{"id":344778,"date":"2025-12-14T14:03:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T14:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/344778\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T14:03:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T14:03:10","slug":"britons-devastated-after-boxing-day-tradition-cancelled-with-two-weeks-notice-as-organisers-admit-defeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/344778\/","title":{"rendered":"Britons devastated after Boxing Day tradition cancelled with two weeks&#8217; notice as organisers &#8216;admit defeat&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Deal&#8217;s traditional Boxing Day Dip has been scrapped for the second year running, despite receiving improved water quality certification weeks ago.<\/p>\n<p>The Environment Agency upgraded Castle Beach&#8217;s water rating to &#8220;good&#8221; in November, raising hopes the festive swim could return this Christmas.<\/p>\n<p>However, Deal Rotary Club announced on Friday it had &#8220;finally had to admit defeat&#8221; in its efforts to stage the event.<\/p>\n<p>The charity explained on social media: &#8220;It was always a challenge to put the event on safely, given the short lead-in time following the reclassification of our sea water to &#8216;good&#8217; by the Environment Agency.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The annual swim was first called off in 2024 after sea water conditions at the Kent beach were deemed unsuitable for bathing.<\/p>\n<p>High levels of E.coli had prompted serious concerns about swimmer safety earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>Measurements taken at Deal Castle showed bacterial readings 2.5 times higher than those recorded the previous year.<\/p>\n<p>The Environment Agency, responsible for monitoring bacteria levels at bathing sites throughout England, subsequently confirmed in November conditions at Deal Castle Beach had improved sufficiently to merit the upgraded classification.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"04715\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"3a7b485f36b88ff9cdcfb19320110f74\" data-rm-shortcode-name=\"rebelmouse-image\" class=\"rm-shortcode rm-lazyloadable-image \" lazy-loadable=\"true\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201024%20727'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-runner-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/deal-swim.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"727\" alt=\"Deal swim\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The Boxing Day tradition was cancelled with just two weeks&#8217; notice<\/p>\n<p> | <\/p>\n<p>GETTY<\/p>\n<p>Deal Rotary Club noted preparations for the Boxing Day swim typically commence during the summer months, leaving organisers with a tight window after receiving the November reclassification.<\/p>\n<p>The charity expressed disappointment but remained positive about future prospects.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Whilst it is a disappointment for us all, the work put in stands us in good stead for next year&#8217;s dip and, unless the stage changes yet again, we aim to give everyone plenty of time to get their sponsors signed up for their individual charities,&#8221; the club stated.<\/p>\n<p>\n        Our Standards:<br \/>\n        The GB News Editorial Charter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deal&#8217;s traditional Boxing Day Dip has been scrapped for the second year running, despite receiving improved water quality&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[117556,703,49,48,44,12384,50950,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-344778","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-across-the-uk","9":"tag-boxing","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-sgg","14":"tag-south-east","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}