Images: Jemima Rose, Fur and Gold Photography
It’s an unusual sight: a group of around 20 men at Clevedon Marine Lake for a swim with only a couple of women among them. It’s like an inverted picture of the usual groups, but why?
To begin with, these male outdoor swimmers are a bit coy with their answers. “I don’t want to sound sexist”, says one, trying to avoid making sweeping generalisations based on sex (the definition of sexist). But the fact remains that there are fewer men than women in outdoor swimming groups, and even fewer among winter swimmers. In fact, this group represents less that 20 per cent of the marine lake’s winter swimming community, a figure that seems typical across the UK.