Has anyone else been bitten by the cold water swimming bug? This August I went for my first swim in British coastal waters for around 50 years. It was on the Suffolk coast with a group of all year round swimmers. I think it was a relatively balmy 18c. They are a lovely group of people and at the time I had the chance to join them regularly.

It came as a real surprise to me that as the year has progressed, the colder it got, the more I enjoyed it. Getting in is a challenge but the tingling from cold water is addictive. Walking back from the beach feeling chilled to the core is a strangely uplifting feeling.

After getting too cold on one occasion, I have to time myself in the water in order to keep safe - stay in too long and you can start to feel warm. The coldest water I swam in was 6c just before Christmas and returns to the coast became illegal. The water there now is 1.5c and a few of my fellow swimmers are still going in every day that the waves permit - though no longer as a (socially distanced) group. I miss it like mad.

Although there are risks, the sense of wellbeing and potential other health benefits are tremendous. Anyone else similarly inclined?