A Santa from Chippenham gets in swim to set world record (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

A Santa from Chippenham gets in swim to set world record

12:09pm Thursday 31st December 2009

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Santa is known more for his flying than his swimming but that didn’t stop more than 153 scuba divers enter the Guinness World Records last week dressed as Father Christmas.

The divers were raising money for the RNLI by breaking the world record for the largest number of simultaneous scuba diving Santas.

Among the fake beards and red outfits was Claire Barker, 35, from Kington St Michael, near Chippenham.

Having only come to the sport this year this was the first time she had taken part in a mass dive. She said: “It was very weird and very surreal having so many Santas underwater.

“You always dive with a buddy but it was really hard to tell who was who. Everyone looked the same behind the fake beards and red suits.

“Quite a few people were wearing red trousers which fell down pretty quickly so we had lots of people swimming around with their trousers around their ankles.

“And when we got out there were quite a few hats and beards still floating in the water.”

The dive was organised by Yorkshire Divers and took place at Vobster Quay in Somerset.

Ms Barker was keen to get involved with it being so nearby. She said: “I was really pleased I went, it was such a giggle and all for a good cause. I’m pretty sure we’re going to beat the target of raising £5,000.

“Although it was very close I definitely want to do it again next year wherever it is.”

With water temperatures of four degrees on Sunday December 20 Ms Barker had to brave the chilly waters without a thick drysuit to keep her warm.

She said: “I’m not yet qualified to dive with a drysuit so I was one of the very few people having to use a wetsuit. It was freezing.”

To qualify for the record the divers had to all be underwater for ten minutes.

And Ms Barker almost missed out on the record in a last ditch scramble for a suitable outfit. She said: “I left it a bit late. Thankfully I was able to buy the last one at Leekes in Melksham.”

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