XMAS DAY SWIMMING I Hyde Park, London, England

An empty London leaves room for a swimming spectacular

.Most of the year London hums with over activity but on Xmas day the city is left to the tourists who congeal around the few attractions still open. It’s a special treat for Londoners to drive down an empty Regent Street like it’s 1930. There are some locals up and about though…..

Every year since 25th December 1864 (barring frozen water) there’s been a swimming race at 9am in Hyde Park’s Serpentine Lake except for…..Covid of course. To take part you need to be a member of the Serpentine Swimming Club, one of the oldest of its type in the world, the Brits were always very clubbable. You also need to have competed in races throughout the year, a few members have swum on Xmas day over 50 times.

Hyde Park was once a royal hunting ground on the outskirts of the city but was opened to the commoners by Charles I in 1637. There was no congestion charge at this point and parking in London was easy to come by. The lake was formed in 1730-1733 by Queen Caroline, presumably for its picturesque qualities although by the 1830s swimming events were attracting large numbers of competitors and spectators. The royal parks of London are still owned by the crown but managed by a charitable trust on behalf of the government. There are no longer any deer for King Charles III to hunt so the swimming club are allowed to use the lake every day from 5am to 9.30am.

Michael Phelps in the Olympic 100m breaststroke might be a more competitive spectacle but this Xmas day race is possibly the 2nd most reported swimming event in the world. The 2023 edition was covered by CNN and Sky News, from the USA to Australia. Presumably, the media interest is that some people would rather swim in cold water when they could be sat at home watching Elf and tucking into a nice roast turkey. In 2023 the air temperature was 12 degrees so the event is maybe becoming a little less wacky as global warming kicks in. Even so, if you ever wanted to see people swimming while wearing Santa hats or reindeer horns, you’ve come to the right place. There’s a wonderful atmosphere of good cheer with a sprinkling of friendly banter.

The Serpentine Swimming Club was always very democratic. In 1923 race participants included everyone from a tobacconist to a waiter to the Queen’s physician. Members range in age from late teens to late 80s and although women and men swam separately until 1930, membership is now split equally between the sexes. That said the Xmas Day race does seem like a very white affair for multicultural London or make that pink by the time the swimmers have left the cold water.

The winner receives the Peter Pan Cup. The author JM Barrie first donated it in 1903, coinciding with the debut performance of Peter Pan on the London stage. Everyone else gets a Quality Street chocolate, presumably because they were named after a JM Barrie play of the same name. It’s unconfirmed if you can pass on the Orange Creme one.

Xmas Day swims (free to everyone) also take place in Brighton (since 1860), Tynemouth, Bude, Felixstowe, Bournemouth, Sutton Coldfield and Porthcawl with more on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. What’s the appeal? The thrill of cold water releases happy hormones but even for the non-swimmers, there’s the camaraderie of mass participation and lots of squealing excitement. On the 25th December especially, this overrides the normal reserve of Londoners and makes Xmas Day feel that bit more Xmassy.

More deets for the Serpentine Swimming Club here

If you aren’t a member of the SSC you can still swim at other times