There are different groups of swimmers to be found at Blackrock diving board at the end of Salthill Promenade. There are the morning swimmers, the lunchtime swimmers and the evening swimmers. There are the summer swimmers and there are those that keep swimming until late autumn. Ther are those who will only swim when the sea is calm and there are those that like to thrash about in the highest of waves. But it’s the folks that seem to wait until there is frost on the ground and it is the coldest time of the year that I admire the most.
Even during the coldest mornings of this winter’s freeze, the same band of hardy swimmers turned up for their daily swim. Most of them didn’t bother with wetsuits either – just wearing trunks or ordinary swimsuits to cover their modesty (mind you, given the extreme cold, it probably took less than usual to cover the afore mentioned modesty). Even among this band of swimmers, there were some who took no chances when it came to swimming in the cold – either hopping in before the sun had risen, or waiting until the sun had set, so that they could swim under the evening star.
Ladies and gentlemen, I salute you all.