‘Screaming in freezing water — that’s love’

Paula McIntrye is a celebrity chef and author. She says:

Istarted swimming in the sea in Portrush in December with a group of girls, The Menopausal Mermaids, and it’s become a real stress-buster and great for health reasons.

There’s also a camaraderie there with us because the sea is dangerous.

The currents are quite strong and we have to look out for each other and support each other.

Afterwards we’ll have a chat, and if one of us has a problem, we’ll all sit down and try to sort it out.

We are a group of women from different backgrounds. We do different things and normally you wouldn’t put us together, but there we are four to five times a week, walking into freezing water, swimming, laughing and screaming with our adrenalin going and looking after each other.

That to me is love — that experience, that support.

In two months, swimming in the sea has changed my life. Everything I’ve done has been food-orientated. My own time would be spent going out for dinner or drinks.

Now this is my downtime, and it’s really putting a lot of things into perspective.

I think you need a bit of time to you yourself, and this morning my waterproof Fitbit told me I had taken over 5,000 steps, so it’s healthy too.

We do have a few men interested in joining the group, and we want to share that love, so if a man wants to become an honorary Menopausal Mermaid, we will welcome him!”