Swimming in the ocean in winter

I'm not happy when it's cold. I'm talking Sydney cold. But what do I have to complain about? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Europe and all those really cold places in the general vicinity are hell in winter. For goodness sake, people die from the cold in places like Russia.

Still, I love to whinge. It's in my genetic makeup. I'm a bloody Aussie whinger. Particularly when the temperature drops below 20 degrees Celcius. Particularly when I've just registered for an ocean swim at Mona Vale on Sunday, June 20, the day before the winter solstice, which is the shortest day of the year.

The water is a chilly 19 degrees. I'm used to an indoor pool heated to around 25 degrees.

I've gone soft.

It's the heart of winter in Sydney and I'm going to swim in the ocean without a wetsuit. Almost naked (except for the skimpy cossie). I AM AS MAD AS A CUT SNAKE.

Brrrrrrrr...

Let's see what happens on Sunday. Stay tuned.

An ocean swim in Sydney in the middle of winter is for mugs only

It's been miserable in Sydney over the past few weeks. Rain, drizzle and blustery winds. Who'd wanna live here?

So, to even consider an ocean swim at this time of year is foolhardy.

But that's what I'm doing. The Cold Water Classic, a 1.2 kilometre swim at Mona Vale beach, is on June 21 - and I'm thinking of entering.

The organisers have done the right thing and divided the categories into naked and wetties. By naked they mean cossies/togs/swimmers (but you all knew that). Wetties means wetsuits.

My mad brother-in-law, Davo, is going 'naked' a la budgie smugglers.

The water temperature is currently 18 degrees Celsius. I do my laps in pools around 25 degrees.

In Australia, June 21 is the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year.

Brrrr!

(Watch me talk my way out of this one!)

To freeze or not to freeze, that is the question.

Anyone got a spare wettie?