Behind the Dream

Caroline Burckle, by her own admission, is not your 'normal' swimmer, and for many years battled to try fit the mould of what a swimmer should be. But, when she embraced her difference she began to excel - and what a swimming career it was.

Caroline was a member of the United States 4 x 200m Freestyle relay team that won bronze at the Beijing Olympic Games, was voted Outstanding Female College Swimmer in 2008 after breaking the longest standing women's NCAA record in the 500y Freestyle (that of swimming legend Janet Evans), and was the recipient of the prestigious Honda Sports Award.

In this episode Caroline gives a very honest account of how her curiosity helped her in the (ongoing) process of figuring herself out, re-defining herself after transitioning out of swimming and using her creativity to confront her own mental health struggles. 

Caroline now runs her own business called Rise Athletes with fellow Olympian Rebecca Soni (a mentorship programme for youth athletes) is a swimwear designer and artist.

Social media
Instagram @caroburckle @caros_design @riseathletes
Twitter @cariburckle
Website www.carolineburckle.com 

Marsha Cox is a hockey legend. She went to 3 Olympic Games, 4 Commonwealth Games, 2 World Cups and is still the most capped South African hockey player of all time with over 330 caps. Marsha was also the first player of colour to captain the Protea team.She is a true trailblazer and the path she forged has made it easier for others to follow their own dreams.
In this episode she talks about her love of the game, what kept her motivated over a 14 year international career, and what the transition out of hockey has been like. She also discusses the need to instill in children the belief that they are allowed to dream about a better future for themselves. 

Over a 20 year career, former Protea all-rounder JP Duminy scored over 9000 runs and took over 200 wickets. He was the vice-captain of the Protea T20 team and captained various international teams in India, Pakistan and Canada. In this episode he talks about the ups and downs of his journey, his doubts and challenges and ultimately how he found purpose, identity and self-worth during the roller-coaster ride that is a professional cricket career. 

High altitude mountaineer Remy Kloos is on track to become the youngest African to scale the 7 summits (the highest mountains on each of the 7 continents). In fact she should be on Everest right now if it were not for the coronavirus lockdown. She is doing extraordinary things, but is also outspoken about her battle with mental health. About 4 years ago, finding herself in a space where she was battling to cope, and anxiety being like a 'lightning conductor' in her life, she took to the mountains. Ever since, she been on a journey of self-discovery, and loves to share her story with others in the hopes that they too can overcome the mountains in their own lives. 

Former Springbok ruby player Robbi Kempson played 37 test matches for South Africa over an 11 year international career. As a prop, he was both physically and mentally tough relishing the challenge of being in the front row of a scrum. Then after an injury to his arm the unexpected happened - he woke up one day as if 'in a dark black hole'. He was diagnosed with depression, and in this episode he talks about his journey to accepting and understanding that mental health struggles are not weakness. He agreed to speak out in order to break the stigma and in the hope that others will learn from his story.

Nicole grew up loving water, so it is no surprise she turned to swimming and Lifesaving as her chosen sports. In fact, she says people always knew her as 'Nicole the Swimmer'. Then she stopped competing. What followed was a difficult, dark period of figuring out who she was and how she could find worth and identity as just Nicole. She bravely shares her struggles with mental health during this transition and is a story many athletes will identify with. 

Anthony Delpech is one of South Africa's greatest ever jockeys. He won the prestigious Durban July 4 times, was crowned champion jockey twice, still holds the South African record of the most number of wins (334) in a season, and has won grade 1 races all over the world, including Hong Kong and Dubai. Then, on Tuesday the 7th April 2018, he fell off Majestic Mambo during the SA Classic at Turffontein. So began one of the most difficult periods in his life.
In this episode Anthony bravely speaks out about his battle with coming to terms with his retirement and the mental health struggles he had while trying to figure out life outside of racing.