Members of a men’s sea swimming group say the activity encourages them to open up and helps their mental health.
Trunks and Hunks has grown to hundreds of members after Joe Wills started the group in Eastbourne in 2025.
“Men are very standoffish and we keep our cards close to our chest,” he told the BBC.
“But we found that when we went in the sea, we did something together that brought us closer together.”
Wills said Trunks and Hunks aimed to provide connection and support for those who joined the twice-weekly sessions.
He started the group after experiencing his own problems with alcohol and mental health.
“Whenever I had a problem, I would take it to the pub or the betting shop and after a while, after many consequences, it was really destroying me,” Wills said.
“So I thought ‘do you know what, maybe there’s other guys like me out there who don’t know any different, so why don’t I try and start a men’s group’.”
Trunks and Hunks expanded to cover three locations on the East Sussex coast, launching further sessions in Hastings and Seaford.