DUBLIN — They came by the thousands, women of all shapes and sizes, to a secluded beach 31 miles south of Dublin. Their mission: to smash a world skinny-dipping record and raise funds for a children’s cancer charity.

Pretty soon, it was mission accomplished. The Guinness World Records official who adjudicated the naked swim on Saturday, Lucia Sinigagliesi, said that 2,505 women had spent at least five minutes in the sea to set a world record.

Deirdre Betson, of Dunboyne, Ireland, said the experience had been exhilarating. “Oh my god, it was amazing,” she said. “I have never been naked in front of anybody before, except my husband, and it was brilliant and bracing.”

“We are all different shapes and sizes and ages, and it was just super,” she added.

The previous record was set in Western Australia in 2015, when 786 participants swam naked to promote a positive body image near the regional capital, Perth, in waters that are usually around 73 degrees Fahrenheit at that time of year.