It takes a lot of willpower to voluntarily get out of bed on a cold Canberra winter's morning.
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It takes a lot more to do it in sub-zero temperatures on one of the coldest days of the year. Let alone to go swimming in Lake Burley Griffin. Let alone to go swimming in the lake in the nude.
Yet for more than 150 Canberrans that's exactly what they did, braving the frigid temperatures to mark the shortest day of the year.
Now in its third year, the Canberra Winter Solstice Nude Charity Swim saw attendance double this year, with 156 people taking the plunge off Yarralumla Bay.
Temperatures were about minus 2 degrees when punters disrobed and hit the water at sunrise, while it was a comparatively balmy 9 degrees in the lake.
The event was more than just naked ambition, raising more than $20,000 for cancer charity Love Your Sister and Lifeline.
Organiser Ian Lindeman said while some may see swimming naked in the middle of winter as foolhardy, it was an opportunity to be reinvigorated.
"There's an old theory that the end of the lunar year is the shortest day of the year and as the days get longer you undergo a rebirth," Mr Lindeman said.
"When you swim like we did, you get rid of the negative energies from the past lunar year to refresh for the new one."
Swimmers were serenaded into the water by the sound of a lone bagpiper, as a couple of eager participants hit the water before the main rush.
Mr Lindeman said while the whole body was cold in the water, it was often the feet that get the coldest taking the plunge.
The organiser said that, for many people, the swim represented a challenge.
"Lots of people stick to routine and stay in their comfort zone," Mr Lindeman said.
"When you chance your arm and do something different, there's often a greater feeling of success, and 156 people today went out of their safety zone."
The event has come a long way since its illegal beginnings in 2017, when Mr Lindeman and three others from the Williams Crossing Bicycle Club went for a nude swim in Lake Burley Griffin to mark the solstice.
Swimming in Lake Burley Griffin is illegal, but Mr Lindeman did the swim again the following year, this time with approvals, and more than 70 people showed up to take part.
"I got the idea for the swim after going down to Hobart in 2016 for the Dark Mofo festival and swam in the winter solstice swim there in the Derwent River," he said.
"There was around 750 people swimming, and I was impressed with the camaraderie and the good nature and good vibe of the event, and that was what I wanted to recreate."
While Mr Lindeman was looking to do the event again next year, those thoughts would have to wait until he warmed back up after his icy endeavor.
"The most important thing was to warm the feet near the fire, and then have a coffee and a sausage sizzle," he said.