This film is part of Free

Looe Swimmers

Swimmers at Looe take a regular dip in the sea.

News 1965 7 mins

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Overview

A Sea Swimming Club has some new devotees including the reporter? Open water swimming, wild swimming and outdoor swimming have always been around but in recent years have flowed back into the public eye. Popularity is not confined to where you live. The South West boasts a Gulf Stream in the shape of North Atlantic Drift meaning the sea temperature barely drops below double digits and often it's the air temperature when exiting that takes the breath away!

Many seaside resorts, coastal towns and villages have outdoor swimming clubs. However, where there is less enthusiasm to brace the sea whatever the weather, others may turn out annually to keep up the tradition of a Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year's Day Swim often raising money for charity in the process. Only one thing is banned on that occasion, a wetsuit or any form of grease! For those who are hooked or want to be hooked the Outdoor Swimming Society, clubs for budding triathletes and open-water racers or wild swimming organisations will all help you get started and ensure basic safety regulations, especially in the winter when Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeguards don't patrol the beaches.