"My soul is full of longing
for the secret of the sea,
and the heart of the great ocean
sends a thrilling pulse through me."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
TikTok
I completed my TikTok video for my Masters scicomm course (anyone can view it here but it’s best viewed on the TikTok app for full effects and captions, etc.).
I had fun making it. It’s filmed with a GoPro and edited with CapCut so I learned some new skills (and learned not to give up my day job, haha). My favourite part was a Zoom workshop with some others from my course where we all critiqued each other’s projects. The others had created podcast scripts and infographics, among other media, on a variety of topics. The main feedback I got was to shorten the video, which I did, and that they enjoyed being ‘taken for a swim’ and learning ‘science by stealth’, i.e. learning without realising they were learning.
It’s far from perfect – the beginning’s a bit slow and clunky, and at one point you can see I’m HOLDING A PAPER SCRIPT IN THE WATER – but it’s had about 1,200 views and 150 likes on TikTok so people don’t hate it. I shared it in some local Facebook swim groups too in case others find it useful. I’ve discovered that a lot of people don’t know about afterdrop, where your body temp continues to fall for another 30 mins after getting out of the water. That’s why it’s super important to get changed right away, at least when it’s not the middle of the summer! (End of lecture.)
Togs (what Kiwis call a bathing suit/cozzie/swimmers)
Winter has arrived and although it’s not freezing cold yet the weather has been a bit crazy with thunderstorms, gale force winds and heavy rain so I didn’t swim for about 10 days, which is a long time for me. I thought about going to the pool – I packed a bag and everything – but couldn’t quite bring myself to do it.
At the beginning of June, on World Ocean Day, the weather calmed down for a few hours and I took my first 2022 winter swim. A rainbow appeared, which felt auspicious (and I think you’re never too old to marvel over a rainbow).
I swam in my togs and am proud to say it’s been six months since I last wore my short-sleeved wetsuit (this is sounding like Wetsuits Anonymous), which I wore in the sea all through 2021. That was a goal I set myself at the beginning of this year and it’s been fine so far. To be honest, it was partly to ‘fit in’ with the other swimmers I go with. Most people didn’t judge my wetsuit (certainly no one in my lovely group) but last year I’d get the odd comment elsewhere, including from people who don’t get in the water at all!
I’ll write more about swim gear choices another time but for now I wear neoprene gloves, hat and socks to protect my head, hands and feet (I should be sponsored by BlueSeventy) and then I get that lovely cold tingle over the rest of me.
A dawn swim
This morning at 7:30 I joined another local swim group (I did feel a bit like I was cheating on my usual group but that one mostly meets on weekends, not at dawn, so it wasn’t really cheating, more like … broadening horizons?).
Today’s excursion involved three new things: new people, new beach, and new swim time. New things can be a bit scary, but this wasn’t. Twenty women were there and everyone was so warm and friendly, I didn’t feel like an interloper. The group formed last summer and has continued. It’s kind of lovely, actually, because it was inspired by another group of swimmers from 20 years ago who swam at the same beach in their 80s. Now there is a memorial bench there (I love memorial benches as a tribute to people who loved the area; we have many coastal memorial benches around here and I always enjoy reading the plaques).
Funny how a new swim beach can be a bit daunting, even if it’s a local beach. I was excited so I got there early and sat alone on the memorial bench, in my green woolly hat and blue swim robe, watching the light emerge through the clouds over the Eastbourne hills. The northerly had died down and so had the previous day’s swell.
Dawn swims are different: it’s a brisk start to the day and no sun on your back to warm up with afterwards. Solstice week is probably an odd time to join a swim group, but I’m on study break so had the physical and mental capacity to try something new.
Others quickly arrived with cheerful meet and greets. Many live just down the road so came wearing their togs and hooded towels. Meanwhile, I had packed my trusty grey Bunnings bucket with: warm clothes, towels, coffee thermos, a container with some chocolate cake to share with my new friends, and a camera.
There was no faffing around and people got in as soon as they were ready. The tide was high and entry was a bit stony. The water temp was about ‘Ooh, bit nippy’ level but definitely above ‘Gah! Freezing!’. Maybe 13 or 14 degrees? Once in, it just felt great and everyone was bobbing about in their hats and caps, their smiling faces illuminated by the pink and orange sunrise. I don’t know how long we stayed in – 10, 15 minutes? – but I wasn’t the first to get out, hooray!
People left so quickly afterwards it was almost like a flashmob experience, but of course it’s a weekday morning so everyone had places to be. I was alone while still hopping around putting socks on, but that’s probably a good thing because I hadn’t brought enough cake for 20 people!
I felt utterly fantastic afterwards: a mix of cold water euphoria, the pleasure of meeting friendly people with a shared interest, expanding my comfort zone, and time and space to swim into a new dawn.
I so love your posts and tales of cold water euphoria :D
Can’t wait to try a dip with your new friends