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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Travel

The science behind Tasmania’s love of cold ocean plunging

Cooling pools dot Apsley Gorge, including the large and easily reached Apsley Waterhole by its mouth, and smaller plunge pools deeper into the gorge.
Apsley Waterhole. Photograph: Harrison Candlin. Photograph: Harrison Candlin/Vagary

On Tasmania’s spectacular east coast, a wooden building sits at the edge of the water. Its timber is weathered by years of salt air, and at night, it glows with a radiance that reflects the warm community around it.

Every morning, here at Bicheno Surf Life Saving Club, a group of fearless swimmers heads out … not into a heated pool, but into the bone-chilling open ocean. The water reaches a maximum of 20 degrees here in summer, and drops to a frosty 13 degrees in winter.

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