Weather freezes Christmas Day swim in London
LONDON (AFP) – An annual Christmas Day swimming race in the lake in London's Hyde Park was called off Saturday after the water froze -- although some hardy people could not resist a quick dip into the icy shallows.
The 100-yard, open-air race in the Serpentine was first held in 1864 and sees a clutch of swimmers don red and white Santa hats and take the plunge into the murky, freezing waters of the lake.
For the first time since 1981, however, they arrived on Christmas morning to find the lake had frozen over, the result of a cold snap that forecasters predict could make this the coldest December for more than 100 years.
The race was cancelled, although about 40 people still could not resist a quick dip in a gap in the ice, before warming up with a cup of tea.
"We just went for a quick dip and a wade in the ice. It was chilly but invigorating. I got in, splashed around a bit and got out again. We're not stupid so we don't stay in for ages," said swim club secretary Brian Thomas.
He added: "It was disappointing as it's obviously a big event. We have races every Saturday morning but this is the one everybody wants to win."
The winner is awarded the Peter Pan Cup, which was introduced in 1904 by novelist James Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up.
Meanwhile on England's south coast, members of the Brighton Swimming Club took part in their annual Christmas dip in the English Channel, where the temperature was a refreshing 3.3 degrees Celsius.
More than 30 members took the plunge, watched by hundreds of spectators.
"It's the coldest I have experienced in December and about 2.5 degrees colder than usual," said John Ottaway, the swim club's chairman who has been doing the Christmas Day sea swims for 25 years.
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