Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia, Spain.
Summary: Every now and then something random on Farcebook actually turns into a good idea. That’s how I ended up signing up for a Boxing Day swim in Los Alcázares, a chilly little adventure that gave me something to look forward to over Christmas and turned out far better than expected.
While scrolling through Farcebook back in November 2022, an advert from the Los Alcázares Town Hall caught my eye. They were organising a Boxing Day lunchtime swim at Playa de Carrión. It looked like a bit of fun, and as I had no plans for Christmas, I thought, why not give it a go.
The signup page said places were limited to 120 swimmers, so I registered straight away and paid my €5. For that, I’d get to join the swim, be handed a beach towel at the finish, and then warm up with a drink, some stew, and churros with chocolate. The swim itself was no more than 100 metres in a marked-off area. In the warmer months I’d swim 1000 metres every morning in the Mar Menor, so the distance didn’t worry me, only the temperature.
On the day
I wasn’t sure I’d make it, as I’d been feeling rough most of the week, but I woke up feeling a bit better and decided to give it a go. At 11:30 I took the disability scooter along the promenade to Playa de Carrión. It was already busy, music blaring, people milling around, and a big inflatable finish arch set up on the sand.
I registered, had my number, 89 out of 160, written on my arm, and was handed a Santa hat that I had to wear during the swim. As I was looking around, I heard someone shout my name. It was my friend Dan and his mum. He hadn’t registered, so he couldn’t take part, but he offered to look after my bag.
There were a few English faces I recognised, plenty of other nationalities, but mostly Spanish families. True to Spanish timing, noon came and went, but eventually we were herded onto the pier by Club Náutico and then onto the floating jetty. Once you stepped onto that jetty, there was no turning back.
I jumped into the water and immediately gulped as my testicles attempted a world-record high jump to escape the cold. Being the big butch man that I am, I resisted the urge to scream and followed the swimmers ahead of me around the marker buoy and back towards the beach. Surprisingly, my body adjusted quickly and it didn’t feel as cold as I’d expected.
Clambering out onto the sand, we were wrapped in warm towels and handed a hot broth with a dumpling and a can of beer. The whole thing only took a few minutes, but I felt exhilarated and genuinely pleased I’d made the effort.
Photos from my Boxing Day Swim in 2022
I found Dan again, he’d filmed everyone jumping in, and he promised he’d take part the following year. I grabbed my bag, then made a final stop at the churro van, where they handed me free churros and hot chocolate to dip them in.
A perfect ending. I’m already looking forward to doing it again.
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