BIG DIPPERS - SEA SWIMMERS ENJOY COLD WATER AND COMMUNITY

IT'S SO early even the cat hasn't woken up and the room is dark when my alarm goes off at 4am.

- ABBIE WIGHTWICK

The street is silent as I slip outside in the pre-dawn glow. Walking quickly down the hill, it feels as if I'm doing something illicit while everyone else is sleeping. I am stealing time while the world is snoozing to swim in the sea at daybreak.

I've always been a swimmer and love the beach, but am no fan of very early mornings or cold water. As it turns out, perhaps I am.

I’m pumped on adrenaline like I'm off to catch an early morning holiday flight, but when I get there, the shore is calm and still.

Down on the pebbles a handful of people are exchanging cheerful good mornings. This is the moment when I'll have to introduce myself as a newbie and get into the chilly waves when I could be snuggled down under my duvet. There's no going back.

What happens next is a warm embrace from the lovely people known as Dawnstalkers. This is the group who swim off Penarth beach every morning as the sun rises, come rain or shine. They've been meeting for nearly five years since the pandemic.

Within minutes I’m welcomed and chatting with an eclectic, smiling bunch of people as we wade into the sea.

They point to the red orb magically appearing on the skyline as my legs tingle with the chill of the water. And then I’ve plunged in, my body acclimatising to the temperature and thrill of a dawn dip. This is great.

Bobbing in the water is Grant Zehetmayr. It was his lone daily dawn swims when Covid lockdowns eased which inspired what is now Dawnstalkers.

It wasn’t intentional and is an achievement that happened organically when passers-by saw and joined him. Now, hundreds of people are part of the movement with a core group of around 10 meeting every morning.

People swimming through the year with Dawnstalkers range in age from children to those in their eighties.