SWAMPSCOTT – Organizers said the air was 20 degrees Fahrenheit, the water was 36 degrees, and more than 250 people emerged from the water at Fisherman’s Beach to help support young adults living on their own in Lynn.”It wasn’t that bad,” Gini Mazman, the executive director of The Haven Project, said after drying off. The organization, which provides a drop-in center and support services for young adults living on the street or on their own in unstable living situations, was one of two organizations that benefited from the money raised in the plunge. (Each person collects pledges, so money raised varies per participant). The Swampscott Public Library was the other recipient.”It’s a couple of minutes of cold to raise money for kids who deal with that all the time,” Mazman continued.The Swampscott Yacht Club holds a Polar Bear Plunge each New Year’s Day to raise money for a different nonprofit organization. Event organizer Jill Hartmann said Wednesday that the event started with just a few participants eight years ago. But she said more than 250 people registered this year. She estimated that at least twice that amount crowded the shore of Fisherman’s Beach to support – or gawk in disbelief – as individuals shed coats, boots, jackets, scarves and other winter gear and raced into the water at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Most also raced out of the water at 11 a.m.”It was 20 degrees out here with a brisk wind that picked up as they came out of the water,” Hartmann said. She said the water was measured at 36 degrees. She characterized it as good weather for the plunge.”It makes it a unique opportunity when the weather is inclement,” replied Chris Abbott, when asked if he was excited when he learned the weather would be cold or if he had hoped for unseasonably warm temperatures.Abbott joined Mazman and several members of East Coast International Church, including its pastor Kurt Lange, and Ward 4 Councilor Rich Colucci, to raise money for The Haven Project. The Munroe Street church offers space for the organization’s drop-in center, where young adults can come four evenings a week from 4 to 7 p.m. for a meal, some groceries from the church’s food pantry, basic clothing and toiletries, and Internet access.Mazman or assistant director Sarah Rutherford can also provide visitors with information on finding jobs, housing or shelters, education options, food stamps and health services to young residents ages 16 to 22 who, for whatever reason, find themselves living on their own or are in temporary or unstable living situations. The women also listen to the youths … and they are so dedicated to the cause that Mazman and more than 250 people were willing to brave the frigid Atlantic on Wednesday.The Appleyard family came from Essex to support Colucci.”I said I will triple my donation if he goes for a swim at the end,” Jimmy Appleyard said as Colucci prepared to race into the water. Colucci apparently accomplished that task, emerging with wet hair and without his sunglasses.”I guess he didn’t want to go diving around for them,” Appleyard said.Meanwhile, Mazman said the money raised from the event will go towards starting a cafe where participants in the organization can work and learn job skills.”This will give us a good chunk of money to do it,” Mazman said.Plus, she said it was a new way for her to ring in the year.