Tell It To The Sea

We caught up with Hele Bay Merbabes founder, Terri Ingram on her passion for sea swimming and everything outdoors.

Edited by Julie Williams

How and why did you get into sea swimming?

For me, this was probably like most people, by accident. I only live a one-minute walk from the beach and have lived here for four years. Before I eventually got in the sea, I'd lived here for two and a half years and just used to sit on the beach and never ever wanted to get in the sea. I never wanted to walk around in a swimming costume in front of people, so it never even entered my mind to get in the sea. However, one day I was with a few friends, and a couple of them did get in, and they were shouting, "just come in". I don't know why, I thought, just move fast! So, I legged it to the sea and got in as quick as I could, and literally within a few moments of being in the sea, I thought, "Oh, this is nice". It was a beautifully hot day, and we just kind of fooled around, and I thought, you know what, I absolutely loved this and stayed in for ages. The very next day, I went back again, and I said to myself I'm going to get in the sea today. I was still very covered up at this stage, as much as I could be. From that moment, I just kept going back, and that was at the end of August, and I thought to myself, I'm just going to keep going. I had stopped visiting the beach to sit on the beach; I was now going to get in the sea. September and October arrived, and we would say to ourselves if we don't get in, we don't get in, we'll just keep going and see how we go. We did just that; probably maybe once or twice, my friend didn't get in because of the waves. In fact, I don't mind the waves, but she's not keen on them. So even on the days where our heads were saying 'it's too rough, I would still always get in for a quick dip, always.

So how do you think sea swimming has changed you?

I feel like I'm unrecognisable; what used to be important to me is so not important now. For example, in my industry as a hairdresser, how you look and how you present yourself is high on the agenda. Society suggests you have to reflect the industry that you're in. I have always loved pool swimming, but previously the reason I wouldn't go was because of what chlorine does to your hair, so I would always say no, I'm not doing that.

Another example is when I would go down to the sea, for probably about the first six or seven months I wouldn't wear a swim hat. My inner voice was saying, I'm not wearing a swim hat. Now, I think what it's giving me is this body confidence, but it's also just given me a sense of I just don't care. I just really enjoy what I do, and I get so much more from it than when I used to spend time worrying about what people think I looked like, and it's fantastic. The noticeable difference is I'm 50 this year, and if you had asked me a year ago what I would like for my birthday, I would have definitely said a Mulberry handbag or Louboutin shoes. Now, I would like a Swimtrek holiday, some walking shoes, or a really decent rucksack, so it's definitely changed me.

Has it changed your mental state, do you think?

Fortunately, I've never been someone that has suffered massively with any sort of any significant mental health condition, but we all have times in life where life can get you down. I just find that the moment I get in the sea, everything just goes; it is just that sense of calm, along with being completely and utterly invigorated.

My son is a filmmaker, and he's been doing a bit of filming with me swimming, and we're calling it "Tell it to the sea". Whenever I'm feeling anxious or anything, even my husband says to me now, "go tell it to the sea", and that's my favourite saying. The sea, it's just got magical powers, I just think it really sorts you right out".

Do you have a relationship with the coast path, and what does it mean to you?

I do, that's something that I do with my husband because he doesn't enjoy the sea with me. He will kayak and bodyboard, but he certainly won't just get in for a swim. But what we do together is walk the coast path, and I think before we moved here, we also didn't realise that would be something that we would love so much as well. Living so close to the coastal path, whenever we decide we're going to go away somewhere, now I have to stay close to the sea, but we always check out that section of the coast path and always walk it. When I'm using the coastal path, I'm also thinking about where can I swim.

What is your favourite section of the path, and why?

I've got a couple; it's all very local for me. We have walked all around Tintagel, and I love all that; it's beautiful; however, I'd say my favourite stretch that I walk is either from the lighthouse to Morte Point or from Ilfracombe across to Lee Bay.

Although the coast path feels like a killer in places, and often you wonder, why am I doing this? Actually, it's fantastic if you do it on a beautiful day. I particularly love the lighthouse to Morte Point section, as I've seen seals there nearly every time. That is, even though I don't want to swim with seals, I love to watch them from above.

Tell me a bit about your new sea swim coaching business and why you are starting it?

The why is because of lockdown; I'm a hairdresser and teach hairdressing, with a massive part of my business doing wedding hair. Because I hadn't been able to do any of that, I'd been idle, and all I had really done was to swim. When the roadmap out of lockdown was announced, I went into a bit of a panic. I had been enjoying swimming so much. I just happened to mention to a few friends that they were probably going to really laugh at me, but that I just couldn't bear the thought of not being able to swim as often as I wanted to and just getting bogged down with the hairdressing and stuff, and that I'd really like to train to be a swim coach.

In my mind, I thought that by being a swim coach, I could blank out some weekends and work with people on a one-to-one basis. The people that I want to train are people like me, basically. I'd been dipping for over a year, but I'd not started swimming. I began to figure out how I could swim front crawl better by progressing and teaching myself, but what I had been searching for that whole time was somebody to teach me. There's only one place in North Devon to go, and even though I went for an open water swimming session with them, I still didn't get any help with my

stroke. It was more about getting in the sea and what to expect, but I was getting in the sea in all kinds of weathers, so to progress, what was on offer to me was to book a pool session, but we weren't able to do so because of lockdown. So that's where the business idea for coaching open water swimming was born. If I go and get my coaching course, I can help people. When talking through our anxieties about going back to our existing full-time jobs and not getting in the sea as much, my friend felt the same, so we have undertaken the Swimming Teachers Association Open Water Swimming Coaching qualification together. I'm older, so we hope my clientele will be me, and very much beginners and her clientele will probably be more her age group and more slightly more advanced. This year, we're going to start slowly by offering set days to offer to coach and just see how it goes.

Do you have any memorable stories that you would like to share?

I experienced what it feels like to get into a spot of bother in the sea when everything was a bit against us, but we went in anyway. It was low tide, it was like a turning tide, an offshore wind, and the waves were crazy. We just thought a dip is fine, but it dropped

off really quickly, and we suddenly realised we both couldn't stand up and that we were being taken out. We kind of both looked at each other, and to this day, we both say to each other, we really remember each other's face because they changed instantly. We had to swim across to get out of the pull; that was a real lesson for me. I learnt a lot from that day, and I'm super cautious now and don't take any chances. We are very mindful of treating the sea with respect.

I guess the biggest surprise for me personally has been setting up the 'Merbabes' Facebook group; (a community of female sea swimmers) and how massive that's got, and how many people are involved now, that just absolutely blows my mind. It's so lovely that anyone wanting to go for a dip can use the Facebook page to find a buddy to swim with, so no one is ever in the sea on their own. The group has built some true friendships, with many getting together and supporting each other in more ways than they probably know. There have been community activities set up, including sea swimming, surfing, paddle-boarding, cycling, open water swimming, walking, for example, but it's happening all over the country, isn't it now, I guess. Sea swimming is just huge currently. I can't think of anything massively significant to mention, really, to other people, what I've set up and what I have achieved myself might seem to be, but it's just my normal.

Is there any equipment you would recommend for beginner sea swimmers?

Yes, I would say there are initially two essentials. A swim hat to make swimming more efficient, because not only does that make a difference for people like me with long hair when you're trying to swim, and it gets in the way, but it actually keeps you warm as well. You're also more easily spotted in the sea with a brightly coloured swim hat. I also recommend a tow float, they're also great for getting you seen, but if you run into a bit of trouble, to calm yourself, you can grab your float, which provides time to relax a little, and then begin to swim in. A gamechanger for winter swimming if you wanted to do skins is neoprene socks and gloves, because if your extremities don't feel the cold, you can stay in that little bit longer.

Terri and Allie

The RNLI suggested over 300 extra call outs for paddleboarders last year; what are your thoughts about this?

That doesn't surprise me; that can happen so quickly. Our friends have a paddleboard that they leave at our house. One day, we all met down the beach, and all had a little go. One of the guys took it out, and I think the wind direction just changed or something, and before I knew it, he was right out past the buoy. Luckily one of my friend's husbands had a kayak on the beach as well; he managed to get out on a kayak and was able to bring him back. My friend said the sea just took him; he had no chance of moving against it or anything. Although there is a lot of interest in this area of water sports, I feel it is essential that beginners seek a lesson with a qualified instructor or guide to raise their own awareness of the potential dangers and avoid them.

Follow the Hele Bay Merbabes and Coastal Swim Coaching on Instagram @merebabes_helebay @coastalswimcoaching