There's nothing like dunking your coworker in an polar-cold bath at 7 a.m. in the morning.
NBC 5 anchors Michele Relerford and Evrod Cassimy sent NBC 5 Meteorologist Alicia Roman swimming in a dunk tank Thursday morning, in honor of Sunday's annual Chicago Polar Plunge at Lake Michigan. The event, in its 25th year, benefits the Special Olympics of Illinois and takes place at 10 a.m. North Avenue beach, with several NBC 5 reporters participating.
Relerford threw a knock-out strike on her first pitch, releasing Roman straight into the ice before the 7 a.m. hour.
"Nobody expected me to hit the target," Relerford said after. "This is a first."
As a shivering Roman crawled out of the tank -- and holding an eyelash that had fallen off -- Cassimy tried finagle the machine to drop Roman again. Eventually, it worked.
"You've never watched me move faster in my life," Roman said, climbing out of the ice and onto the ledge where it was warm and dry.
A recent social poll asking viewers who was most likely to hit the target had Relerford at the bottom, she said, but "sometimes, the underdog comes in through a clutch."
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Asked if she'd throw the ball again, Relerford declined, opting to leave on a high note instead.
"I don't think lightning can strike twice today," she said.
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Last year, NBC 5 morning hosts dunked traffic reporter Kye Martin into the tank, where she enjoyed an early morning ice-bath.
More information about Sunday's Chicago Polar Plunge can be found here.
