In the spirit of ‘Live the Age You Feel’, the courageous swimmers congregated near the west end of the beach at Rabbit Island and began to warm up before cooling down. As the rain came, the swimmers changed into their swimwear for the annual event and walked into the water as a group.

The Arvida Waimea Plains Walking Group completed a beach walk before going on to support the swimmers and calling them ‘courageous and inspirational’.

Resident, Donna Swift says the swimmers ranged in age from 66 years to mid 80s and they found the water to be much colder than last year due to the lack of sunlight.

“The water temperature was just 12 degrees so very cold but refreshing. There was also no wind so the water was very still.”

The group were then treated to a mug of mulled wine, coffee, muffins and scones as they wrapped themselves in towels and began to thaw out.