Looking to join an open water swimming group?
On Saturday 3rd April 2021 there were four of us who organised to meet and swim at Porthcurnick – and the Roseland Sea Swimmers Facebook Group was born.
The intention was to connect with people and to swim, not for a big social or to organise or steer a group but to just facilitate and connect with someone, maybe one or two, to begin to rebuild a life post covid. To simply enjoy the experience and quiet beauty of this part of Cornwall. We describe it as the ultimate mindful experience and is a great ‘reset’ button for the week.
The quality of supportive connection became rich. We have a small core group and others come along as and when they can or to meet likeminded souls whilst visiting the area. It’s easy like that, anyone can post when they are looking to swim and hopefully someone can join them. There are other bubbles of regular swimmers with their favourite spots – we are lucky to have so many beautiful beaches to choose from, and this gives more flexibility depending on wind direction & tides.
We try to stick to Saturday at 2pm, but it’s an organic arrangement as it can change, so we recently started a ‘chat’ for more immediacy in updating if we change track once we get to the beach and see the conditions, plus for those spontaneous swims when you wake up to the sun and want to get in!
Swimming alone is never advisable and there is added safety with others. We all swim at our own risk but try and stay self informed and together. We generally ‘swimble’ but when conditions and courage are right we have been known to swim from Carne to Pendower and others have developed their swimming journey to include local swim events and take lessons to improve technique specifically for sea swimming.
Some wear ‘skins’ (just a cossie!) and others prefer a wetsuit, it can help with buoyancy too. We don’t stay in for a set amount of time – its not a badge of honour, its based on how we individually feel, some stay longer, others are a quick dip and back to the flask and warmth of their robe/coats! As the weather improves we can linger longer and enjoy the tranquillity and sounds sitting for a while in companiableness. Sometime soon you’ll find us, by a small fire after a refreshing swim, with Cornish tunes to be heard on the fiddle and the warmth of laughter across the sand…
We have also been approached by Roseland Nordic Walking group and will be arranging a couple of Walk/Swim events in June & July together. Further details will be posted on both groups Facebook Pages.