[Bede735]

This actually happened (today),

Got up at dawn (8:30 am) and it was raining. Just like it had been most of Christmas Day. The temperature was forecast to be 8 c (46 degrees F) but the advantage of the rain was that the overnight temperature would have been quite mild. Couldn’t have expected any better for a dip in the sea! Tried to persuade my wife to take part, but she declined. However, she offered to come along to support me, and it was good to have someone else to drive.
The venue was Tynemouth, North East England, and the event was organised by the North Sea Volunteer Lifeguards. I arrived at 10.30 am to pay my registration fee, with the swim scheduled to start at 11 am. It had occurred me that I had never swam in the North Sea before. A rather strange time to start. I started my preparation at the Surf shop, which had a concrete path to stand on. I removed my coat and jumper, to reveal a sleeveless Karrimor vest. I put my coat back on to stay warm. I removed my socks, in order to save time when removing my sandshoes later. I stood there for several minutes but managed to stay warm. There was a young girl next to me who removed her jogging pants to reveal orange bikini bottoms with black string sides, which didn’t fully cover her posterior. Nice! She wore a black jumper but I didn’t found out whether she took this off or not. Apart from her, most people seem to wear a lot of clothing – fancy dress, t-shirts, and men with the obligatory long shorts.