The Joys of Sea Swimming
We never use AI to produce our blog content - it’s all us! So enjoy the typos and know that a real Ondine Ash team human being wrote this. This time it's me - Jess.
One of the beauties of coastal living is, of course, the beach. But those who live at the seaside will know that time can often just fly by, being caught in the daily routines of work, dinners and bedtimes, weeks can pass without actually stepping foot on any sand, never mind dipping in the sea.
This year two of our team (me - Jess and Ondine) have been throwing ourselves into the sea on a regular basis, in order to train for 2026 Castle 2 Castle Swim. It’s a swift 1 mile across the bay starting at a little beach under Falmouth’s Pendennis Castle finishing at the beach next to St Mawes Castle. Around 500 swimmers take part with a huge range of abilities, all raising vital funds for the RNLI. Family and friends go over to spectate on the St Mawes Ferry and it’s a really silly and fun day.
I have done it twice before, with this being the first year for Ondine to give it a go. With the event coming up this weekend (eek!) we are taking a moment to document how we’re feeling about it.
Ondine
"Doing lots of swimming this year has been so illuminating for me and just such a joy! I’ve always wondered whether I was a little bit too lazy to really enjoy exercise but long distance swimming in the sea with a group of us has made me feel so happy each time I’ve been out. A proper endorphin fuelled high! We’ve gone a little bit further each time, a mix of breaststroke and front crawl, swimming from buoy to buoy to buoy. I’m feeling so excited for the day itself, praying for calm weather and sunshine."
Jess
I swam lots in the pool as a teen but didn’t really swim any distance in the sea until three months after having my second baby. Friends of mine were regular Castle to Castle swimmers and they persuaded me to sign up. I was seriously ready to have some time to myself doing something that wasn’t breastfeeding and changing nappies so I jumped right in. It was pretty amazing for me! I totally rediscovered this joyful activity that I could do, with friends, so close to home and had some much needed moments of peace. I’ve done the event each year since, more for the training than the day - though that is really special too! This year is going to be brilliant, because not only is Ondine doing it, but also (at least!) seven of our other friends have signed up to swim this year for the first time too!
Would you ever do a swim like this? We have really enjoyed the training so at this point we would totally recommend it! Wish us luck!
Post Swim Update!
Both Ondine and I made it across the bay and had such a great time taking part. The sea was calm, the sun came out and there was a really lovely atmosphere on the other side with lots of friends and family coming out to watch. Now we're looking forward to a summer's worth of long swims together.
