Hundreds turn out for Tenby Boxing Day swim

Organisers have revealed that the 2014 Tenby Boxing Day swim has been a massive success, with hundreds of swimmers braving the weather to take a dip. 

The famous Tenby Boxing Day swim has been running since 1970 and this year’s swim attracted an estimated 400 swimmers, despite the freezing temperatures and rain on the morning of the event.

At 11am the hundreds of swimmers lined the shoreline at North Beach in their fancy dress outfits in front of a huge crowd before plunging into the freezing sea.

Organisers believe the crowd, which consisted of local residents and visitors residing in Tenby cottages, was in its thousands.

Organisers “pleased” with turn out

Organisers of the Boxing Day swim event were delighted that the wet weather did not dampen the mood and that thousands turned out to watch the annual event.

Chris Osborne, chairman of the Tenby Sea Swimming Association, which organises the Boxing Day Swim, told Wales Online, “The weather was not kind to us this year but we still had a large group of swimmers and the usual big crowd of onlookers.

“This has become one of the big social events of the year in Pembrokeshire, sometimes people don’t see each other for the whole year then meet up at the swim.

“This is now one of our great traditions and it just shows what can be done with a bit of organisation.”

This year’s event raised money for three different charities; the St John Cymru, The Harriet Davis Trust and Splash Out 2015, which is a charity that offers autistic children the opportunity to go surfing. The event also benefitted local businesses, with some visitors believed to have stayed in luxurious Pembrokeshire cottages after the event and other local businesses receiving large amounts of visitors.

Similarly positive results are expected from the Saundersfoot New Year’s Day Swim, which we are very happy to be sponsoring this year!

Image Credit: lhourahane (flickr.com)

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