More Swimming at Hataitai Beach

 Hi there

I went swimming over the weekend.  The sea was cold, and I thought "Oh do I really want to winter swim for a fourteenth year?"  My original swimmer friend, Jay, had to give up winter swimming about  the ten year mark, and because of work and shifting house, The Young One had to leave Hataitai Beach at the ten year mark as well.

To not feel frozen in the winter water, a person has to go swimming fairly continuously, otherwise they feel the cold terribly.  And even if they adore the sea,  they really should get out at the ten minute mark because they will probably be sitting shivering over a heater for the next couple of hours, curising that they ever went swimming in the first place.

 I think the happy glossy euphoric feeling of doing the thing - winter swimming - has sort of left me.  I see all the newcomers getting into the water with joy on their faces and that joy has all but gone from me now. It's not an adventure anymore.  

The changing shed at Hataitai Beach in winter would be like standing in an igloo.   Or on an iceberg.   It's hard to get into clothes when one has frozen fingers that refuse to do up buttons and zips, or tug on a bra, or pull up socks.  In winter, I ended up in big clunky mittens, a thick woollen scarf, pom-pom knitted hat, the fleeciest trousers and sweater that I could find at Millers, and a jacket so heavy that I feared I might drop to the changing shed floor under all the weight. I often kept a thermos cup of hot soup in my car; my shivering fingers could hardly hold the cup.

Two years ago I purchased a full-length towelling top, with a hood.  This enabled me to go straight from sea to car to home to shower, all within about 7 minutes.  Better...

Do I want to winter swim for a 14th year?  I didn't want to end on 13 years - it's an unlucky number - but I don't know if I can continue being so cold for another winter season.

Last year I dropped my swims down to a couple of times a week.  If I go this year, it might be once a week, which means I will, no doubt, feel the deep cold as I get into the sea because of the length of time between swims.

I don't know what to do....