Thank you to the members of the Melbourne Brighton Icebergers who made a Serpentine SC member feel very welcome to join in with your Sunday morning club swim.
Robin from Icebergers was the first person who I met, and he introduced me to all the open water swimmers in the club. There were a few ex Serpentine members there too.
Swims start on the dot at eight with a jump in off the pier, with swimmers traversing the marker buoys both inside and outside the marina which is used by the Royal Brighton Yacht Club.
There were at least 40 swimmers having a dip with not a wetsuit in sight. There were no derisory 'teabag swimmers', most of the Icebergers swim 2kms all year round in temperatures which can dip to 8C.
The facilities are fantastic, including hot showers, ample changing rooms, a sauna and cafe. For the sake of northern hemisphere decency, I have attached a photo of our al fresco shower area at the Serpentine.
I joined the Icebergers at the cafe afterwards, 40 minutes of swimming and an hour of friendly chat was the happy ratio. Alastair Purvey, a former Serps swimmer asked after many from the club. (Alastair, from Scotland, is in one of the photos). Claus Newhouse asked after Serps member, Michael Hutsen.
The club has great character and history with many excellent swimmers. I was the recipient of superb hospitality from the Brighton Icebergers open water swimming club.
Thank you once again.
The Icebergers club is located on the Melbourne seafront and is part of the Royal Brighton Yacht Club.
http://www.icebergers.com/
johntierneyswim AT live DOT com
