What a privilege to spend an hour talking to Phil Rush, a coaching and swimming legend. Here are just some of his open water swim achievements:

• Record holder for the fastest double and triple English Channel crossings (his triple crossing was 28h 21m, 140km, in 1987)
• Record holder for the fastest double Cook Strait crossings (only one other person has achieved a double)
• The first person to complete a double crossing of Lake Taupō (in 1985)
• 10 English Channel crossings and 8 Cook Strait crossings

In this episode we talk about how endurance swimming has changed over the years, the importance of mental as well as physical training, monitoring swimmers for hypothermia, working as a team to help people achieve their swim goals, how he swam for more than 24 hours, that crucial final stage of a marathon swim, the buzz of getting swimmers to the other side, and much more.

Follow Phil on Instagram

Thoughts on this episode? Leave a comment or contact me at swimchatswithshona at gmail dot com.

Enjoyed it? Share it with a friend, leave a rating and review, and hit subscribe/follow so you don't miss an episode. Or support the podcast via patreon.com/SwimChats