NEARLY 800 Boxing Day bathers have taken to the water in Tenby in the resort’s annual festive dip.

The event this morning attracted the highest number of swimmers in its 49-year history, despite the adverse weather forecast.

Fortunately the wind and rain stayed away, and the hordes of dippers were a heartwarming sight as they made their way down a big North Beach into the water, with Tenby’s all-weather lifeboat, the Haydn Miller, watching over them.

The fancy dress theme of Climate Change attracted Gretta Thunberg look-alikes, a coral reef, displaced seals, penguins and polar bears and even a Noah’s Ark.

The swim’s green credentials continued with the presentation of medals made out of wood, instead of the usual plastic, and 771 were claimed by brave bathers

Said swim chairman Chris Osborne: “The climate certainly was with us today and we’re delighted with the turn-out.

“The fact that so many people have come along in spite of the weather forecast speaks volumes for the popularity of the swim and augurs well for our grand 50th birthday celebration in 2020.”

The Tenby Boxing Day Swim is organised by the Tenby Sea Swimming Association, whose nominated charities this year are Prostate Cymru and the Tenby Talking Newspaper.

*See next Wednesday’s Western Telegraph for more words and pictures.