COLD COMFORT
Bee Rüder, immersed to her waist in the icy Christchurch sea, digs her toes into the sand as she’s tossed about by the swell. Waves roll in rhythmically, soaking her bare shoulders and sending fresh chills across her skin. It’s just after 7am on a windy November day, and Rüder’s at the south end of Sumner Beach with 13 other “Scarborough Dippers”, in 12°C water, wearing only her togs. Wetsuited longboarders are their company this morning; they’ve shared other mornings with seal pups, dolphins and the occasional crab.
Rüder, 56, is at ease in this group. They’re mostly women, mostly working age, united by enthusiasm and a good-humoured reluctance around their Friday ritual. A few of them swim lengthways along the beach while the rest paddle around, catching up on the minutiae of each other’s lives. (Friday evening happy hour is also on the Dippers’ schedule, so they know each other well.) Passersby could be fooled into thinking Rüder has done this all her life, but here’s what’s not obvious: Rüder’s always hated swimming. The ocean gives her the creeps, and two years ago, she felt completely alone, unable to summon the will to get out of bed.
In 2017, a sudden and destabilising change in circumstances saw Rüder descend into depression. Her experience was devastating, but not unusual: depression afflicts one in six New Zealand adults at some point in their lives. It affects more women than men, and is most common between the ages of 45 and 54.
After months of struggling in isolation, Rüder, desperate for a reason to get out of bed, agreed to join friends for “Wet July”: a
