Snow on the beach did not deter the brave swimmers at Porthcawl’s 46th Christmas
Morning Swim.

With snow still standing above the high water line and with bright winter sun, more than 606
registered swimmers took the traditional Christmas morning dip in the sea at Sandy Bay Porthcawl
whilst an estimated 2000 to 3000 spectators cheered them on.

With a crowded beach Porthcawl Coastguards signaled the start and cleared a path down the beach for the
swimmers. Many were in fancy dress as they walked through a couple of thousand spectators from the
Hi-Tide Inn to the sea at 11.45am. The procession of swimmers of all ages, male and female, were led
from the Hi-Tide Inn to the beach by Mayor, Councilor Mary Emment-Lewis and her consort who both
went into the sea; they were joined by Victor Davies and Chris Hughes each with 40 plus swims to their
name. Spectators gave their full support by applauding all those taking part in this the 46th annual event.
Swimmers from all over the UK took part, amongst our regular entrants’ veteran swimmer Ken James of
Ogmore Vale, Bridgend, claimed to be the oldest entrant at 84 and 32 previous Christmas swims to his
credit. At the other end of the age spectrum there were many young children and their parents taking part.
The swim is a truly family event with many different generations of the same family taking to the sea and
many in fancy dress.
Collections are made during carol singing and during the swim itself.
A spokes person from the swim Committee, Ian Stroud, said, “Once again we have been grateful to all
who supported our swim and the number of people that turned up was fantastic, considering the freezing
conditions. I checked our garden thermometer this morning at 9:00 and it showed
minus 10c, I was concerned for our event and what effect the cold would have on our numbers. With
many different events cancelled this year due to all the snow and ice the number of swimmers far
exceeded our expectations. We hope the collections will not be too effected by reduced numbers but with
many swimmers being sponsored again this year there should be able to provide financial support for our
chosen local charities and organisations.
Chairman, Nicola Willis commented “As a small committee we are delighted the way we have been
supported once again this year, I would like to thank all swimmers, spectators, individuals, businesses and
organisations who help in so many ways to make the swim such a successful event in the towns calendar,
amongst the spectators was our local MP, Right Honorable Madeleine Moon. To have such a crowded
beach, at this time of the year and in such harsh cold conditions goes to prove that some of our departed
founder swimmers were looking down on us and provided us with very sunny conditions for a swim that
saw more people in the water than we thought possible, considering the snow conditions that have lasted
for more than a week now”.