Think it's cold? Try a dawn ocean swim on winter solstice

Afterwards, the group warmed up with coffee at the Salty Dog Cafe.

WOW founder and organiser Jo Halley, said it was the group’s third winter solstice. “Every year it’s getting bigger and more exciting. Everyone’s really enthusiastic, which is great”.

Rather than a symbol of defying the gloom, Halley sees the event as the harbinger of better times.

“It feels like a very positive thing, to recognise that we’re in the middle of the year and the days are going to start getting longer. It’s that recognition that winter is not going to continue forever.”

Halley started Wednesday Ocean Waders three years ago after she and her son Jesse did a Wim Hof course, involving breathing exercises followed by a dip in an ice bath.

Wim Hof is a 65-year-old Dutch motivational speaker and extreme athlete who believes that daily cold water immersion is good for your health.

Seven people turned up to the first WOW session at Torquay on a Wednesday in May 2021, at sunrise. And from the initial once-a-week sessions, they now swim every day, attracting about 20 people in winter and up to 50 in summer.

WOW has offshoot social events such as dinners, theatre, fundraising and movie nights, and they even sell WOW-branded beanies and T-shirts.

Tony McNamara, a retired IT manager who joined in March last year and now swims almost every day, said he previously might have thought it was crazy to swim in the middle of winter, but has seen the light.

“Once you’re in the water, it gets your adrenaline going. And you come out with a sense of euphoria,” he said.

Hickey, who swims with WOW six days a week, said the winter solstice event was “if nothing else, an excuse to get together and have a bit of fun” but could also be a time to take stock mentally.

“Winter can bring challenges, the winter blues and all that, so we can reflect on that and know that it’s going to be brighter, with each day bringing more daylight,” Hickey said. “And it should get warmer, too, which is good.”