In the depths of a Melbourne winter, when it’s 4.6C on the bank and 6C in the Yarra, the true believers gather
I asked my friend if she wanted to come swimming in the Yarra/Birrarung – near the city – as dawn broke last week.
Some are there for the fitness, others for the laughs – there are plenty – and for a few, it is about coming to commune with nature before day breaks. “I think the river has a reputation from the 80s of industrial waste, dead bodies, shopping trolleys. The work of the River Keepers has really turned that around,” she said.
The uniform for seasoned winter swimmers is a pair of togs – but I grabbed some neoprene boots and gloves and did not regret it.Photograph: Jackson Gallagher/The Guardian “Your body goes into collapse, then you start to feel a tingle that comes over you,” Elkins says. “It’s like a vibration that’s going all over your body; you can feel the blood flow coming in.”Photograph: Jackson Gallagher/The Guardian
After the swim everyone has their own process for getting warm. Fran Cusworth is the most thorough – a hot water bottle, a cup of tea and a tub of warm water to put her feet in.I brought a towel. I had regrets.The Yabbies were started by two mates in lockdown who – perhaps a little bored – decided to jump in. The group grew – there’s a WhatsApp full of members – but with no other social media, they recruit people by meeting them along the banks, asking them to join, inviting them in.
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