What’s it like to go ice dipping in the North Sea? I found out on a chilly winter’s day

euronews (in English)

Forget about Finland, go to Northumberland to try 'ice dipping' this winter.

Transcript

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)

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