It was 5:20am on the coast of Perth when Tara Jeisman set her alarm and drove 12 minutes from home, for her first sunrise dip. Inspired by the a friend who had done it a few days before, she sat on the sand for two hours after her swim, taking in her surroundings and relaxing into a book. “My best friend Asha posted on her socials about going to the beach for a sunrise dip before work and the sky looked so beautiful. I thought to myself, I’ve always wanted to do that and just never have. Usually I would have thought ‘I’ll do it one day’, but I had a close friend pass away a year ago suddenly and that made me realise how short life can be,” Jeisman told Women’s Health. “When I was there, I was gasping out loud at how beautiful the sky, ocean, and calmness was. It felt like a dream, like one of those moments when you’re travelling in a new place and have to pinch yourself at how beautiful what you’re seeing is. But it was just my local beach.”
Not only did it make waking up at the crack of dawn not as grim as it had seemed, but it also set Tara up for an incredibly productive day.
“Waking up earlier than usual and doing something soul-feeding to start your day is quite special. The rest of my day was so productive, I thought I was going to fall asleep at 4pm but I lasted until 8pm luckily,” she explains. “I got so many things done during the day and I walked back into my house with a big smile on my face because the experience of doing something I wouldn’t usually do, along with it being spectacular, was just so motivating.”
Capturing some footage of the impressive sunrise, Jeisman decided to share a video on her TikTok account, hardly expecting anyone more than her existing following to see it. Within a few days, the video exploded with comment after comment from women around the state asking her if they could join in.
“When I posted the first video I honestly didn’t think much of it, because I already have a following on TikTok, so I am used to a video every now and then gaining some attention. But once I started reading all the comments of people wishing they could do a sunrise dip, or they didn’t have anyone to go with, I realised they all had the same attitude I previously had. It’s something lots of people wanted to do, but because it’s just outside of their comfort zone, it can become hard to initiate that task,” says Tara. “As soon as one person suggested that we make a group chat to organise a meet up and I saw how many people wanted to do it, I honestly thought ‘what have I done?’. I was stressing to my boyfriend at the fact that I had 90+ people wanting to meet up with me and go to the beach and I had no idea who they were! He just looked at me and said “well you have to do it now”. Out of those 90 people who expressed interest, only five came. That first swim with the five girls, before Sea Gals was even a thing, was the start of something special and I could feel it in the air.”
Since the first video one month ago, the weekly swim attendance has grown to 125 women as seen in Tara’s most recent video, across South Beach, Sorrento and Coogee in WA and internationally in Florida, U.S.
“I think I had to pinch myself. It didn’t really hit me until I started taking individual photos of women in the water of that Coogee swim with 125 people, and they told me their individual stories and how proud I should be. Until that point I had just thought that I had nothing to do with it, I had just helped women go do what they had wanted to do. I think when 125 people came, I realised oh this is a thing and could be the start of something I dedicate my life to,” she added.
Taking the sunrise swims to the next level, Tara is now incorporating her psychology degree with mindful moments, and self reflection and hopes to continue to create a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community and women of all shapes and sizes.
@taraashleyj This has been going for just over a month and the community already built is so supportive #women @_seagals_ #perth #australia ♬ original sound - Tara Ashley ????
“I have had different gals from all walks of life tell me about how Sea Gals gave them the motivation after a low point in their mental wellbeing, or a mother brought her 17 year old daughter with her who had been going through a tough time. Lots of women tell me they had previously struggled to make friends and that this has given them the opportunity to meet people that have common interests. Whilst a lot of the feedback is “you should be proud of yourself for making this”, I honestly think the gals should be proud of themselves because they are the reason Sea Gals exists.”
You can check out more from Sea Gals here.
