AQUAPHILIA
– love of water from the Greek ‘aqua’ and philein ‘to love’
Why do we swim? Why do we get up in the dark, summer and winter, to join our swim buddies in the water to swim as the sun comes up? Sometimes it’s cold, some mornings we can hear the wind whistling through the trees outside and yet we head out into the pre-dawn darkness to plunge into the cold waters of the bay.
If you’ve done this yourself you’ll know why. It sounds like an oxymoron but the feeling you get after offering yourself up to the chilly waters of southern Victoria at sunrise is one of deep warmth and well-being. The invigoration that comes after you’ve emerged from the water and had a hot shower, exchanged some goss or swapped advice with your fellow swimmers, laughed and basked in the togetherness over a coffee after the sun has come up - it’s pure joy.
Since I’ve come to live at Indented Head the daily sunrise swims have become an essential start to my day. These images capture the daily wonders of being in the water. AS
