Swim Chats – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode Shona chats to Fifi Colston, a Wellington artist, writer, children's book illustrator and costume maker who swims all year round at several of our local Wellington beaches. We talk about getting started, swimming in winter, a close encounter with orcas, and the mental health benefits of swimming.

Fifi's website: https://fificreativecom.hosts.sh/

Fifi's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/creativefifi

Every swimmer has a story to tell. Writer and swimmer Shona Riddell chats to adventure swimmers, winter dippers, marathon swim coaches, marine conservationists and more to find out how they got started and the lessons they've learned along the way. Whether you’re a swimmer yourself, or just interested in stories about the sea and people expanding their comfort zones, you'll enjoy these swim chats. Please subscribe so you don’t miss an episode.

Toy Saia'ana, a Kiwi of Samoan descent, first learned how to swim as an adult. For the past few years she has challenged herself to swim in many different environments (including in choppy seas, in the dark, through winter and without a wetsuit). She is constantly learning, exploring, and helping others.

We also talk about swimming through grief and giving ourselves permission to pull back in order to move forwards.

For more information about SwimMastery: www.swimmastery.online

Breanna Ward is a marathon swimmer and ocean advocate from Wellington, Aotearoa NZ. She is a Triple Crown swimmer which means she has achieved three extremely challenging water crossings: Raukawa Moana / Cook Strait, Lake Taupō, and Te Ara a Kiwa / Foveaux Strait. Bre swims to raise awareness for ocean conservation, fundraises for marine education, and has a soft spot for sharks. She also runs local Ocean Safety courses to enable us to be 'good' swimmers, in every sense of the word!

Here's Bre's blog post about swimming Te Ara a Kiwa: https://still-belowthesurface.blogspot.com/2025/02/full-circles-in-te-ara-kiwa.html

Here's the petition we mentioned to protect orange roughy: https://www.change.org/p/nz-government-stop-the-fishing-industry-destroying-ancient-coral-forests/

And the Ethel Cain song Bre had in her head for her long swim! https://open.spotify.com/track/0nsIevK1SeDfZzDOi6Si75?si=f07525f7e62b48df

Kaye Mueller is an ocean swimmer and a yoga instructor. She’s the owner of YogiFish, a company that takes people on yoga and swim retreats in beautiful locations. She swims at Goat Island Marine Reserve and is a vibrant, warm and inspiring person – and, as she would probably say, a salty soul.

YogiFish website: yogifish.nz

Goat Island Marine Reserve: www.goatislandmarine.co.nz

Te Kohuroa rewilding project: www.tekohuroarewilding.org

Nick Cave's piece on wild swimming: theredhandfiles.com/what-makes-you-happy

Adrienne Linney is an ocean swimmer, a jewellery maker, and the founder of the Better Beach Babes, a dipping group in Wellington that started three years ago and is now a thriving cold-water community.  The BBBs appeared on the cover of the NZ Women's Weekly in August 2022. Adrienne's jewellery is inspired by the colours, textures, and movement of the ocean.

'Beach Babes' daring dips': www.nowtolove.co.nz/news/real-life/beach-babes-daring-dips-45905

Adrienne Linney Jewellery: www.adriennelinneyjewellery.co.nz

Melissa Donaldson is a marathon swimmer and SwimMastery coach from Brisbane, Australia. When Melissa was approaching 50 and working in the corporate world, she began to swim as a hobby. Within a few years she was swimming 20km-plus distances and trained as a swim coach to help others safely achieve their goals and find joy in swimming. She runs the SwimMastery Swim Studio in Brisbane and continues to explore her own relationship with the water, seeking new challenges and opportunities along the way.

SwimMastery: swimmastery.online

The SwimMastery Swim Studio in Brisbane

The Apolima Strait Swim in Sāmoa (22.3km)

The Great Keppel Island Swim in Australia (20km)

The 'Cliff to Bridge' Derwent River Swim in Tasmania (15km)

Our first 'swim history' episode! Featuring special guest John Hancock, a marathon swimmer and the organiser of this year's ANZAC Day swim in Wellington. In this episode John tells the story of the brave, accomplished, and fascinating Sir Bernard Freyberg who painted himself in black and undertook a stealthy nighttime swim in Gallipoli during World War One. We also discuss a few other notable swimmers in history: John F Kennedy, Kahe Te-Rau-o-te-Rangi, and Mao Zedong. Finally, John Hancock reflects on his own 'big' swims, across Lake Taupō and Cook Strait / Raukawa Moana.

Lots of background links for this one – it is a history episode, after all!

⁠Shona's family war tortoise⁠ (Great War Stories, NZHistory.govt. nz).

⁠ANZAC biscuit recipe⁠ (Edmonds Cooking)

Bernard Freyberg's Wikipedia page

Image of Freyberg (taken in 1904 at Te Aro Baths in Wellington) is courtesy of Horowhenua Historical Society inc, Levin, New Zealand

'Debunking Freyberg's Mexican myth' – NZ International Review

'When Sir Bernard tried to swim the Channel' – Greymouth Evening Star, August 1950, via paperspast.natlib.govt.nz

Kahe Te-Rau-o-te-Rangi, who swam from Kāpiti Island to the mainland in 1824 (Eleanor Spragg. 'Te Rau-o-te-rangi, Kahe', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990, updated July, 2013. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand)

'The swim that changed Chinese history' (Mao Zedong's river swims) The China Project, 14 July 2021.

'Caroline Kennedy recreates her father JFK's heroic wartime swim.' CNN, August 2023. (correction: JFK's crew were attacked by a Japanese boat, not a plane as I incorrectly stated in this episode)

John Hancock talks about his Cook Strait and Lake Taupō swims on the Effortless Swimming podcast

Clarissa Dunn is a Radio New Zealand Concert presenter, a marriage celebrant, an event MC, a soprano, and an ocean swimmer. She swims to connect with her family and with nature, and it also provides a mental break from her busy life.

For her episode, Clarissa had the brilliant idea of making an 'ocean music' playlist on Spotify. I'm still embedded in the '90s hard rock era, so this has opened my mind and I can hear the breaking waves and darting fish in the various pieces of music – you can listen to it here: Clarissa's Ocean Playlist.

As a radio presenter and classical music aficionado, Clarissa has a beautiful way of describing the light and sounds of the sea.

Clarissa's RNZ page

Clarissa's Instagram page

Graham Joe is the owner of Gelissimo @ Freyberg, an outdoor cafe/kiosk right next to Freyberg Beach in Wellington. It’s a hub for morning swimmers who congregate there for coffee, scones, porridge and toasties. The post-swim conversations I have there every week, over excellent coffee, were the inspiration for this podcast. 

Graham started getting in the sea a few years ago after an accident left him in pain and unable to run. He found that getting in the cold water helped his recovery so he kept doing it, slowly building in confidence and distance. Now early swims are a staple of his day, all year round.

If you're in Wellington, you should definitely check out Gelissimo @ Freyberg!

Gelissimo website gelissimo.co.nz

Gelissimo on Instagram www.instagram.com/gelissimo_gelato/