18th March 2022
I celebrated a bit of a milestone yesterday with my 100th wild swim!
Prior to the Covid pandemic, I was a regular pool swimmer, getting up early in the morning to swim for an hour in a warm swimming pool. I had not considered swimming in the sea until I went for a walk in February 2021 and watched some sea swimmers in Weymouth. This was, I believe when the seed was sown in my head, that wild swimming was something I would like to do. However, it took me until June before I took the plunge at Overcombe corner in Weymouth.
The swim that day changed my life! I enjoyed it so much that throughout the rest of the summer I tried to swim as often as I could. I swam a lot in the evenings, after long hot summer days, and explored the Dorset coast looking for different places to dip. At the end of August, I spent 10 days in Suffolk and Norfolk, swimming in rivers, the Broads and the sea. During October I visited Cornwall and swam in several spectacular locations. I presumed that the sea would get too cold in the winter to keep swimming, but I remembered those February swimmers and thought “well if they can do it so can I”. I was motivated by my Goddaughter, who was also swimming regularly and we challenged one another to swim until Christmas. But we both continued on through January, February and here we are in March, still swimming several times a week outdoors in the sea!
I have met like-minded people, who have also swum through the winter, many have done it for years. The sea is warming up again now and will continue to do so as summer approaches. Daylight hours are increasing, which means sunrise swims are getting earlier, so double-dip days may be my next salty challenge!
If you are considering sea swimming this year, I would advise that you start on a calm sunny day. Take your time getting into the cold water and try and go with someone else, even if they just sit on the beach whilst you swim. Have a look through my previous blog posts, where you can read about different swim locations and safety considerations.