During Melbourne’s chilly winter, whilst most of us were still in bed, a bunch of hardy souls was already down the beach, plunging into sea water that was hovering around nine degrees.
'In Williamston, Altona, St Kilda, Port Melbourne and right around the bay in the morning at sunrise, they are having a swim in the cold to get rejuvenated - then they have a nice hot cup of tea,' says Jason Bryce, swim coach and committee member of the Melbourne Open Water Swimming Club.
Whilst Jason claims the appeal of an early morning dip is universal, he says it is often something people try in their senior years.
'Open water swimming is good for your circulation, your nervous system, your mental health. It’s something people often come to as they get wiser and older and greying.'
Peta Soorkia says open water swimming is awful - and she highly recommends it.
Peta, who is in her 60s, has always been a swimmer but only took up open water swimming during lockdown because the swimming pools were shut. Now she is reluctantly addicted to the almost euphoric feeling that follows her beach swim.
'I still go once a week. I have to force myself, but as I heard other day — and it's so true, "You never regret a swim". It’s sort of a catchcry because you think, "I just can't do this. It's raining, it's windy, it's choppy", then you get in and it's awful — then that feeling just comes. It’s sort of like a drug. That feeling lasts maybe an hour or two, but the general sense of wellbeing is certainly for 12 hours. It's phenomenal.'
Another club member, Dora Levakis, 63, only learned to swim a year ago.
'I grew up in Shepparton and, in those days, it had the biggest outdoor chlorinated swimming pool in the Southern Hemisphere, but no one taught you how to swim. It was expected you would learn by osmosis,' Dora says.
Dora was already a devotee of Wim Hof, the Dutch breathing and cold therapy instructor who encourages people to regularly immerse themselves in ice water, so plunging herself into the cold bay water was appealing.
'It exercises the smooth muscle fibres of the cardiovascular system and gets you out of your comfort zone,' Dora says.
'It’s excellent for your mood. If you struggle to meditate because your mind wanders, you should try it,' she says. 'The hug of cold water puts you right in the moment - anti-inflammatory effects last for days, along with a great sense of wellbeing.'
Jason says you don’t need to swim to reap the benefits of the chilly activity. The club also runs cold water immersion sessions, which sees participants walk in the water, rather than swim, occasionally dipping their head under if the fancy takes them. A safety person, on a board, is on standby in case of trouble.
There is also a shallow water swimming group that doesn’t go beyond the depth where participants can stand up.
'They swim one kilometre in 45 minutes, but it’s not all in one go and they can stand up when they need to,' Jason says.
Reviewed 09 December 2022