Think it’s cold? Try a dawn ocean swim on winter solstice

On a wet and cold midwinter morning at sunrise, where would you rather be?

Tucked up in a warm bed asleep, or swimming in the frigid ocean?

Wednesday Ocean Waders, or Wowsers, at Torquay beach at dawn on Friday.Credit: Joe Armao

While it may not be for all of us, a bevy of brave and hardy bathers at Torquay, on Victoria’s south-west coast made a beeline for the beach before dawn on Friday.

And they came not to whine, but to celebrate.

Friday was the shortest day of the year, and so the hardy Wednesday Ocean Waders, also known as WOW or “wowsers”, defied the wet and chilly conditions to hold their annual ceremony marking the winter solstice.

It began in darkness with a lantern parade onto Fishermans Beach – also known as Fishos – and members formed a circle.

WOW member and local youth mentor Luke Hickey, dressed as a Viking, read out a poem, You’ll Never Wade Alone, a play on the Rodgers and Hammerstein song You’ll Never Walk Alone: “Wade on, through the wind, wade on, through the storm, though you feel chilled to the bone”.

Andrew Jenkins played a medley on the bagpipes. And then Hickey roared to signal it was time to take a dip – swimming or wading – as each person preferred.

Afterwards, the group warmed up with coffee at the Salty Dog Cafe.

WOW founder and organiser Jo Halley, said it was the group’s third winter solstice. “Every year it’s getting bigger and more exciting. Everyone’s really enthusiastic, which is great”.

Rather than a symbol of defying the gloom, Halley sees the event as the harbinger of better times.

“It feels like a very positive thing, to recognise that we’re in the middle of the year and the days are going to start getting longer. It’s that recognition that winter is not going to continue forever.”

Halley started Wednesday Ocean Waders three years ago after she and her son Jesse did a Wim Hof course, involving breathing exercises followed by a dip in an ice bath.

Wim Hof is a 65-year-old Dutch motivational speaker and extreme athlete who believes that daily cold water immersion is good for your health.

Seven people turned up to the first WOW session at Torquay on a Wednesday in May 2021, at sunrise. And from the initial once-a-week sessions, they now swim every day, attracting about 20 people in winter and up to 50 in summer.

The first session of Wednesday Ocean Waders at Torquay in May, 2021.

WOW has offshoot social events such as dinners, theatre, fundraising and movie nights, and they even sell WOW-branded beanies and T-shirts.

Tony McNamara, a retired IT manager who joined in March last year and now swims almost every day, said he previously might have thought it was crazy to swim in the middle of winter, but has seen the light.

“Once you’re in the water, it gets your adrenaline going. And you come out with a sense of euphoria,” he said.

Hickey, who swims with WOW six days a week, said the winter solstice event was “if nothing else, an excuse to get together and have a bit of fun” but could also be a time to take stock mentally.

“Winter can bring challenges, the winter blues and all that, so we can reflect on that and know that it’s going to be brighter, with each day bringing more daylight,” Hickey said. “And it should get warmer, too, which is good.”

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