The 'Winter loop' is back from Monday 1st December until April 2026. With the water temperature now dipping below 12 degrees, this marks the point where we open the 140m Winter loop or, as some of you playfully refer to it, the 'out to the crack and back' loop.

Please do not combine the Winter loop with our other swim courses as a 'shortcut start'. This and other route combination creativity creates confusing extra work for our already hard-working lifeguards!

The opening of the winter loop brings another big change - the 750m swim loop is now closed until April 2026.

Other swim lakes around the country implement a shorter maximum swim loop as good practice and we have taken the decision to do the same. With the 750m loop closed over the Winter months, the longest loop will be now be 550m. Swimmers are still welcome to swim further than 550m, but as a combination of shorter loops instead of one long 750m loop.

The swim buoys at the far end of the 750m loop will be pulled out of the water until April 2026.

In particular, please be aware of 'after drop'. After drop occurs due to cold moving from the tissues to the core after the end of your swim. It can take 30-40 mins for this core cooling to stabilise. After drop can lead to dizziness, nausea, fainting and even severe hypothermia/cardiac arrest in extreme cases.

IMPORTANT! As tempting it as it be, we strongly advise against taking a hot shower after your swim. Doing so can be very dangerous and can lead to life-threatening incidents. Last year we had several ambulance call outs for exactly this - these serious near-misses cause needless stress for the casualties and our staff!

We have had calls to shut off the hot water to prevent these incidents. We have chosen to leave the showers on this winter, however, for brief rinsing and freediver suit donning only. We ask that all swimmers SHOWER RESPONSIBLY - the showers are not for reheating and doing so is VERY DANGEROUS! We will be monitoring the amount of water being used by the showers - if this indicates extensive shower use, we will turn the showers off to prevent 'after drop' incidents. We have increased the temperature in the changing rooms to aid proper rewarming.