It’s 6.50am on a cold, dark Thursday as a crowd of swimmers swap their woolly hats and coats for swimming togs at the Forty Foot in Dublin.
Many of them are there to support Robert Young (24) as he jumps into the sea for his latest dip as part of a “Freezbrury” challenge to raise funds for the Irish Cancer Society.
Participants in the annual challenge, dreamed up by Galway adventurer Damian Brown, go for a swim in the sea, a lake or a river every day in February, adding one minute each day. On day one, they submerge themselves for one minute, the next day it is two, and so on.
On Thursday, Robert spent 22 minutes in the water after leaping off the rocks. He was joined by 15 of his friends, many of whom also work at accounting firm EY.
Some jumped in and stayed the course, while others lowered themselves gingerly into the sea and managed to remain there for just a few minutes.
Robert, who grew up in south Dublin, is a regular sea swimmer, but he would not normally go for a daily dip in the winter.