Council pours cold water on ice baths at Coogee Beach
Image: Facebook, Fi Woolly - Breathless Coogee Beach
by ALEXANDRA SNOW
Ice bath operators on Sydney’s beaches are left devastated after Randwick Council allegedly threatened to fine them, leaving the future of ice baths on Coogee Beach uncertain.
As the popularity of breath work, cold water therapy, and the Wim Hoff method rises, wellness groups have popped up across Sydney suburbs.
Somatic Ice, a beloved group which attracts almost 50 people a week to its icy session on the scenic south end of Coogee Beach, were told they could be fined several hundreds to thousands of dollars if they continue.
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Saoirse McGrath, who runs Somatic Ice, began her ice bath sessions after a charity event for local charity Keith’s Closet, which opened in January this year.
“After the event, we saw huge demand. We became staples of peoples’ weeks,” Ms McGrath said.
She stated that Randwick Council were initially very supportive, but council rangers came and warned them of upcoming fines.
Ms McGrath, who works full time in advertising, said that once the ice baths took off, she had notified the council, got all the insurance necessary, and filled in all the paperwork for permits.
Having invested over $10,000 on equipment, Ms McGrath considers the ice baths to be her passion project, and is gutted to see them shut down without good reason – following the shutdown, she reached out to the council, who told her it was the lifeguards objecting to the ice baths. But none of the lifeguards she spoke with seemed to share this sentiment.
“The lifeguards were really supportive that we were doing something good for the community,” she said. “They liked seeing people at the beach doing something healthy for themselves.”
The benefits of breath work and cold water therapy have been credited with reducing anxiety, increasing energy and fat loss. But Ms McGrath says it’s much more than that.
“We’ve built a community. People have made friends, boyfriends and girlfriends from the sessions.”
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Ms McGrath mentioned a regular patron who works nights and is struggling without the social element of the ice baths.
She also noted that the shutdown couldn’t have come at a worse time now that the weather warms up.
But Somatic Ice isn’t the only group hit with bad news. Happy Humans Project, operating on the north end of the beach, were forced to halt their activities due to complaints. Conscious Community was shut down last year, prompting their move to Bondi Beach.
Waverley Council have taken a different approach and given permits to ice bath providers on Bondi Beach.
An online petition, started by Somatic Ice, received over 1100 signatures within 48 hours supporting their return to Coogee beach. The Happy Human Project has also set up an online petition to allow them to continue operating.
