Jack Brennan knew what to expect. After all, on New Year’s Day he visited Goddard Park Beach and, as tradition has it, stripped down to his bathing suit and ran into Greenwich Bay. Scores of people, if not more than 100, would have been doing the same thing as part of the Frozen Clam Dip and Obstaplunge if it wasn’t for the coronavirus.

The event hosted by Laid-back Fitness for the benefit of Mentor RI was postponed, but not canceled. Under guidelines that staged the event in four waves starting at 11 a.m. Sunday, groups of no more than 20 ran the obstacle course and then raced into the still bay waters. Some like Brennan just went for the water.

He was in for a surprise.

While the morning temperature was already in the 50s and it was a day for shorts, the bay water, after months of below freezing weather, was colder than it was in January. Nonetheless, Brennan recommended the dip as a good way to feel alive especially after a year of pandemic rules.

Last year’s dip and obstaplunge preceded the virus shutdown. It was the most successful in its 10-year history, raising more than $14,000 for Mentor RI. Overall, the event has raised more than $67,600 to assist the agency that pairs at risk students with adult volunteers who meet weekly. The program has transitioned to more virtual connections with the pandemic. Mentor RI also serves as a facilitator for other mentor programs, providing training and background checks.

McGowan wasn’t prepared to let the pandemic scuttle an event that has built a reputation, a following and benefits a good cause. He felt skipping a year could impair momentum if not relegate it to a memory.

“I felt we could do it in a safe way,” he said. Apart from having participants report at different times so as to keep the numbers down, McGowan eliminated obstacles requiring handholds. Competitors jumped between obstacles or wiggled through netted hoops in the sand.

RI Mentor executive Jo-Ann Schofield joined the first wave of dippers. She was excited to see so many turn out. It was hardly the same as past years. That didn’t seem to matter. The important thing is that COVID couldn’t snuff out an event that brings people together for a common cause. The dippers raised more than $7,000.