THIS year some 350 Islanders decided that plunging themselves into the sea on Christmas Day was a splendid idea.

About 140 of those people took to the water at Havre des Pas, where the swim had been organised by the Jersey Swimming Club, whose members have been taking part in the event since 1908.

This being the club’s centenary swim, regular contributor and reader Graeme Harris dug out a couple of pictures of the people who took part in that first swim.

The club members of 1908 look particularly serious — as well they might given that the sea temperature was a chilly 40°F (about 4.5°C) and the air temperature much the same.

A hundred years on, 2008’s swimmers faced a slightly more temperate 10.2°C in the water, while the air was a positively balmy 8°C. They were also more festively dressed, with some jumping into the water in Santa suits.

These days another swim, which like the Havre des Pas swim raises money for Hospice Care, is at Ouaisné. It attracted about 200 swimmers this year.