While most of us are nursing sore heads under the duvet on New Year’s Day, hardy souls have been taking to the chilly waters of the Tay for generations.
Ye Amphibious Ancients Bathing Association, more commonly known as the Phibbies, started hosting the somewhat barmy past-time at Broughty Ferry in 1891.
The annual test of sanity attracts dookers of all ages.
Some jump right in from the harbour walls and some dabble a tentative toe in the water to judge just how shockingly cold it is before wading in!
All emerge, with teeth chattering, into the comfort of warm blankets and towels, some – perhaps fuelled by New Year spirits – exclaiming the benefits of taking such a cold bath, others clearly regretting what at some distant stage must have seemed like a good idea.
The 2023 event took place on Sunday which gave us the perfect excuse to dip into the archives to look back at the story of the New Year tradition alongside past images.
Can you spot yourself or someone you know jumping in at the deep end?
Let’s go back to the 1880s
The Amphibious Ancients Bathing Association was started by a “few enthusiastic bathers” around the summer of 1884 at the sands near Broughty Castle.
According to the Association, the New Year’s Day Dook was inspired by the fisher folk of Broughty Ferry who often found themselves bathing in the waters of the Tay every morning (except on the Sabbath, of course).
The tradition first appears in their club minutes in 1891.
It was the first event of its kind in Broughty Ferry and Dundee – and is still the largest in Scotland.
The event raises money for several local charities as most who take part are sponsored for their efforts.
By 1923 the Association’s New Year swim was a well-known event in the local area.
However, despite their hardy reputation only the younger members of the club turned up that day – and a mere five of them made it into the water!
You can hardly blame them though with the rough conditions they were swimming in.
Over the decades in all weather the level of participation in the Dook increased dramatically and it became a popular fixture on the Broughty Ferry calendar.
It wasn’t always for the faint of heart however.
In 1989 it was so cold that the members of the group had to break the ice with pick axes before they could get into the harbour to swim!
The harsh weather conditions continued into the 2000s.
On January 1 2000, a relay team of Association members swam from Tayport to Broughty Ferry to celebrate the turning of the new millennium.
The temperature that day was 2°C – quite mild compared to previous years temperatures which were recorded at minus 3!
The relay was the first ever crossing attempted on a New Year’s Day and most of the team could only tolerate the cold water for three minutes at a time.
In the end it took them 45 minutes to complete the crossing.
Two commemorative rafts were present at the event.
One represented John Barrowman, the club’s first life president who held the post for 25 years from 1884.
The other depicted characters who had played an important role in the history of the Tay throughout the 1900s, including King James, a Dundee whaler and a Victorian swimmer.
Fast-forward to 2005 for more extreme weather.
Not even the hailstones put the swimmers off that year however.
Hundreds of people of all ages gathered at the Broughty Ferry Harbour to watch and participate in that year’s Dook despite the weather.
Even swimmers from as far as Australia and New Zealand had come to the Ferry to take part in what was now regarded as Scotland’s largest New Year’s swim.
It was in 2013 that the Association broke its record for most attendees.
That year 400 brave dookers immersed themselves in the chilly waters of the Tay, cheered on by 6,000 supporters watching from the harbour.
President Joyce McIntosh said at the time: “This year we made an official programme.
“There were 25,000 copies distributed around Angus, Dundee, Fife, Perth and even up to Aberdeen.
“I have never seen so many people attend.
“The New Year’s Day Dook is a tradition for us going back 100 years and yesterday was absolutely fantastic – it was the best Dook we’ve ever had.”
After a Covid cancellation in 2021 – the first in its 130-year-history – one of Scotland’s most famous New Year Day seaside spectacles returned in January 2022.
The annual New Year’s Day dip was moved however to Beach Crescent where 50 swimmers took part against the backdrop of social distancing and restrictions.
The Association limited the number of spectators who could attend to 500 due to the pandemic but thankfully things started to return to some kind of normality.
That was great news for the organisers of the 2023 event.
Joyce and Vivien Scott braved the streets of Dundee in their swimming costumes to promote the event alongside Dundee’s Depute Lord Provost Kevin Cordell.
Joyce said: “Over the past couple of years, due to Covid-19, people have reduced the number of activities that they have taken part in.
“But now we want to get the Dook back to the numbers that we had attending in the past.”
Sunday’s dip was a splashing success.
Here’s to many more Dook memories being made over the next 132 years.
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