Norwich nurse marks 25 years with dawn to dusk swims

Katie Treutler, left, decided to undertake the "dipathon" with her friends to mark 25 years as a nurse

An NHS nurse celebrating 25 years in the profession took a dip in the sea at nine different spots along a county's coastline to mark the milestone.

Katie Treutler, from Norwich, was joined by six friends for her dawn to dusk "dipathon" on Sunday.

They went from Great Yarmouth around to Hunstanton and helped raise awareness of the local NHS Wellbeing service.

Mrs Treutler, who currently works for the post-Covid assessment service, said it was "such a nice thing to do".

She had planned to go in the sea at 10 locations, but had to abort one dip due to the weather.

The 53-year-old said she came up with the idea as she wanted to "do something different" to celebrate a quarter of a century of being a nurse .

She said she also wanted to raise awareness of Wellbeing Norfolk and Waveney, which provides mental health support, because she was referring people there "on a daily basis".

The group of seven friends went to 10 different locations to dip in the sea around east, north and west Norfolk

They refuelled with hot drinks and bacon and egg rolls between dips

The group started at 07:00 BST and finished at about 18:15, and changed into 10 different swimsuits for the challenge.

They swam for about 10 minutes at Great Yarmouth, California Sands, Waxham, Walcott, Mundesley, Cromer, Sheringham and Wells-next-the-Sea.

The group had to settle for a paddle at Blakeney as the tide was out and they had to abandon plans to get in the water at Hunstanton due to high winds.

They had to settle for a paddle at Blakeney, famed for its seal colony, as the tide was out

They finished their "dipathon" at Hunstanton but were unable to get into the water due to high winds

They drove between the 10 locations and enjoyed bacon and egg rolls, hot chocolate and cake in between dips.

"There was a lot of laughter," said respiratory nurse Mrs Treutler.

"It was such a nice thing to do to celebrate 25 years in a job I've loved for a long time."

She said they did not raise sponsorship this time but "potentially next time".