Call me strange, but plunging headfirst into the near-freezing, muddy waters of a London pond for a traditional Christmas-morning swim with dozens of other thrillseekers was high on my holiday wish list.
However, nothing can prepare you for the shock of diving into the cold, dank water for the first time.
”Waiting to dive into the cold water offers a similar trepidation to going off on a military operation,” said former British air-force pilot Alan Lacy (84), who first signed up for the race 60 years ago.
The Serpentine Swimming Club, which organises the annual 100m swim in Hyde Park, is the British equivalent of the Polar Bear Club.
The Polar Bears have been taking the plunge on New Year’s Day across the United States and Canada since 1903, but Brits have been diving into the Serpentine — whose water temperature sometimes plummets to one degree Celsius — since 1864.
The race claims to be one of the oldest swimming competitions in the world.
Some members are there to celebrate Christmas, many are seasoned long-distance swimmers and others are seeking a health boost — believing the icy dip fortifies the natural defences.
Andrew Mcdonagh, a doctoral student, said the chilly swim offers an escape. ”It gives me a chance to run away from troubles, away from my PhD. You just think about the water and everything else is banished,” he said.
The club’s Christmas swim took on the name Peter Pan Cup in 1904 when author Sir James Barrie, whose house overlooked the Serpentine, presented a trophy to that year’s winner.
And on Tuesday, more than a hundred years later, swimmers followed the same tradition. At 8.50am, we gathered in a steamy, sweaty wooden hut. Then, it was off into the unknown; headfirst into the cold water.
Every bit of energy is focused on frantically crawling for the finishing line, ignoring every man, woman, child — and even waterfowl — within arm’s reach.
As I reached the halfway mark, I realised I hadn’t taken a breath for what felt like an eternity. While working to subdue the initial panic, an inner voice uttered every expletive in the book — and told me to give up … stand up … get out!
But then some unexplainable force seizes you and propels you through that last 50m and over the finishing line. — Sapa-AP