A half-dozen swimmers gathered at West Landing Beach in Hampton Bays on a September Tuesday near two swans and a bald eagle, set against the backdrop of the gray sky.

The swimmers, in their late 50s to late 70s, tested the Peconic Bay water with a pool thermometer (65 degrees) and eyed the whitecaps bobbing in the water.

“I like a bit of chop,” said Steve Cleary, 79, of Riverhead, a former lifeguard and the eldest of the bunch.

After laying down their towels and putting on their wetsuits, they took their usual group shot and headed into the water, with brightly colored swim buoys bobbing at their sides.

It’s become a ritual for the swimmers in the Peconic Masters Swim Club (as they are called when swimming in an indoor pool), also known as the Peconic Bay Swimmers (when they swim out

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