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If you happened to swim at one of Sydney’s ocean and harbour pools this past week, you couldn’t have missed the joyful Saltwater Sisters of Byron Bay.
Crowned in vibrant swimming caps and accompanied by laughter, chatter and salutations, the salty seven descended on 53 city swimming spots, from Lilli Pilli to Palm Beach, and Balmain to Bondi.
United via a Northern Rivers morning swim group, the women decided to swap their regular routines for a coastal adventure to celebrate friendship, community and finding your tribe later in life.
“It’s been wonderful,” says Jenny Cruden, the group’s most exuberant member. “We’re having a lot of fun. Our caps are a great talking point – everyone stops us to ask about what we’re doing, so we’ve been meeting all sorts of people.”
Chilly water temperatures early in the week didn’t put off the northern visitors, who proudly swim year-round, rain, hail or shine. “We always get out with a smile on our faces,” she says.
The women say they’ve formed strong connections through swimming over the past two to four years and these have deepened, with physical, mental and social benefits.
Research supports this: a University of Queensland study of more than 7600 women in midlife found those with lower relationship and friendship satisfaction had a higher chance of developing chronic diseases including heart disease, diabetes and depression.
The idea for their “Ocean Pool Odyssea” originated from a birthday gift that Helen Blair bought for fellow member Kath Vaubell.
“I bought a book for Kath about ocean pools,” says Helen. “We’d had a couple of Champagnes. I said, ‘Open it, but it comes with conditions – I want to swim all the ocean pools.’ ”
Her enthusiasm was contagious: Kath declared it a brilliant idea and began a spreadsheet, with the rest of the group jumping onboard. Their first leg was the NSW South Coast from Wollongong to Eden, taking in 10 kilometres worth of swimming, in February.
Sydney is the second leg: another 10 kilometres of swimming at 53 locations over four days, zipping between sites in their rented “Klugers for cougars” and ending at Bondi’s Icebergs.
United by their love of ocean swimming, being at similar life stages in their 50s and living in the same area, they remain a diverse bunch. Occupations range from real estate and medicine to charity, education and hemp farming.
Their morning swims, followed by training and coffee, have expanded into social outings, gigs and a Christmas party. There was dancing at a pub during the Sydney trip, culminating in Robbie Williams’ concert on Saturday night.
Swim coach Caitlin Feldmann has guided the group through rips, challenging swims and fears. “You learn and grow through a challenge,” she says. “There’s a real sense of camaraderie and the benefits outweigh the risks.”
Along the way, they’ve swum with turtles, dolphins and sharks and heard whales calling.
“I think there’s a lot of unknown science on how good ocean swimming is for you,” says Kath. “It’s life changing,” agrees Rachael Sullivan.
Last year they did the Nude Solstice Swim in Tasmania and they’re also known to swim in their birthday suits to celebrate ... their birthdays.
For the Saltwater Sisters, the next legs will be the Gold Coast and Central Coast. After that, there are pools in Western Australia and Queensland to visit and the next laps will be overseas. They’re documenting their journey on Instagram at oceanpoolodyssea26.
“We are going to keep going,” says Jenny Cruden. “We are going to conquer the world.”
