Tenby's brave Boxing Day bathers have once again splashed their way into the record books.

Despite grey skies, thousands of cheering spectators watched the best ever turnout of hardy men, women and children of all ages, plus a few pet pooches and even a pony, shake off the Christmas turkey and stuffing excesses as they took the plunge in the sea off the town's North Beach on Friday.

Sent on their way by a rocket and maroon, the 430 dippers, who came from far and wide and included former Tenby man, Michael Bonacini, who now owns six restaurants in Toronto and his seven-year-old son Oscar, and Mick Kelly and his sister Donna from Sydney, Australia, who were spending Christmas with Mick's fiancée, Marie Hughes, and her family, of New Hedges, were greeted by a sea temperature of nine degrees, which many veterans rated warmer than previous years and even saw some go in for a second time!

While many were heroic enough to take to the water in traditional swimming attire, others opted for colourful fancy dress costumes, which included a home-made lifeboat and lighthouse, that reflected the theme 'SOS', in tribute to the work of the event's headline charity, the RNLI.

In fact, the skills of the town's inshore lifeboat crew were later called upon to rescue a dinghy in difficulty at the close of the swim.

A number of events, meanwhile, were held in the prelude to the 33rd dash for the splash, including a dinghy race, a longboat contest and a canoe race, won by Chris Perch.

Mayor of Tenby, Clr. Mrs. Caroline Thomas, gave the festive dip a civic salute and also judged the fancy dress competition.

Winner of the best individual child award was Kelly Blackmore, who was dressed as a pirate, while Mal Davies, as Ozzy Osbourne, picked up the best individual adult prize.

'Damsels in Distress', sisters Loren and Robyn Bowen, claimed best child group, while the Lewis family, of Lawrenny, sailed away with top spot in best adult group, with their own 'Sir Galahad' entry.

Prizes were donated by Folly Farm, The Buccaneer, Victoria Wine, Kilgetty Co-op and Somerfield.

Among the first to enter the water was Matthew Evans, of event sponsors Coastal Cottages of Pembrokeshire, and while some were out of the sea in a moment to enjoy warming soup provided by Tenby and Saundersfoot Lions Club, other hardy souls were still frolicking around in the surf some 20 minutes after the start.

After beating off strong opposition from Pembroke Under 15s, who appeared to be doing the haka in the water, Penally school teacher and rugby player, Chris Page, who was joined by Francesca Fecci, took the honour of being last out.

Local DJ Steve Briers was on hand to give a festive commentary, while safety cover was provided by the town's coastguard unit, inshore lifeboat crew, Surflink and the St. John Ambulance.

Over the years, the swim has raised over £100,000 for charity, and last year's 415 dippers brought in the superb sum of £12,400.

Now with this year's number of bathers topping previous swims, chairman of the Tenby Sea Swimming Association, Chris Osborne, is hoping the event will also reap bumper sums for charity.

"Let's hope that the record amount of swimmers will be matched by a record amount raised for charity," he said.

"The turnout of swimmers and spectators was superb this year, as was the strong support we received from the emergency services, which we are grateful for."

As well as the RNLI, the chief charities are Tenby Scout and Guide Hall Fund, the Pembrokeshire committee of NSPCC Wales, Cancer Research and the Pembrokeshire Carers' Association.

Swimmers are asked to hand in their sponsorship money as soon as possible so that the final amount, including the beach collection, can be totalled.

ACROSS THE POND

FOOTNOTE: Records were also broken across the Pond where former Saundersfoot resident and Boxing Day Swim veteran, Dai Roberts, who is based at a NATO HQ in Norfolk, Virginia, led a transatlantic dip on the same day.

Joined by a contingent of colleagues, Dai and his wife Denise organised a stateside plunge along with a parade of flags in below zero weather conditions at Virginia Beach.

"We also had record numbers here with 25 swimmers and about 35 supporters on a blue sky, windy, sunny, but cold day," said Dai. "The temperature was about five degrees C and the water was as cold as last year, about -5 degrees.

"The parade of flags also increased this year with a number of US state flags as well as the Welsh dragon, Welsh royal standard and the Union Jack."

Just like the swimmers here, the USA bathers were rewarded with a Tenby Boxing Day Swim medal thanks to Dave's mother-in-law and father-in-law, Lilian and Brian Lang, of Edgecombe, Saundersfoot, who took 50 out with them when they went to spend Christmas with their family in the States.