There aren’t many harder tests of endurance than plunging yourself into the Atlantic Ocean in March every hour for a full day.

That, though, is what Daniel O’Neil and 13 others will be doing in the Torch Run Super Plunge from noon on March 23 to noon on March 24 at Salty Brine State Beach.

O’Neil, a sergeant with the Rhode Island State Police, is a Warwick resident. He first learned of the Super Plunge from Elwood Johnson, chief of the Richmond Police Department, who started the tradition in 2013.

While O’Neil has run marathons and done other tests of endurance for charity, the Super Plunge is brand-new for him.

“I called it my reset button every year, because every once in a while, your body just needs to recharge and I always feel great after I do it,” O’Neil said. “So I’m hoping if I’ve done it 24 times, that’ll give me a really big reset.”

While others that he will be plunging with him have prior experience doing the Torch Run Super Plunge, O’Neil hopes his experience working a night shift will be able to give him a bit more energy throughout the night than he would otherwise have.

“All the other gentlemen and ladies that are with us don’t usually stay up all night, and I’m going to probably be the only one at 3 a.m. that’s going to be like, okay, let’s go,” O’Neil said. “I’m kind of used to staying up overnight. It’s just a few extra cups of coffee. I can make that 24 hours.”

The team element, though, is something that is important to O’Neil. He gives Johnson a lot of credit for starting the event, saying that he would not have been able to take the plunge on his own.

Another motivator for O’Neil is raising money for Special Olympics Rhode Island, beneficiary of the Super Plunge.

“One of my next door neighbors, when I moved into my house in 2006, she was only 15 at the time and she was a Special Olympics athlete, and we became very close,” O’Neil said. “I saw how much she was motivated to compete and really go above and beyond for Special Olympics, and I watched how she grew because of it, grew confident in herself.”

Ed Pacheco, CEO of Special Olympics RI, first met O’Neil in 2022. What stood out about him, he said, were his senses of groundedness and humility.

“He is such an important part of our community in the ways he gives back, all that he’s done,” Pacheco said.

While Pacheco won’t be plunging, he will be in Galilee on the 23rd and 24th, getting coffee for the plungers and checking in on them as they plunge.

Last year, the plungers ended up raising approximately $130,000 for Special Olympics RI. Pacheco said that the money went towards equipment, facility rentals and making sure that athletes did not have to pay to participate in Special Olympics events.

“When one of our athletes hears that these men and women are jumping into the ocean for 24 hours straight every hour on the hour for them, that changes their mindset- that someone believes in them so much they’re willing to go to these lengths to support them,” Pacheco said. “Every philanthropic dollar goes towards changing lives.”

This year, according to O’Neil, they’re looking to bring in another $100,000 at least. He himself is looking to raise $4,800.

Following the event, O’Neil will take a couple of days off to recover physically. He said it will be well worth it.

“It means the world to these (Special Olympics) athletes,” O’Neil said, “so I’ll do it.”