Forget about Finland, go to Northumberland to try 'ice dipping' this winter.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 That water is cold.
00:07 It's the sun, isn't it?
00:16 I'm here at Sugar Sands on the Northumberland coast for Ice Dip Social. So that is in and
00:20 out of the cold water. This is the North Sea. It is so cold here.
00:24 How snug is it supposed to be?
00:26 I've got a wetsuit, I've got a cosy changing robe on and we have a sauna tent, we have
00:30 a fire and we're going to be going in and out of the sea all day.
00:33 Right, okay, so I'm back to my water. Let's see how it goes.
00:36 [Sings]
00:45 This is the first dip of many, so we'll see how I go.
00:49 So far, feet are cold, water's dripping down the back of my wetsuit occasionally, but nowhere
00:54 near as - oop, sorry, I almost fell under - nowhere near as cold as I thought I'd be.
00:59 Dip one is complete. I'm now out, got my changing robe back on to keep cosy and have a hot cup
01:04 of tea.
01:07 After a spot of lunch in the cosy mess tent, it was time to start a series of six dips.
01:11 And to make it even harder, I was only going to wear half of my wetsuit.
01:16 I found this first dip so cold and really struggled to submerge myself.
01:21 There's some research that shows you acclimatise to the cold after six dips, so we'll see how
01:25 I feel later on.
01:27 Thankfully, the sauna was super cosy.
01:30 It is number two of six.
01:38 Oh gosh, okay, three, two, one.
01:42 Oh, oh, oh, oh god.
01:47 Oh god.
01:50 I don't think I can do it without the wetsuit, you know.
01:55 I feel much better this time. Last time, I did not feel good.
02:00 Next one will be better.
02:03 Should I sit there or there?
02:11 By dip three, although the water still felt cold, I was absolutely loving it.
02:16 Dip number five. Right, let's go.
02:35 So there's just one more after this, and the next one I'm supposed to not wear the wetsuit
02:42 on the bottom half, so we'll see how it goes.
02:45 I'm in, and I'm going to swim in three, two, one.
02:50 I'll try it without the wetsuit for the next one.
03:00 I'll try it without the wetsuit for the next one.
03:03 Oh, I missed that.
03:11 Oh, there'll be another leg fall, you ready?
03:14 That was so good.
03:22 I'm not going to show you the rest, but I did have to call in some help to get me out
03:27 of my wetsuit.
03:29 About to do our sixth and final dip, this time without a wetsuit.
03:33 Let's see how it goes.
03:36 Swim, three, two, one.
03:41 I never thought I'd be able to swim in the North Sea without a wetsuit, let alone enjoy it.
03:52 So much so, I actually didn't want to get out at the end.
03:55 My whole body is tingling.
03:57 Into the sauna.
03:59 And that was Ice Dip Social finished.
04:03 I swam in the sea seven times and honestly loved it.
04:06 Though I'm not going to pretend it wasn't cold.
04:09 And you know what? I can't wait to do it again.
04:12 (upbeat music)