A couple who met each other at a Christmas Eve charity swim in Co Down have said they will be celebrating their relationship by attending the event every year.
Sporting red swimsuits and Santa hats, throngs of people gathered from 10am at Helen’s Bay to warm up before taking the plunge.
Among those who took part were Rebecca Browne, from Derry, and Joel McElwee, from Ballymena, who met at the swim last year and started dating 20 days later.
Ms Browne said she developed her love for the sea and sea swimming as part of her recovery from using a wheelchair, while Mr McElwee said he likes the outdoors and is really into hiking.
“We came here separately last year, we hadn’t met each other, I went to say hello to the Sea Swim Squad and Joe was there,” Ms Browne said.
Mr McElwee said: “She came over to the group and was a wee bit nervous and because I was just there as well I was like ‘I’ll introduce myself’ and we got chatting.
“Then the group went up for coffee after and we chatted away.”
Ms Browne then joined Mr McElwee on a hike, which she said was on her list of things to do after her recovery.
She added: “We were friends for about 20 days and then we realised that we’re not actually friends, we’re a wee bit more than that and we’ve been together ever since and I feel like it’s been the best year ever, honestly, I feel very grateful to have met him.
“Our anniversary will be in January but this is the day that we met so we’ll be celebrating it every year now, and we’ll be coming every year.”
The couple said Ms Browne’s love of sea swimming rubbed off on Mr McElwee, and she has taken up hiking.
Asked what they would do after Tuesday’s sea swim, Ms Browne said: “Well he’s my hot chocolate, so that’s the first thing.”
Mr McElwee said: “Some last-minute present wrapping, get that out of the way.”
Environment minister Andrew Muir was also convinced to take part, and attended with local Alliance councillor Gillian McCollum, who was dressed as an elf.
Asked about the swim, Mr Muir said it “freshened the senses” and said they would warm up with an Irish coffee after.
Organisers Gillian and Helen Armstrong said the Helen’s Bay dip has been running for around 30 years, and they have been organising it for the past five or six years.
The swim is done in aid of PIPS suicide prevention charity and the Marie Curie cancer and end of life charity, the sisters said.
“They’re both very important charities to us, having lost people who required care from Marie Curie and also support with their mental health,” Gillian Armstrong said.
“It’s really important to us to have a bit of fun at Christmas and to get people together, a really community atmosphere, and it just lifts my spirits over Christmas, so thank you everybody else for indulging me in that.”
Helen Armstrong said: “I think a lot of people get swept up in the commercialism of Christmas and what they have to do and should do and it’s a very stressful time of year, so to come down on Christmas Eve, to go for a cold water dip so many people find as a way to relieve stress and to bring people together is just really special.”
