Clever Dicks – Details, episodes & analysis

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In this episode Duncan & Jim speak to Ruth.
Ruth grew up in Spain, then spent some time in Chile before settling in New Zealand.
Ruthy (as most peope refer to her as) loves the pool, but took up openwater swimming in NZ with the Kohi Kippers.
Ruthy has swum Lake Taupo and the Apolima Strait, both big swims with their own challenges.
A passionate swimmer she even talked Duncan to a standstill!

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In this episode Duncan & Jim talk to Ram Barkai.
Many people will know of Ram as the founder of the International Ice Swimming Association (IISA), but there's more to Ram than that.
Before founding IISA he had done numeraous adventure swims, including a massive swim along the Orange river in South Africa over 4 years.
He organised 'freedom' swims from Robben Island at Cape Town, and even did the swim at night.
He took Duncan on his first Ice swim in South Africa, not sure he has fully recovered!
We also talk about why it is an Ice Mile, and why 5 degrees celcius was chosen.
International Ice Swimming Association

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In this episode we (well mainly Duncan) talk to Shamima. Shamima is the mother of Shazeel, a swimmer with autism and reduced mental capacity.
We hear what water means to Shazeel and how it has always calmed him down, and the challenges of teaching him how to swim. 
Shazeel & Duncan have swum together for 4 years now, training swims, short (2km) races all the way up to a 20km chopper challenge swim.
Shamima tells us what it is like to see her son swim off when she is on-shore and Duncan gives us some stories about what swimming with Shazeel is like.
Sarah O'Dywer was, and is, a key part of Shazeels swimming journey and may be able to help other disabled swimmers. Her email address is sarah.007@windowslive.com

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In this episode Duncan & Jim talk to Ryan Stramrood from his home in South Africa.
Ryan has done some amazing swimming in cold water. He has swum in the Arctic and the Antarctic as well as doing 140 Robben Island crossings. Robben Island was famously where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for many years.
Ryan has written a book called 'Push Past Impossible' where he challenges people to go beyond their own 'impossible'.
This was a great chat and he has some wonderful stories to tell.

Web: https://ryanstramrood.com/
Instagram: @Ryan_stramrood
Book: Push past impossible

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In this episode Duncan & Jim talk to James Hanson-Chong.
James is the Special Operations Manager for Event safety New Zealand and has been looking after swimmers in events large & small for years now.
We cover a number of areas:

• Safety - equipment, skills, information sources, what to look for and even what happens when sharks are around.
• The safety team & lifeguards
• Costs and the rules & regulations around running events
• The types of events he has worked at: surf lifesaving, large & small races, ice swims and individual marathon swims.
• And some swimmer behaviours and what swimmers can do to make the event better.

It was great getting an insight into what it takes to put on events and look after swimmers.
Here is James email address:
James email

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In this episode Duncan & Jim talk to Sue & Leigh Sherwin, just after Sue had swum 15km in Lake Taupo.
We talk about her early swimming career, and then picking it up later in life, swimming the length of Taupo, the Cook strait and the Foveaux strait to complete the New Zealand triple crown.
Sue has also got involved in Ice swimming. Not only does she organise a lot of ice swimming, but she has set age group world records, and represented NZ at the world champs.
She is a super granny and an inspiration to us all.

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In this episone Duncan & Jim talk about the various swim characters that (probably) exist in all swim groups.
Are you a organiser, a navigator, slow coach or a fast follower?
How does people in your swim group get into cool/cold water, do you have 'soldiers', and maybe the occasional dinosaur?

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In this episode Duncan & Jim were lucky to get this interview with Caitlin.
Caitlin is a shy athlete but we got to hear about some of her amazing swims and her intentions for the future.
Caitlin swam the Cook straight when she was 12 years old and went on to complete the New Zealand triple crown.
Since then she has successfully completed another 4 of the Oceans 7's swim, with just 2 to go.
She also did a double Taupo crossing (80km) as covid interupted her ocean 7's plan.
But we also heard about other aspects of her swimming, how she feels about sharks & other critters and the occasional tears on a swim.
We had a wonderful time talking to Caitlin, I hope you enjoy this episode too.
Caitlin's website

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In this episode Duncan & Jim discuss tow floats, those little bright coloured floats that ocean swimmers sometimes use. 
We discuss what they are and why people use them.  We talk about different uses, visibility, carrying things and the types of tow float.
We also talk about the downsides & why some swimmers don't use them.

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In this episode Duncan & Jim talk to Jacques de Reuck. Jacques has been involved in water activities his whole adult life, sailing internationally, free diving & swimming.
We talked about many aspects of his life including some of his amazing swim stories showing us that getting older does not need to slow you down.
We finish with the tough part of his story, getting a cancer diagnosis, that is most likely going to mean he can't swim again. But despite this his amazing positivity shines through as he moves on to the next chapter of his life.
We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed speaking to Jacques.