Walpole Bay New Years Day Swim
I’ve wanted to do a sea swim over the festive period for a long long time…… originally it was heading down to Brighton to jump in the sea on Boxing day. But, I just never got around to it. With my dive into open water swimming last year, the actual dangers of that idea became slightly more apparent. The sea at that time of year can be nearly freezing and our bodies can easily go into shock if we do not take the right precautions.
But come Christmas 2019 and my year of adventure, I wanted to do something different over the festive period. Checking Facebook on Christmas Day I was surprised at the number of lidos open which was a missed opportunity. So instead, a friend and I headed down to Margate on New Year’s Day to participate in the annual dip in the tidal pool.
And boy was it refreshing….. According to my Garmin, the temperature in the water was only 7 degrees.
We donned our wetsuits and took the slightly more cautious route of slowly walking into the pool from the beach end. Most people were walking along the side wall and climbing down the ladders into the pool directly. My friend managed a good 30 seconds or so before retreating to the warmth of a big fluffy jumper and clothes. I on the other hand kept getting deeper and deeper for a very brief swim of about 100 metres before getting out after 5 minutes. It felt like thousands of pins were being poked into me – and while that may sound like a painful idea, it was the most exhilarating experience of my life. I’m hoping next year I can swim right from summer into winter and manage some longer swims in the cold water.
We were so engrossed in the excitement of the day, surrounded by 100’s of people we even missed the seal who had joined us all at the pool for the fun.
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