'Lighter, happier and more positive!': Islander highlights the benefits of sea swimming

A new organisation in Jersey is hoping to raise awareness of the benefits of sea swimming for people living with depression. 

SeaClearly hopes to help others try sea swimming as a remedy.

The website is a support tool but also raises money through product sales, which then goes back to the mental health frontline.

The majority of money raised will be used for people who are struggling with their mental health but cannot afford to pay for the care they need.

Since getting the website up and running, founder Annabel Barnes has been inundated with support and offers of help. 

The idea to start SeaClearly began with her personal journey. Her hope is that she can help others see more clearly too. She wants to see sea swimming included in the raft of solutions offered to those struggling with their mental health.

Annabel struggled with depression for much of her life, until she made sea swimming a regular fixture. Her first encounter with the 'black cloud', as she calls it, came shortly after the birth of her daughter in Australia.

With her daughter being incredibly ill as a baby, she looked to get counselling but could not afford it.

It was in Australia that she initially started sea swimming. When they moved to Jersey six years ago, she knew it was something she needed to continue. 

Annabel says there are several things about sea swimming that have helped her. But one thing is the mental challenge of putting yourself ahead of the fear of the cold, knowing that 'what is beyond that is amazing'. It is this, she says, that allows you to 'take yourself out of a situation and focus on the positives.'SeaClearly has gained the support of the some in the medical profession who have welcomed the site's launch. 

Dr Ed Klaber has also seen first hand the benefits that sea swimming has had on some of his patients.