Main photo. Photo credit: Euan Cherry
‘Hi, Alice, do you fancy a sunrise swim tomorrow?’ I glance down and see the message from Euan
on my screen. I double-check what time sunrise will be tomorrow. ‘YES!’ I reply, ‘See you at 4:15
am”.
I do love a good sunrise swim. I have so many fond memories of my days swimming on the Dorset
Coast – meeting my swim buddies in car parks in the dark, riding a borrowed bike along the
headland, robes flapping in the breeze, all for a quick dawn dip in the waves watching the
spectacular sunrise over the sea. Then, after warming up with hot drinks on the beach, we would
all head off to our work and everyday lives, glowing with the secret of our early morning antics.
Dorset Sunrise Swims
Swimming at sunrise gives us the chance to find the extraordinary in the ordinary, reconnect with
the world’s wonders, and see everything around us through fresh eyes. At dawn, the absence of
human activity heightens our senses. We can tune into the quiet hum of wildlife, the sound of
lapping waves on the shore and the rustle of leaves on the trees. Things that normally blend into
the background of our busy lives become gloriously visible, as if for the very first time, in
magnificent technicolour.
Arriving at the loch the water is perfectly still. Not a single ripple disturbs its surface. There is a pre-
dawn glow in the air and the mist hangs low over the surface of the loch.
Photo credit: Euan Cherry
Unable to wait until sunrise I get is for a first dip, breaking the glasslike surface and creating silver
ripples as I move through the water. I am mesmerised by the view in front of me. It is like
something from another world.
Photo credit: Euan Cherry
As the light starts to change we look east to see the sky turn to gold. I move across to another little
beach and get back in, this time hypnotised by the sun rising before me – a perfect globe of glowing
energy.
Photo credit: Euan Cherry
I swim. I stop. I gaze at the rising sun.
Photo credit: Euan Cherry
Sunlight! The most precious gold to be found on Earth! I am spellbound.
I swim through the liquid gold.
Photo credit: Euan Cherry
Life is such a roller coaster. It is never going to be perfect. It is going to have plenty of rough spots
but also, now and then, the possibility of experiencing a magic moment – a perfect sunrise swim!
Photo credit: Euan Cherry
