Ria Bleathman

My formative years were I spent in southern Tasmania where learned to swim in the inland waterways of the Broadmarsh, Styx, Clyde and Shannon rivers. These rivers were chilled by snow-melt from the Central Plateau and were freezing for most of the year.

I joined Clifton Beach Surf Life Saving Club in my early 20’s. It’s Australia’s southern-most surf life-saving club and, fittingly, adopted a Polar Bear for a club logo. The water was always cold - chilled by prevailing southerlies from the Antarctic - but it didn’t bother any of us.

Despite living abroad (Germany, London and New York) swimming was always my ‘go-to’ activity as I find the natural environment nourishing, especially being in open water.

I have been a member of the Brighton Icebergers since 2018. It’s refreshing to be part of a group of like-minded people.

It is at the club that I started writing the Newsletter. The breadth of articles reflect the diversity of interests of this eclectic group.