Ryan Stramrood is an extreme ocean and ice swimmer, wearing only a speedo, swim cap and goggles. He achieved a Guinness World Record for the fastest crossing of the 32km shark-infested False Bay in Cape Town, spent 32 minutes swimming one mile in one degree below-freezing Antarctic waters, and has numerous extreme ocean crossings under his belt. At the time of recording, he had completed the 7.2 km Robben island to Blouberg crossing, in the cold Cape Town waters, a whopping 122 times.

What makes his story so compelling, is that he started out as an unfit, over-weight, average-Joe at the age of 29. He was not born with any particular gift for swimming or handling cold water. His is a story of how an ordinary guy trained his body and taught his mind how to push past impossible.

He shares fascinating accounts of his swims in freezing cold, pushing beyond extreme exhaustion, swimming through a field of jelly fish, swimming in shark- infested waters at night, blacking out due a rare lung condition in freezing waters and an up-close encounter with a great white shark.

He discusses how the mind is both our greatest asset and our biggest limitation, courtesy of its need for comfort and safety. How, as humans, we tend to be ‘excuse magnets’ and that you don’t need any special talent to achieve even greater heights in whatever your pursuit.

This episode promises fascinating stories and very achievable and universally applicable lessons from them.