With the sun shining over the weekend, many people will be venturing down to their local pool or beach for a refreshing swim.

Co-creator of wildswim.ie Maureen McCoy joined The Anton Savage Show to give tips on how to swim safely this summer.

She warned that despite the warm temperatures, there is still the potential of swimmers getting cold water shock.

“It’s when we hit the water, our body sort of reacts to it, and one of the first reactions is we take a gasp in,” she said.

“So, it’s just knowing to go in a little bit more carefully than just diving straight in headfirst.”

Ms McCoy said that a general rule of thumb is to keep your head above water for at least three minutes to allow your body time to adjust to the temperature.

23/08/2021. People enjoy jumping in and swimming at the Forty Foot in Dublin as the warmer weather comes back. Photo: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

She also pointed out certain areas that may be more dangerous to swim in than others.

“First off, quarries would be highly dangerous spots to go swimming,” she said.

“Quarries are generally very deep with steep sides, so access and getting out of them is quite difficult.

“Because they’re so deep, they stay very, very cold as well.

“Whenever we’re hot and we want to jump in and get cooled off, you can hit extremely cold water – a lot colder than the sea, so that’s something to watch out for.”

According to Ms McCoy the number-one piece of advice is to never go swimming alone, and to ideally go with somebody who is a strong swimmer and familiar with the area.

She recommended people find a local group to join if they have no friends or family of their own interested in going with them.

Main image: The 103rd Jones Engineering Dublin City Liffey Swim took place. Pictured were participants of the womens race. Picture Jason Clarke