Bold swimmers sea in new year with dip
DID 2017 leave you feeling a bit cold?
Well, for these foolhardy souls, 2018 has got off to an even chillier start.
Scores of people chose to kick off the new year by diving into the biting North Sea waters off the coast of Whitley Bay.
One of Britain’s more baffling and increasingly popular traditions, the Whitley Bay dip coincided with similar events across the North East and the UK.
While some did the sensible thing and donned a wetsuit, many jumped in wearing just a swimming costume – or something a bit more bizarre.
From sumo wrestlers to Star Wars characters and from Elvis to Wonder Woman, many dippers were dressed to impress.
With temperatures back on land hovering around the five degrees Celsius, yesterday’s dip gave a whole new meaning to the expression “a fresh start”.
Local singer-songwriter Beccy Owen kept this year’s participants entertained before they took the plunge with a “pop-up choir” event.
Contrary to popular belief, the local Panama Swimming Club, which was founded in 1930, does not organise the event.
According to the club, many of its members take part in the event but say “the traditional mass swim is not currently officially organised by anyone”.
Similar dips were scheduled to take place at South Shields, Sunderland, Seaham, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea and Berwick.