Season 2 Bonus Episode!!

I had the pleasure of speaking to Sally Minty-Gravett (M.B.E.), who this year is embarking on her sixth decade of solo Channel Swimming, having swam The English Channel in her previous five decades. She is the oldest person to have completed a double English channel solo, and has swam Catalina, Manhattan and much much more... she has a long list of swimming achievements, and was inducted into the Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame as a result. Enjoy!!

Sally is swimming The English Channel (again!) in August and is raising money for Jersey Lifeboat Association & Dementia Jersey, in memory of her dear husband Charlie, here is the link as promised: https://sportsgiving.co.uk/sponsorship/entry/232791

If anyone is interested in hearing my swimming story then I was interviewed on Marathon Swim Stories here:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/marathon-swim-stories/id1516104108?i=1000561523457

https://marathonswimstories.com/will-ellis/

It's the final episode of the season and what better way to close it than with one of the most well known marathon swimmers, Chloe McCardel. Chloe has swam The English Channel 44 times, surmounting Alison Streeter's record last year, in 2021 (those swims included a triple crossing and three double crossings!!) She also holds the record for the longest Ocean Swim at 124km in 42 hours, and is a total inspiration. It's Chloe McCardel!!

Episode 11 of Season 2 is the one and only Thomas Lurz... a total hero of mine and I was honoured that I got to be able to speak to him. He has won a staggering 39 medals at Europeans / Worlds and Olympic Races. He is by far and away the most decorated Open Water Swimmer of all time, and certainly one of the most decorated swimmers of all time. We chat about not living in the past; the fact that every race starts at point zero and a fear of Catfish... Enjoy!!

It's Episode 10 of Season 2, and I have the brilliant Caroline Saxon to share with you. She is a former GB swimmer turned GB Ice Swimmer... in fact, after we recorded this podcast she went to the Ice Swimming World Champs in Poland where she won medals and broke records. She has her own podcast "The Swimmer Tribe Podcast", where she may air this chat too. We talk about the Journey rather than the goal: "Becoming is better than Being", swimming being the glue that holds some relationships together and Cold Water Swimming being part of a larger toolkit for mental health. Enjoy...!

Episode 9 of Season 2 is with the awesome Ray Gibbs of "Swim Canary Wharf" Fame... Ray set up his coaching facility in response to watching GB swimmers swim at his local club and the lack of really concise technique coaching available to swimmers - especially distance swimmers. As a swim coach he teaches a whole range of swimmers and top athletes, and also competes as a distance swimmer himself. We chat about never regretting a swim, how fear can help you . . . and also the Posidonia 10km race in Ibiza which Ray swam in 2021, where he got stung a staggering 37 times by jellyfish: a race I will be swimming with Ray in 2022, so it was awesome to pick his brains about my most feared stretch of water anywhere in the world (as well as ask him the 6 questions!). Enjoy.

Episode 8 (S2) of An Open Water Swimmer's Podcast, with Will Ellis... today's guest is known as "The Adaptive Athlete", having lost full use of her legs in a cycling accident on her way to swim training as a triathlete. Not to be deterred, she began swimming again and recently completed a double Windermere crossing (similar distance to The English Channel). She also is a force advocating change in our sport to make Open Water abets more inclusive, and there are some important conversations that need to happen, which hopefully will result in action being taken by organisers really soon...  This chat was absolutely riveting and I have deliberately left it virtually unabridged in the edit as it was beautifully rich in content. Welcome to the podcast Sophie Etheridge!

Episode 7 (Season 2) of "An Open Water Swimmer's Podcast" and it was a real treat to chat to everyone's favourite editor Jonny Cowie. We chat about Cold Water Swimming being a bit daft, getting your fix behind Dulwich Picture Gallery, Windermere in the winter and lots of other things... Loved this one: Enjoy!!

Episode 6 (S2) of An Open Water Swimmer's Podcast; and it was my pleasure to chat to Alice Goodridge... Alice set up Swim Wild in 2018 as a way of sharing her passion for Open Water with those around her. She has tackled the English Channel and is quietly working her way through he cold lochs of the Scottish highlands, where she is now based. I loved this chat as Alice had so much passion for what she does which really shines through. Enjoy...!!

Episode five of An Open Water Swimmer's Podcast and I was honoured to chat to former Navy Seal John Doolittle. John swam The English Channel in memory of his friend Neil Roberts who was the first Seal killed in combat after 911; John continues to raise money for fallen and injured servicemen and their families through swimming. We chat about all sorts on this one including shallow water blackouts, hammerhead breeding grounds and boxing Eagle Rays... a man who has been around the world many times over as a special forces operative, seen it and done it: and what a lovely bloke to top it all off. Enjoy!

Episode 4 (Season 2) of An Open Water Swimmer's Podcast... It was awesome to be able to fire the six questions at The Merthyr Mermaid, Cath Pendleton. This episode was recorded during full lockdown in February 2021 and hearing it back, the episode is full of hope that we might actually get to swim again... one day... Anyway, Cath has a Guinness World record for the furthest northerly swim inside The Antarctic Circle and is on her way to conquering the Ice Seven; which is an Ice Mile on all seven continents. Thank goodness she loves the cold water. She was a wonderful guest, and I hope you enjoy listening to her.