Yvonne Gallagher (asker) Dec 6, 2014:

thanks Alison
Good finds. The Deauville one looks like a decent translation (I'm assuming it was originally written in French?) but personally "surf" evokes images of waves for me and the water looks fairly calm in the pics I've seen so I think "sea" is better.(??) Interesting that the Oz examples are keeping the French version but personally I think the French would mean zilch to English speakers so should really have an English name...and as for "le sea walk" YEUCH! Anyway, as I said earlier, Asian resorts are using "sea walking" for underwater walking.

Alison MacG Dec 5, 2014:

Re: sea wading (or surf wading?) This link looked promising, but I couldn't find anything else in support.

Try it: longe-côte (surf-wading)
This discipline is to the sea what cross-country skiing is to the mountain. The principle: set off together on a water walk along the coast. Wearing a wetsuit and diving or windsurfing footwear, wade in until the water reaches chest height and then power through the water parallel to the coast with the aid of a paddle. This is a real sport invented in Dunkirk and which has spread all along the northern coast of France.
http://mutualise.globaldeauville.com/deauville2010/media/9/b...

Another finding:
Longe Côte Australia Le SeaWalk
http://longecoteoz.wordpress.com/
Trade mark applied for
http://www.ipaustralia.com.au/applicant/longe-cote-australia...

philgoddard Dec 5, 2014:

I'm with Lucy. I'd say something like "longe-côte, or sea wading, a new and popular form of exercise in northern France".

Yvonne Gallagher (asker) Dec 5, 2014:

@ Phil

But it looks like everyone is having fun! (and it would be good exercise)

philgoddard Dec 5, 2014:

With apologies to anyone who practises this... It sounds totally bizarre. A pool is one thing, but the English Channel...?

Yvonne Gallagher (asker) Dec 5, 2014:

Sea wading
Thanks for confirmation David. I was quite surprised there seems to be no term for this but now I've invented one. I think if we linguists can't up with new terminology when necessary then who can? Perhaps Lucy or you could put it as an answer so it can go in the Glossary?

David Hayes Dec 5, 2014:

I like 'sea wading'. I think it would be good get the momentum going on this term. After all, someone has to get the ball rolling!

Yvonne Gallagher (asker) Dec 5, 2014:

and yes, in my aquafit classes we do a fair amount of water walking...very good exercise!

Yvonne Gallagher (asker) Dec 5, 2014:

Thanks Lucy.
Yes, all of these terms are used for other things as well. This does not (surprisingly) seem to have caught on as a leisure activity in English-speaking countries (yet!) so maybe a term has yet to be coined. I don't really want to leave it in French as I think it's time we actually had an English term for this. Personally I like "Sea wading" as that's what it is in essence. "Sea walking" seems to be used in Asian resorts for underwater walking wearing a helmet/ with oxygen supply. An example of a "new" sport and name is "Coasteering" which got popular in Ireland recently but that is not the same thing at all as, while some sea wading is involved there is also climbing in and out of water etc, a far tougher activity ...

lucyab Dec 5, 2014:

I would be tempted to leave it in French with an explanation. I've done a brief Google search and it does appear, like you say, that there are multiple translations. I did like the sound of 'paddle walking' as I know that 'paddle boarding' is definitely a sport, but that seems to bring up results for kayaking/canoeing. If all else fails, 'water walking' is used, but in the context of hydrotherapy mostly... a link here (http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/getting-fit-by-water-w... Hope this might be some help?