Matarangi Beach Paper’s midwinter swim.

By Pauline Stewart.

It was an invigorating plunge into the sea just off the Matarangi Village Green at 12 noon, last Sunday, 25 June. The occasion was the annual midwinter swim sponsored by the Matarangi Beach Paper (MBP). Right at noon, the swimmers rush into the water. This time the ocean was quite wild and the temperature was about 12 degrees Celsius. Twenty brave souls of mixed ages were keen and ready. Matarangi Beach is beautiful and pristine in any weather. After the swim, there is a drink of port or hot soup available to every swimmer and onlooker, with the compliments of the Matarangi Beach Paper. “There are not as many swimmers this year,” says Liam Kedzlie, Editor of the Paper. “The heavy rain and the closed 25A Highway are big contributors to this.”

The actual day of the swim, the Thames Coast Road was closed due to a major slip which occurred the evening before with heavy rain and wind. The girls from Te Rerenga Primary School were stars, staying in the cold ocean longer and being the youngest swimmers.

It is the tenth year the Matarangi Beach Paper has sponsored the swim which has now become part of the culture and annual calendar of winter events in the region.

Caption: The hardy souls who did the Matarangi Mid-Winter Swim.

Photo credit: Liam Kedzlie