32 brave the chill for 8th annual Winter Solstice swim

“What a turnout! This is probably about four times the amount of people we've ever had,” exclaimed Harley Smith, still shirtless and dripping 8-degree water after plunging into Gosling Creek Reserve on Friday.

It was eight years ago that Harley, along with friends Nathan Cutter and Chris Cameron, first celebrated the Winter Solstice with a wintery dip in Lake Canobolas. It’s a tradition they have kept up ever since, occasionally convincing a few friends to join them.

But at 12.30pm last Friday, June 21, 32 locals of all ages (and varying levels of enthusiasm) joined the trio in the annual tradition.

“This is the eighth year and I think word is starting to spread,” continued Harley. “There was three of us at the start and we've grown because it's a great idea! You really feel amazing. It's embracing life. It's doing something out of the ordinary, meeting new people!”

Fellow eight-time Winter Solstice swimmer, Chris Cameron, said they’ve always had high hopes of growing the tradition but found it wasn’t always easy to convince people to join them.

“No, there's not that many crazy people around,” laughed Chris, who was joined this year by his son Huxley. “But look, it's a good acknowledgement of the world that we live in, and times and seasons. It’s a celebration of the fact that the sun's made its journey all the way to the Tropic of Cancer and continuing back towards us.”

It is about reconnecting to the natural world and forcing yourself out of your comfort zone, added Nathan Cutter.

“We often work inside these days and don't really acknowledge the different seasons,” Nathan said. “And it's a real shock to get into the water and experience how cold it is, but people used to live year-round in the outdoors. So, I suppose it's just a recognition of the real world and living in it and that we have the ability to be resilient.”

Demonstrating resilience along with careful forethought was Small Acres Cyder’s Nick Geoghegan, who’d prepared hot mulled cider for the occasion.

“I had a great great time swimming! I grew up in Dublin and we used to go swimming on Christmas Day, an old tradition down at Sandy Cove,” Nick said.

“You jump in. You have a swim. You get out. You have a hot whisky. It's great! Every Christmas would do it and you feel fantastic after. It's like Penance you've done the hard work and then you can enjoy the rest of the day… but I think this was colder!”