Just two years ago, you posted a video on TikTok sharing a solo sunrise dip in the ocean, which turned into the Sea Gals community it is today, with 200 people attending your last swim. Can you talk to us about building the Sea Gals community and your mission? 

I am still amazed that Sea Gals is talked about in text messages between friends or at the dinner table when a daughter might ask her mum to go to a Sea Gals dip with her. I still have to wrap my head around it somehow. Sea Gals started with a TikTok that I didn’t think anything of. I had always wanted to go for a sunrise dip but always put it off, and I thought I would document my experience as it was one of the most special solo self-care mornings ever. I received a lot of comments on the video I posted, so I thought I would be a little crazy and invite these people to the beach! Even at our first dip together - Sea Gals wasn’t around. It was just a group of five strangers getting together for a sunrise dip. It wasn’t until the second dip that someone said, “You need to make an Instagram and call this something!”. From that moment, I realised this movement was rapidly growing and becoming a community.

Only in the first two months of Sea Gals running did I start to see the mission of Sea Gals form - to provide women, including trans women and non-binary people, with a space to engage in self-care by connecting to themselves, nature and others. People naturally came up to me and told me about their amazing experiences of running into the ocean with everyone and how it positively affected their mental health and body image. I realised how meaningful this community is. A lot of people, and especially women, experience so much stress around their bodies. That’s why it is so freeing to come together as you are and enjoy a morning in the body you have.

You’ve fostered a warm, welcoming space where people can connect to themselves and others through nature, and your swims are often held at sunrise. For someone who hasn’t attended a swim, can you paint a picture of what a sunrise swim feels and looks like in your community?

Words could never capture the feeling of a sunrise dip with our community - but it feels like you’re connecting with an untouched part of the world. Sunrise is so special because the light is different, the skies are pink, the water is (usually) calm, and most people haven’t woken up yet. It feels so serene to see the beach at that time of day.

In terms of a Sea Gals sunrise dip, we invite you to sit down and have a brief, meaningful talk to the gals, including a prompt that will spark conversations among our attendees and welcome them with some music that sets the tone of the morning. We snap some candid moments, always with consent, and will count them down from 3 to 1 when running into the water. We encourage people to run in and dive to get the full experience! Most importantly, we encourage our attendees to wear whatever they want - whether that’s a bikini or a t-shirt and shorts.

What is the importance of nature in your mission?

There is a very prevalent sense of ‘hustle culture’ in the world at the moment, and we want to remind people to carve time out of their busy days to get outside and away from the screens. Screen time plays a massive role in our mental health, whether we are aware of it or not. By providing a reminder to get outside in a wholesome way with the community, we encourage people to connect with nature when they can.

What is the biggest thing you have taken away from the Sea Gals community and the swims you have had so far?

Personally, I have taken away a bigger sense of confidence in my body. I have PCOS, so I struggle with hormonal acne, which can sometimes swell my face up and be very painful. By arriving at the Sea Gals dips without any makeup, I feel so empowered because the people attending aren’t judging me; we are all just enjoying the ocean together. I would have never done a photoshoot without any make-up, and I’m proud to say that the Youswim photos of me are completely fresh-faced.

Where do you see the future of Sea Gals?

We can never know what the future holds, so I am excited to see how Sea Gals unfolds. Sea Gals is currently my passion side-project while I complete my Masters of Counselling and have a casual job, but I would love Sea Gals to be my full-time job. I am very lucky that the girls on the team would also love to see Sea Gals flourish to become a successful not-for-profit known worldwide as the community movement to tackle body image and mental health issues for people of all ages. We will always host free sunrise dips, as that is at our core, but we would love to expand into other areas and opportunities.

What is one thing you would say to your younger self?

“Your body is perfect the way it is”.

I’ve done a lot of reflection over the past few years and found that I loved my body as a kid. But when I started to go through puberty, started high school, put on weight, started drinking at 18, and developed hormonal acne, that’s when my body confidence wavered. I received comments from family and friends about my weight, so I spent the next ten years trying to get back to the body I had when I was 14. How is it expected for a 16, 18, 21, and 24-year-old to get back to her 14-year-old body? It’s only now, at the age of 25, that I have let that idea go and live life in the body I have - striving to be healthy, not lose weight, for the sake of pleasing others. I looked at a photo of me when I was 16, and I remember when that photo was being taken, I thought I was fat. I was a size 10-12! I don’t want anyone to feel this way, and if I could say one thing to my younger self, it would be, “Your body is perfect the way it is”.

Where is your favourite place to swim?

I have always loved Mullaloo Beach because that was the first place we ever dipped as Sea Gals, but as the years go on (two years of Sea Gals now as of mid-Feb!), I think Coogee Beach in Perth is my favourite. We have the shark net, so it’s like swimming in a pool, plus the pontoon with a slide is so much fun.

What’s your favourite Youswim suit?

I have had the Poise One-Piece in Fern for a few years now, and every time I wear it, I get a compliment, and people ask where it’s from. But now, I have stepped outside my comfort zone and finally worn a thong to the beach - which I never thought I would do. And I’m so proud to say it was the Aplomb Cheeky Two Piece in Indigo - my favourite Youswim suit.