Four degrees, five decades and daily dips at the Forty Foot

The Forty Foot and its neighbour, Sandycove beach in south Co Dublin, have been hugely popular with local swimmers for more than 200 years. On a cold, sunny March morning The Irish Times speaks to some of the more senior stalwarts, many of whom have been swimming in the area for more than 20 years.

Ranging in age from 73 to 83, these swimmers are proof that swimming can help keep you young in body as well as mind.

John Carroll from Glenageary is 75 and has been swimming regularly at the Forty Foot for more than 20 years. When he first started swimming, he had to run down nearby Dún Laoghaire pier to get warm again.

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Maurice Dore at Sandycove for his swim. Photograph: Cyril Byrne

“In the winter, if you get warmed up afterwards, it’s not a problem,” he says.

Not for the faint-hearted, the water temperature at the Forty Foot and Sandycove can range from a low of 4 to a balmy 8 degrees in the winter months, but Carroll says he prefers swimming in the winter.

“It was down to 4 degrees last year . . . it’s invigorating only in the winter. It is not so good in the summer; even yesterday, they were complaining that the zip has gone out of it.”

Carroll swims here a number of times a month and says it stimulates the mind and the body and improves his circulation.

While he would definitely recommend swimming at the Forty Foot to everyone, he jokes that he would prefer it not to become too crowded. “It’s great . . . one of the best parts about it is that the same people usually swim at the same time. Some of them are very regular and they come [here] to be together.

“I have lived in different parts of the world, but I always love coming back to swim in the Forty Foot,” he says with a smile.

Washed by the tide Ned Cummins is 81 and is from Dalkey. He swims occasionally at the Forty Foot and says it’s one of the cleanest places to swim, as it is washed by the tide twice a day.

An accomplished long-distance swimmer, Cummins has swum the Liffey, the Shannon and the Boyne rivers, and he has also swum from Ireland’s Eye to Howth.

Cummins says he would recommend swimming at the Forty Foot, but he warns that it is not for novice swimmers as you get out of your depth as soon as you enter.

“I would say it certainly does you no harm . . . I reckon it is about as clean a place as you can get to swim,” he says.

All the swimmers who speak to The Irish Times mention the sense of camaraderie and social occasion as among the main reasons they so enjoy swimming in the area. Nowhere is this more evident than around the corner from the Forty Foot at the small, sheltered Sandycove beach. Members of the '11 o'clock club' are beginning to arrive, while others warm up after their swim with flasks of steaming hot tea.

Irene Pollock has been a regular swimmer at Sandycove for more than 20 years. There must be something in the water as, much like the other senior swimmers, Irene’s youthful looks belie her 83 years.

Pollock says she simply can’t resist swimming in Sandycove. “I love it. It is very good for my condition. I have rheumatoid arthritis and it helps the inflammation. If I have a flare-up and I come down here, it puts me right,” she says.

Originally from South Africa, Pollock has been living in Ireland for 60 years and she swims at Sandycove three times a week in the winter and every day in the summer.

Asked how she deals with the icy cold, she says: “It is always freezing cold; you just accept it. I just find it irresistible . . . and it gets you up and out instead of doing housework or something.”

Maurice Dore from nearby Cabinteely is 75 and has been swimming in Sandycove for about 25 years; he has swum every day since he retired, 10 years ago.

“I find it a really refreshing and uplifting experience,” says Dore, adding that it is beneficial for both physical and mental wellbeing.

“It is cold but when you are doing it every day you don’t notice it to the same extent . . .You just get in and get it over with, and you are okay then. In the summer I would stay in for 20 to 25 minutes, and in the winter I would be [in for] five to 10 minutes.”

Dore also loves the sense of camaraderie that accompanies his daily swim, the cup of tea and the chats. “My day is not complete without it. People say to me in the winter time, ‘You are mad to be going down there in the cold,’ but I think people don’t know what they are missing with this,” he says.

Bad weather

Jane Dillon Byrne, who has served as a Labour councillor for Dún Laoghaire for 40 years, is another regular at Sandycove. She comes down for a swim every day with her dog, Sybil, and says she absolutely adores it, even in bad weather.

“As far as I am concerned, it’s the place. It’s the immersion into the sea. It is the feeling of water over your skin . . . the feeling of a different environment and the relinquishing of all concerns. It does all of that, as well as helping the bad back, and it helps clear the respiratory system.”

According to Dillon Byrne, there are all sorts of gains to be made from swimming in Sandycove; you must, however, be able to take the cold. In cold weather, she says, she takes “very quick swims”.

Betty Ingle is 72 and has been swimming in Sandycove every day for about 50 years. She says she much prefers the winter swim, as in the summer it can be too hot.

“It is beautiful; you couldn’t ask for anything nicer. “I couldn’t do without it, it is just a hobby . . . I enjoy sitting down here with them all. These are all my friends now,” she says.