“Once you’ve seen the sunrise from the ocean, the way you feel about it will change. You’ll come back just to see that again,” says Minesh Babla. A businessman whose first love is swimming, Babla co-founded the Mumbai Sea Swimmers along with software developer Mehul Ved in 2016. What started off as small groups of passionate people taking to the sea slowly blossomed into a thriving community. While participants are aged anywhere from 15 years to 70 years, most members range from mid 20s to late 60s. Some of these are triathletes and professional swimmers looking to get stronger, others simply have a love for water. 

However, it is not as simple as swimming in a pool. Getting used to the current and waves can take anywhere between three to five sessions and requires a different mindset, says Babla. It all depends on the individual’s calibre. “We want to bridge the gap and help take you to the other side of your fear,” he adds. For newbies, they have a buddy system where an experienced swimmer will stay with you throughout the swim and guide you. Connecting with them is quite simple. All you need to do is go to their site mumbaiseaswimmers.com where you can find the link to a Whatsapp group that’ll keep you updated. For the new year, they are planning to venture into destination swims. Possible locations include lakes in Maharashtra and Gujarat along with the Goan coast.