Some have started the year 2022 in the water! A fifteen people took the first swim of the year in the Sorgue this Saturday morning when they were only seven last year. The brotherhood of Pescaïre Lilen, the fishermen of Isle sur la Sorgue, organized for the 23rd consecutive year the traditional first swim to wish each other a happy new year. The water was, as usual, at 12 degrees.
With her retro swimsuit with red and white stripes and her charlotte on her head, 76-year-old Jacquie, is swimming for the fourth consecutive year. “We’ll see if she’s still this cold. We need to motivate ourselves” she says, following the group. Once in the water, the fortnight of courageous and courageous people form a circle in the Sorgue. Hand in hand, they plunge the whole body. Shouts, applause. “It’s a bit cold. I’ve known warmer. But we feel surrounded so it’s okay” says Chloe, 15, who dives for the first time. She does it with her father, Christophe who is “very proud of her.”
Fifteen courageous and courageous in the Sorgue
On the banks of the Sorgue, some observers came to encourage them: “The water is cold. We admire them, we encourage them but we don’t want to follow them.” After a minute in the water, the doyenne Jacquie comes out: “it is fresh but it feels good!” Once her purple bathrobe is on, she ensures that “I’m good, that makes an impeccable reaction.” Jacquie and the others will come back to bathe in the Sorgue next year. A great way to start 2023 and especially for Alain Preto, member of the brotherhood of Pescaïre Lilen, it is also a “to honor the river which was the nurturing mother of our ancestors.”
– Morgane Guiomard