Swanage's free Boxing Day swim is Saturday 26 December at 11am, the Ice Water Swim Festival is 29 December, and Weymouth's harbour swim is still to confirm.

Swanage has confirmed the date of its Boxing Day Swim: Saturday 26 December 2026, 11am, free, from the beach outside The Mowlem. Three days later the Ice Water Swim Festival runs at Arfleet Mill Lakes below Corfe Castle on Tuesday 29 December. Weymouth’s Christmas Day harbour swim and Lyme Regis’s New Year’s Day Lyme Lunge have not published their dates yet; both run every year, and what they did last time is below.

Every detail here was read on 18 October 2026 from the organisers’ own listings. We will update the page as the rest publish, usually from late November.

The quick answer

  • Swanage Boxing Day Swim: Saturday 26 December, 11am. Meet from 10am, in the water on the town crier’s bell. Free, donations to the #WillDoes charity. The organisers say 2026 timings are still to be confirmed.
  • Ice Water Swim Festival: Tuesday 29 December, Arfleet Mill Lakes, Corfe Castle BH20 5JG. Booked races from about 9.45am to 3pm, 70m sprints £19, free Big Social Swim at midday.
  • Weymouth Christmas Day harbour swim: not announced. The Lions’ swim across the harbour from the Cove, Trinity Road, ran from 9.30am to 12pm on Christmas Day 2024.
  • Lyme Lunge, New Year’s Day: not announced. The 2026 Lunge was at 1pm on Sandy Beach, Lyme Regis, in fancy dress.

Swanage Boxing Day Swim, Saturday 26 December

The Swanage Events listing describes the swim as “an annual community tradition, which sees hundreds of swimmers head into the chilly December water for a fun, festive dip”. Swimmers meet at the Swanage Information Centre from 10am, and “on the town crier’s bell at 11am sharp, it’s time to brave the water”, with festive hats encouraged. The meeting point on the beach is outside The Mowlem, Shore Road, BH19 1LB.

Entry is free, with donations welcomed. The swim has been organised for the last few years by #WillDoes, a charity set up in memory of William Paddy, who died at 14, which raises money for young people’s wellbeing. There are hot drinks and mince pies for people watching from the shore.

The listing marks the 2026 timings as “to be confirmed”, so check it in December before you set off.

Ice Water Swim Festival, Tuesday 29 December

Wild Swim’s Ice Water Swim Festival is at Arfleet Mill Lakes, Studland Road, Corfe Castle BH20 5JG, on Tuesday 29 December 2026. The organisers call it “a winter swim experience for people who love cold water, not podiums”, in “clear, spring-fed water at true ice-water temperatures”.

You build a package from a list of races. The 70m front crawl sprint, 70m breaststroke sprint and 70m woolly hat dash are £19 each, and wetsuits are optional on all three. Some race slots were already marked unavailable on 18 October. The Swanage Events listing for the day gives 11 swims in all, from 70m sprints to a team relay, with the first race at 10.30am and the last at 3pm, an inflatable race, a lakeside sauna and hot outdoor showers, and The Big Social Swim at midday, free for all entrants and spectators. Wild Swim’s own race list starts earlier, with a 9.45am sprint, so go by the time on your ticket.

Weymouth Christmas Day harbour swim: not announced yet

The Weymouth and Portland Lions Club’s Christmas Day swim crosses the harbour. Weymouth Town Council’s listing for Christmas Day 2024 gave 9.30am to 12pm and the route: “the 70-metre-plus distance starts from the Cove on Trinity Road and finishes across the water opposite the Harbour Master’s office on Custom House Quay”. The council says “thousands of people line the harbour” to watch.

The Lions’ own ticket page for an earlier year explains how it runs: swimmers must buy a ticket, go in groups of up to 50, and are counted in at the start and out at the other side, with RNLI sea canoeists on the water. That page carries the 2022 price, £15, and is not a guide to this year’s.

Neither the council’s 2026 calendar nor the Lions had listed the 2026 swim by 18 October. We will add the time, price and how to enter when they do.

Lyme Lunge, New Year’s Day: not announced yet

The Lyme Lunge is a fancy dress dip on New Year’s Day, organised by the Rotary Club of Lyme Regis, “on the sandy beach from 1pm sharp”. Love Lyme Regis says it has raised more than £40,000 for charity in its first 15 years and grew from about 50 people in 2009 to more than 1,000 in 2024. The New Year’s Day 2025 Lunge was cancelled because of bad weather.

Lyme Regis Town Council announced the 2026 Lunge on 5 December 2025, for Thursday 1 January 2026 at 1pm on Sandy Beach, raising money for Rainbow Trust and WellChild. No date for 1 January 2027 had been posted by 18 October; on that pattern, expect the announcement in early December.

Before you go in

Weymouth’s swim is in a working harbour, and the Lions count every swimmer in and out. At the Ice Water festival the water is at “true ice-water temperatures”, and the organisers say it “may even freeze”.

For the drive, our Christmas and New Year travel page has the holiday trains and buses, the roadworks and travel page carries closures, and parking in Dorset has the Swanage and Weymouth car parks. The rest of the season is on our Christmas lights, Christmas markets and Santa specials pages.

Sources