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(click photo to enlarge) Santa and Mrs Claus join Tralee Bay Swimming Club members at the launch of the Fenit Christmas Swim on Sunday. Photo by Dermot Crean
SANTA and Mrs Claus showed up in Fenit on Sunday to launch the 64th Annual Christmas Day Swim.
He was joined by members of Tralee Bay Swimming Club who will once again help raise funds the RNLI Fenit Lifeboats.
The swim will take place at 12 noon and will begin with the traditional singing of Jingle Bells and then Santa will sound the bell for for the first of 3 dashes into the water.
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The Fenit Christmas swim is one of the oldest in the country and is the largest in Kerry. There will be around 800 swimmers on the day with about 2,000 family members cheering them on.
It’s a great start to the festivities for the day, everyone is invited to go along and enjoy the fun. The Lifeboat crews will be there collecting and will have loads of hot teas, coffees and soup available so please give generously.
They will also be in the water for your safety. Visitors are asked to arrive early and park sensibly as parking will be at a premium. Tralee Bay Swimming Club have asked that anyone attending follow these safety guidelines:
1) Arrive in plenty of time.
2) Wear your swimwear under your clothes.
3) Stay dressed and warm until the last minute.
4) It is advisable to wear footwear to avoid cutting your feet on any stones.
5) Do NOT dive directly into the water . Wet your face first and gradually lower yourself in.
6) When the swim is over, get dried off and put on layers of warm clothes and a hat as quickly as possible and get a hot drink of tea, coffee, chocolate or soup.
7) Avoid alcohol completely before the swim and afterwards for at least a half an hour until you are warm . Alcohol will interfere with the warming up process and can react badly to cold shock.
8) Have a GREAT time and enjoy the atmosphere and craic!
Here’s what the swim looked like last year…
