Te Anau School deputy principal Mark Hunter said the annual icy dip at Marakura Wharf was a fundraiser for Te Anau School’s year 6 students.
Students, their families and locals were encouraged to dress up for the occasion.
"It was a beautiful day. It started off a bit cloudy, but the sun came out just as we started plunging, so it was the perfect day for it.
"It was probably about 7°C, I think. We didn’t get a lake temperature, but it would be in the single digits."
While the plunge was a highlight for the students, the main idea was to raise money for their camp in Dunedin, where they will visit the University of Otago Marine Studies Centre, Otago Museum and have a training session with the beach education programme run by Surf Lifesaving NZ, he said.
Mr Hunter believed this would be the largest group of students to be part of the camp — about 60 children were expected to make the trip.
The money raised by the event usually paid for about half the cost of a week-long camp, he said.
"We haven’t got the final tally in, but we’d made $3000 from raffles that were drawn on the day and then we’re hoping to match that in sponsorship."
"It was really good for [Mr Scott] to come along and support it," Mr Hunter said.
"Our school principal, Grant Exel, he was disguised as a large takahē, and he was chased by a school board presiding member, Chris Dale, who was dressed up as a Doc ranger. So they had a bit of a skit, ran around through the crowd ... so that sort of set the scene and got a bit of excitement in the crowd and everyone got to plunge after that."
Another highlight was the polar plunge was held the day after the Meridian Hydro Half Marathon, which started near Manapouri and finished in Te Anau.
That had attracted some out-of-town runners who needed some "cold water therapy," he said.
"That was really cool, so we are thinking to do the next year’s plunge the day after the marathon. That sort of makes sense. It’s a good crowd and we want to try and get more people in — it’s not just for locals.
"It’s a bit of fun to jump in the lake in the wintertime."
