn’t until Brasil came back to the states that he was able to rekindle his enthusiasm for the Special Olympics.

When Brasil began working with the URI Police Department in 2003, he was introduced by co-worker Sgt. Erica Vieira to the Torch Run, during which members of area police and fire departments, as well as corrections officers, carried the torch from the Statehouse in Providence to the fields at URI for the opening of the Special Olympics Summer Games. URI has hosted the games since 1970. After making his way from the Statehouse to URI, Brasil volunteered to award medals to the athletes. He has been doing this every year since.

In 2008, the Law Enforcement Torch Run Plunge was created. Vieira and Brasil took the plunge for the very first time and have continued since then. In 2016, Brasil learned about the Super Plunge, and took on the role as a teammate in 2017 alongside Vieira.

The Super Plunge is similar to the Law Enforcement Torch Run Plunge, with one major difference. Instead of plunging into near-freezing waters a single time, Super Plungers must plunge once an hour for 24 consecutive hours.

Brasil said this is one of the ways he and other volunteers raise money and awareness for the Special Olympics. One of the many reasons he and his wife, Ann-Marie, who is also a Super Plunger, feel so passionately about these events is because they have a family member with special needs who is also an athlete.

“He’s a wonderful kid,” he said. “It’s just something that’s very close to us. We try to make a little difference if we can.”

In addition to raising money, the event is also designed to create awareness. Brasil said there is a large misconception that the Special Olympics only takes place in the summer. By participating in these plunges, participants hope to remind people that Special Olympic events take place throughout the year, including internationally.

The Super Plunge team consisted of 12 members, including their captain, Michael Bullock, who Brasil says “is one of the most dedicated and inspirational teammates one could hope to have.” Bullock is a Special Olympics athlete. 

“I am honored to plunge alongside our captain and dear friend, Michael Bullock,” Brasil said. “He is a huge part of this team.” 

An honorary team member is Mike Walter, a Special Olympics Rhode Island athlete, who has devoted many hours to the Special Olympics in his 34 years of competing. “His motivation and inspiration keep us all going,” Brasil said.

“The most important part of the plunge, whether it is the Super Plunge or the Law Enforcement Torch Run Plunge, is the athletes. They come out all weekend and plunge with us, we do this for them,” Brasil said. “The athletes and their families are the most important reason, to show them that we support them and that we care about them and we want to help in any way we can.”

Brasil volunteers with the Special Olympics athletes outside of the Torch Run Plunge, as well. 

When talking about his experience as a volunteer, he said he does it out of pure love for the athletes and their passion. 

“The folks that I have on the team here, they’re just unbelievable. A lot of them are extremely dedicated,” he said. “I think volunteering is almost purely selfish at this point, because it brings me a lot of joy seeing their faces smiling back at me while I’m running out of the water, or their handshakes or their hugs congratulating me as if I had done something miraculous. It’s them who are the miraculous ones and I’m so proud of them, as are all of my teammates.”

Typically, the Law Enforcement Torch Run Plunge – and the Super Plunge – attracts about 200 participants, all of whom raise money. Most of the participants are police officers and firefighters, Special Olympic athletes and their families, local residents and students from neighboring schools.

A post-plunge celebration was held at George’s of Galilee, 250 Sand Hill Cove Road, Narragansett. 

Rhode Island State Games
The Rhode Island State Games, Special Olympics Rhode Island’s largest sporting event of the year, will return to the University of Rhode Island on June 3 and 4. URI has been the home of the state games for more than 50 years.

Special Olympics is a global movement that unleashes the human spirit every day around the world through the transformative power and joy of sport. Through programming in sports, health, education and community building, Special Olympics is tackling the inactivity, stigma, isolation, and injustice that people with intellectual disabilities (ID) face. Our work goes far beyond sports events, driving social change that enables full social participation for people with ID.

Special Olympics’ approach is to deliver high-quality training and competition in an inclusive culture through Unified Sports, which allows for people with and without intellectual disabilities to play on the same field.

Morgan Maleonskie, an intern in the University of Rhode Island’s Department of Communications and Marketing and senior double majoring in journalism and communication studies, wrote this press release.