Winter dippers out in their masses

So the inaugural Sea Swim Fitness New Year's Day swim went ahead and at 10:30 people began gathering on the fringes of the beach.  The old bar-b-que rattled down the tunnel and over the stones to park in the middle of the beach and light up.  The numbers grew slowly at first and then suddenly I turned around and over a hundred people had surrounded us.  People in various stages of undress and rotating their arms to get warmed up. The smell of spitting sausages pulled in the punters further.  We gathered all the swimmers together for a short brief that went something along the lines of its cold and you may shiver afterwards (I had meant to say thanks all for coming but the words never come out that you plan..!)  We had a whole range of bravery from spectator - dry suit - wetsuit - shorts/swimsuit, and thankfully as there were kids about it didn't get any braver than that (Oh and we had a funny looking man dressed as a sailor, Paul - you win the show stopper outfit this year very impressive!!)  A last swig of tea and then we were off, a charge in to the calm 4 deg sea.  a beautiful moment, I held back to watch you all go in and had a smile to myself thinking what a lovely thing the club has become.  The bravery continued as Sara was knocking out widths of the beach and more folks went in without suits.  Lots of breath being taken away and mad flapping to keep him warm.  Some new swimmers joined us on the day which was lovely to see.  We had loads of pics taken so we will get them uploaded to a special page on the site!  After emerging from the deep blue we huddled around, caught up properly, had cakes, hot dogs and lots of tea/coffee to keep the mood going. The crowds stayed and cheered on there loved ones. An amazing start to the year, and definitely a new fixure on the calendar!!  Well done to you all and I must say thanks to the Saltdean Residents Association  for helping to advertise the event.

Love to you all and your families and a happy new Year!

Ollie

The beach begins to fill up in anticipation of the annual swim