Double socks, don’t take off your shoes too soon, don’t overthink it and bring a friend.
Those are the top tips from a record 3,000 people who took a dawn skinny dip in Hobart’s Derwent River to mark the winter solstice.
The Nude Solstice Swim has become a staple of Tasmania’s popular Dark Mofo event over the past decade.
Screams and screams filled the air at 7:42 a.m. Friday to celebrate the passing of the longest night of the year.
The Nude Solstice Swim has become a staple of Tasmania’s popular Dark Mofo event since its debut in 2013.
A record 3,000 people went skinny dipping at dawn in Hobart’s Derwent River to mark the winter solstice.
Tasmanian Bec Wade, who was perhaps a little more prepared than most, said the experience was exhilarating.
“There’s a group of us that go (swimming) every Sunday morning,” he said.
“(But) this is iconic: being in a big group of people doing the same thing.”
Wade and her friend Bec Trollip said double socks and a thermos with a hot drink were essential.
“It was very difficult when (the water) was up to your waist – you had to push through that painful part. But we will come back next year,” said Mrs Trollip.
Free swimming, which began with just a few hundred participants in 2013, expanded from 2,000 to 3,000 in 2024 and sold out within days.
It was about 6°C out of the water and about 12°C in the river at dawn.
Marcus Salton, a four-swim veteran, said they definitely get easier and a larger event makes it more difficult to navigate.
Free swimming, which began with just a few hundred participants in 2013, expanded from 2,000 to 3,000 in 2024 and sold out within days.
‘Don’t think about it too much. The tide was high, so we were a little tight this year,” she said.
‘Bring a friend. It’s always better to do it with someone.’
Red flares were fired as a starting marker following the beating of drums on the beach.
“Once the drums start playing… there’s a real sense of being in this together,” said participant Karl Malakoff.
“Don’t take off your shoes until the last moment: the sand is freezing.”
The swim was part of the Dark Mofo festival, which organized a reduced program in 2024 in order to find a more sustainable financial model.
The Tasmanian Government has committed $7.5 million to the music, food and arts event over three years.
The festival has made a name for itself by courting controversy and in 2018 drew the ire of some by installing inverted Christian crosses along Hobart’s waterfront.
