'It's really cold': Westmoreland County residents polar plunge into 2025

For Craig Shevchik, polar plunging into Keystone Lake at the beginning of January is tantamount to spending time in the freezer.

“I’m cold,” was his first reaction after emerging from the lake on Saturday morning.

Shevchik, 52, of Greensburg, led the charge into the freezing cold water for the fourth year in a row — to raise money for Greater Latrobe Parks & Recreation programming, where he’s the executive director.

“It gets a little bit harder every year because I get a little bit older,” he said, laughing. But he said the experience is a good time in spite of the weather.

The temperature was between 19 and 21 degrees at Keystone State Park at 10 a.m. Saturday morning when the plunge took place, according to Matthew Kramar, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Moon Township.

The windchill was between 3 and 6 degrees, he said.

“Just go ahead and put your head in the freezer for a while and then run cold water over top of it, and that’s how you feel,” Shevchik said.

Saturday was Sophia Newhouse’s third polar plunge at just 11 years old. She said she went the water up to her thighs and decided to come back out — as this year was the coldest plunge yet.

“It’s really cold,” said Newhouse, of Latrobe. “Last year, I could go in fully, but this year, I couldn’t.”

She participated in the polar plunge with people she goes to school with and her brother. The snow didn’t phase her.

However, Newhouse said, “I couldn’t feel my feet at all.”

Water safety

Around 50 people showed up for the polar plunge this year, which is less than 2024’s 60 people who participated, according to Shevchik.

“Each year it goes down a little bit,” he said, and the frigid temperature might have something to do with the numbers.

For the safety of those in attendance, members of the Westmoreland County Swift Water Rescue team surrounded the area of Keystone Lake where the polar plunge took place.

“If somebody would happen to (get) in trouble, we’d be right there to pull them out,” said Will Walters, water rescue captain.

With the low temperatures, windchill and snow on Saturday, he said hypothermia was a main concern, as it can set on quickly in similar conditions — within minutes.

“I’m kind of already an ice cube,” Walters said. “Our main thing was as soon as they get in, get them back out. If there’s any type of medical emergency, we were there to take care of it.”

Water robs the body of heat about 25 times faster than air, he said, so it was important that everyone get dried off quickly.

“Get dried off, get clothes on, get in warm vehicle quickly,” Walters said.

Throughout the four years of the polar plunge at Keystone Lake, which happens during the first Saturday of every year, Shevchik said the participants have been fortunate to not have any emergency situations.

“That’s why we don’t jump in,” he said.

Instead, the group wades into the lake as far as they want to go.

“I go up to my shoulders,” Shevchik said. “I don’t get my head wet or else I’ll never get warm.”

Saturday was the coldest polar plunge at Keystone Lake yet, according to Walters, and Shevchik said he’s hoping to keep the tradition going in 2026 and beyond.

“I think if it was anything colder than today, I would have a serious conversation with Craig,” Walters said.