‘Remember, eyes wide open, listen to the earth and bre-e-e-athe!’

It takes patience and diplomacy to keep 132 over-50 feisty East London matriarchs in the line-up at Nahoon Corner with their body boards every Friday. But after the roar of the surf energy, after the rush, it’s the quietude of our estuaries for 62-year-old Granny Grommet leader and swim teacher Julie Thompson Schroeter.