Stories from the Water – Details, episodes & analysis

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This years event has concluded. Check out @swim_beyond_the_breakers and swimbeyondthebreakers.com for details and to sign up for the next one!

Support the Marathon Swim Story project here.

Join curious swimmers applying the lessons from the water to improve their life, dive into the Swim Smart Community!

Get our FREE Goal Setting Guide: http://intrepidwater.com

Find pictures, and more at http://marathonswimstories.com

Questions, comments, feedback, or if you'd like to be a guest on Marathon Swim Stories, email me!

Marathon Swim Stories is produced by Maxi Frini: https://www.maxifrini.com/

Music credit:

Epic Inspiration  by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5447-epic-inspiration-
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Swimming sounds courtesy of swimmer Todd Lantry

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Support the Marathon Swim Story project here.

Get a copy of Simon's book Swim Wild & Free on Amazon.

Check out Outdoor Swimmer: Outdoor Swimmer - Wild Swimming News, Features, Gear and Tips

Join curious swimmers applying the lessons from the water to improve their life, dive into the Swim Smart Community!

Get our FREE Goal Setting Guide: http://intrepidwater.com

Find pictures, and more at http://marathonswimstories.com

Questions, comments, feedback, or if you'd like to be a guest on Marathon Swim Stories, email me!

Marathon Swim Stories is produced by Maxi Frini: https://www.maxifrini.com/

Music credit:

Epic Inspiration  by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5447-epic-inspiration-
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Swimming sounds courtesy of swimmer Todd Lantry

Join me at The Water's Edge!

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Find bio, pictures, and more at http://marathonswimstories.com

Support the Marathon Swim Story project here.

Marathon Swim Stories is produced by Maxi Frini: https://www.maxifrini.com/

Questions, comments, feedback, or if you'd like to be a guest on Marathon Swim Stories, email me! mailto:[email protected]

Stay in touch by joining our email list at http://intrepidwater.com

Join me on Mighty Networks! https://intrepid-water.mn.co/plans/314110?bundle_token=f5f441002848cff80b45e39e24e22f19&utm_source=manual

Join a supportive, worldwide, group of limit pushers at The Marathon Swimming Collective

Music credit:

Epic Inspiration  by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5447-epic-inspiration-
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Swimming sounds courtesy of swimmer Todd Lantry.

Join me at The Water's Edge!

Support the show

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Find out what to look forward to in Season 2 and vote Marathon Swim Stories for World of Open Water Swimming Offering of the Year!
https://openwaterswimming.com/contestants/marathon-swim-stories/

Thank you so much for being part of my journey, for listening, watching, or joining Marathon Swim Stories, and thank you to each and everyone of you who have shared your story so far.

Stay tuned to find out how to sign up for premium content! And let me know if you want to sponsor Marathon Swim Stories: mailto:[email protected]

 Stay in touch by joining our email list at http://intrepidwater.com
Join a supportive group of limit pushers at The Marathon Swimming Collective

 
Music credit:

Epic Inspiration  by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5447-epic-inspiration-
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Swimming sounds courtesy of swimmer Todd Lantry.

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It's hard to believe that it was just three years ago, at 50, that a friend convinced Cheryl to try a sprint triathlon. Having not swam since high school and with her wetsuit on backwards, she tackled the 300m in the water. And while the running particularly, and cycling, didn't stick, she keeps tackling one challenge after another in the water.

It gave me goosebumps when Cheryl described the newly discovered sense of confidence she developed after completing her swim across the width of Lake Tahoe last year. She's ready to see how far she can swim. And there's no stopping her. 

In her own words: The first and most important role I have is a mom to my awesome teenage children Brianna and Garrett. Being their mom and trying to be a good role model is the greatest job I have. I am the chief operating officer at our family business. 

My teenage years and young adulthood was fraught with great challenges and adversity. I struggled, albeit successfully, as a high functioning alcoholic never giving thought to sport. 

In 2017, someone suggested I participate in a sprint triathlon. I didn’t enjoy the bike, I hated the run, and the 300 yard open water swim scared me to death. Right before the swim, my friend commented that I had my wetsuit on backwards! 

Something sparked inside me that day and I fell in love with open water swimming. I met my current swim coach, Bob Fernald, that summer at an open water swim event. The following year in 2018, I swam a 10K at the Kingdom Games and 10K in Barbados. I was part of a relay team at IMMT that August. Towing the start line with 2500 other participants in a mass start was not for me! I completed the 2 1/2 mile swim and swore to myself never again. My interest in open water swimming turned to solo marathon swimming. Since then, in 2019, I completed the 12 mile length of Lake Tahoe and I swam the 10k Around the Sound in Bermuda. In 2020, with all events cancelled due to COVID, my awesome crew and I pivoted to local swims. I completed the first documented 12.28 mile double crossing of Newfound Lake of the first documented 16 mile double crossing of Lake Sunapee, both here in New Hampshire. 

In marathon swimming, I find peace, serenity, and the calm within the storm. I don’t race against anyone, I don’t swim to beat another person‘s distance or time. I swim in complete gratitude for the confidence I have developed in myself through my marathon swimming accomplishments. We all fight our own demons. Swimming helps me quell the noise of negativity and empowers a positive mindset. I am grateful for the amazing people I have met and the friendships that have evolved in the open water swim community. 

I swim in gratitude of my sobriety for without it, I would never have set foot in the water. I have an amazing husband who supports me in all things swimming. I have a superb crew who, without them, my marathon swimming would never be possible. I swim alone but it takes a team to help me succeed.

Questions, comments, feedback, or if you'd like to be a guest on Marathon Swim Stories, email me! mailto:[email protected]

 Stay in touch by joining our email list at http://intrepidwater.com
Join a supportive group of limit pushers at The Marathon Swimming Collective

Music credit:

Epic Inspiration  by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5447-epic-inspiration-
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Swimming sounds

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Welcome to Marathon Swim Stories! I'm Shannon Keegan, swim coach at Intrepid Water.com.  Are you ready to swim more efficently? Send me footage of you swimming and I'll analyze it for free! [email protected]

 After several months of being bed ridden and in a wheelchair, Kelley doesn't take her ability to physically move for granted! Naturally, she returned to her chlorine-y roots for rehabilitation, but it wasn't until a her first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge from the water that she said goodbye to the black line!

In her own words: Kelley Prebil was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. One day she suddenly experienced severe hip pain and lost her ability to lift her right leg from previously undiagnosed dysplasia. She started marathon swimming after having two pelvic reconstructive surgeries to save both of her hip joints. Several months of being bedridden and in a wheelchair made her never want to take her ability to physically move for granted ever again. She believes that anyone can be a marathon swimmer as long as they have the desire to join this wonderful unique community of challenging oneself physically, mentally, and emotionally. 

Preferring to be outdoors, she also spends a lot of her leisure time road cycling, mountain biking, caving, cross-country & alpine skiing, backpacking, hiking, and trail running. 

She can usually be found swimming in the waters of San Francisco Bay, Lake Tahoe, Monterey Bay, or Laguna Beach or on her bike climbing a lot of Bay Area hills. That is, of course, when she's not working at her childhood dream employer of the California Academy of Sciences as a Senior Database Administrator. 

You can find out more information about her from her website http://www.pearlsgirl.com or her blog at https://kelleyprebil.wordpress.com/


Questions, comments, feedback, or if you'd like to be a guest on Marathon Swim Stories, email me! mailto:[email protected]

 
Stay in touch by joining our email list at http://intrepidwater.com
Join a supportive group of limit pushers at The Marathon Swimming Collective

Music credit:

Epic Inspiration  by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5447-epic-inspiration-
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Swimming sounds courtesy of swimmer Todd Lantry.

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I've been intending to do this recording since I started Marathon Swim Stories back in April! And here it is, just a few weeks before the new year... I'm about to wrap up Season 1 after nearly 70 stories of marathon swimmers around the globe!

What a journey. Thank you for being part of it! In this episode I describe how Marathon Swim Stories started, and why I purposely overlook swimming resumes in my quest to hear a swimmers story. Enjoy.


Questions, comments, feedback, or if you'd like to be a guest on Marathon Swim Stories, email me! mailto:[email protected]

Stay in touch by joining our email list at http://intrepidwater.com
Join a supportive group of limit pushers at The Marathon Swimming Collective

Music credit:

Epic Inspiration  by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5447-epic-inspiration-
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Swimming sounds courtesy of swimmer Todd Lantry.

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I'm so excited for you to meet my guest today! I met Alyssa a couple years ago when I sent out a survey searching for swimmers who wanted to push distance in the water, but needed some support and guidance. She jumped at the opportunity to partake in my Quickstart for Marathon Swimming program with a handful of aspirants. It was so fun to hear Alyssa talk about how the course prepared her for marathon swims and how she wants to keep building distance. We talk about so many important topics in this interview: Accepting fear, finding courage, and the need to uncover a comfortable place for your mind to go when you are anything but comfortable during a marathon swim.

Be sure to check out Alyssa's beautiful "Memory Maps" on instagram @alyssalanglais!  https://www.instagram.com/p/CHHM75EhKqX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

In her own words: Alyssa is a lifelong pool swimmer, who only more recently discovered the joys of open water. Challenged by a friend to take on triathlon in 2013, she soon discovered that swimming was her favorite part. With the support of the local and international swimming community, Alyssa has found the inspiration to take on greater and greater challenges and distances. She sees swimming as self care, setting a good example for her children and a muse for her swimming-inspired artworks


Questions, comments, feedback, or if you'd like to be a guest on Marathon Swim Stories, email me! mailto:[email protected]

Stay in touch by joining our email list at http://intrepidwater.com
Join a supportive group of limit pushers at The Marathon Swimming Collective

Music credit:

Epic Inspiration  by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5447-epic-inspiration-
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Swimming sounds courtesy of swimmer Todd Lantry.

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If you've been listening to Marathon Swim Stories for awhile, you’re familiar with my frequent refrain, "I love that". At times, I wish I had a more interesting response, but it's true! I just love it - all of it! Like my guest today, Amy Gubser, I'm in love with open water and marathon swimming. And I love every marathon swim story. It's the one hour a week that I drop everything and just listen. I'm smitten and I'm recruiting! Trying to cast my net far and wide. If you know someone who's marathon swimming intrigued, send them my way [email protected]. I want everyone to learn to swim efficiently, experience self discovery, and uncover deep seated determination. I want everyone to effuse joy like Amy. I hope you enjoy this episode!

In her own words: I was a swimmer at university of Michigan 1986-1990...after college I hung up the suit and started my career in nursing and my family. I have a husband, Greg, whom I met being an ocean lifeguard. We have been married 28 years. We have 2 adult children. I was busy with life for many years. 6 years ago, my daughter was getting ready to leave home to go to college. I needed to find something for myself! I had a friend who was a Southend rowing club member who challenged me to swim with him, I had every excuse in the book but he saw right through these excuses and still asked me to swim. I reluctantly, agreed to swim with him in February, no wetsuit, 10 degree water Celsius/50F.

I put my feet in the water and felt the shock. I had a panic attack, and started to cry. He looked at me and told me to put my face in the water and swim. I did! The shock was almost unbearable, but I kept swimming. Then, I started to feel a warmth come over me! Every cell in my body came alive, it was exhilarating! I was immediately hooked!

I found my people and my pod! I just started small swims then progressed to bigger swims! I swim and I love it!!!!


Questions, comments, feedback, or if you'd like to be a guest on Marathon Swim Stories, email me! mailto:[email protected]

Stay in touch by joining our email list at http://intrepidwater.com
Join a supportive group of limit pushers at The Marathon Swimming Collective

Music credit:

Epic Inspiration  by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5447-epic-inspiration-
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Swimming sounds courtesy of swimmer Todd Lantry.

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My guest today is fellow Oregonian Sue Phillips. While Sue assured me that her story was not that interesting, she kept coming up with stories… I fondly remember playing leap frog with her in Lake Massawippi last year, but that was just the beginning… she's lost her kayaker around Lido Key, ridden the waves in the Chesapeake, and swam the width in Tahoe during a pandemic. Everyone has a story. I hope you enjoy Sue's!

In her own words: Sue is a middle-aged swimmer, camper, scientist-civil servant, mother, trail runner and beginner rower. She has no stand-out achievements in any of these defining activities, although her 17 year-old daughter is pretty dang cool, she's supported some extremely important conservation science, and is purported to be quite a good swim companion. Swimming and supporting other swimmers are where she finds her greatest joy, particularly if she can do these things while camping, She's not swum terribly far or in any extraordinary conditions, although she's found all attempts to date to pile on distance and adversity to be quite fun, and is regularly and incrementally pushing limits in both.


Questions, comments, feedback, or if you'd like to be a guest on Marathon Swim Stories, email me! mailto:[email protected]

 
Stay in touch by joining our email list at http://intrepidwater.com
Join a supportive group of limit pushers at The Marathon Swimming Collective

Music credit:

Epic Inspiration  by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5447-epic-inspiration-
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Swimming sounds courtesy of swimmer Todd Lantry.

Support the show