WEBVTT - Strength Ain't Built in Calm Waters | Tammy Van Wisse - 911 0:00:01.680 --> 0:00:07.480 She said, it's now never I got fighting in my blood. 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:09.639 I'm Tiff. 0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:13.240 This is Roll with the punches and we're turning life's 0:00:13.280 --> 0:00:17.600 hardest hits into wins. Nobody wants to go to court, 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:21.400 and don't. My friends are test Art Family Lawyers. Know 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:25.919 that they offer all forms of alternative dispute resolution. Their 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:29.640 team of Melbourne family lawyers have extensive experience in all 0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:32.960 areas of family law to facto and same sex couples, 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:37.280 custody and children, family violence and intervention orders, property settlements 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:41.680 and financial agreements. Test Art is in your corner, so 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:45.440 reach out to Mark and the team at www dot 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:53.840 test Artfamilylawyers dot com dot au. Temmy Van w'sat Welcome 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:56.760 to Roll with the Punches Tip. 0:00:56.800 --> 0:00:59.520 It's great to see you, always great to beat you 0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:00.000 with you. 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:04.560 It's like we've been swimming around in circles, just passing 0:01:04.600 --> 0:01:08.520 each other in our in our bloody own. I don't know, 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:10.880 I'm trying to make swimming around. You're just not working. 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:15.160 There we go, thank you, thank you. I was like, 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:17.280 come on, Tiff, think of something swimming. I'm like, no, 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:19.199 you're not a good swimmer. You sung to the bottom 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:20.840 and you crack the shits before you learned how to 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:22.119 do it, So it's not gonna work. 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:24.080 Hey, we can't be good at everything. 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:28.360 Come on, like, you know, tell me that old have 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:29.840 you got at all of the things? 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:38.520 That's your perfection's coming out right there? What what do 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:38.880 you mean? 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:42.240 I learned a few things about you about five minutes ago. 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:46.880 Did you be interesting? You know? 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:48.360 I just went. I was like, I just go and 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:51.760 have another look at TAM's website and I was looking 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:54.960 at your one sheet you'll speak of one sheet, Yeah, 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:59.040 and god, there's some cool stuff on there. For a start, 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:03.920 you have a day named after you in New Jersey. 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:10.840 What I know, it's pretty cool. Look, yeah, something I 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:17.359 never ever expected. So I did this swim over obviously 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:20.040 in New York, New York to New Jersey. And I 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:22.799 really wanted to do it because there was a there 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:24.880 was a record that had stood in the history books 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:27.280 for over eighty years, and the woman that held the 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:30.120 record was a childhood hero of mine. Her name was 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:33.120 Gertrude Edly, and she was from New Jersey. And she 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:35.239 was also the first woman to ever swim in the 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:38.400 English Channel. And I look, I'm really sorry. One of 0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:40.000 the regrets in my life is that I never got 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:42.120 to meet her, because I would have just absolutely loved it. 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:47.200 And she was just like a legend. Honestly, she paved 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:49.680 the way for women in sports so many ways because 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:53.120 when she attempted to sim the channel, obviously back in 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:57.800 the early nineteen twenties, women you know, really were considered 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:01.960 able to participate in sport, and and like there was 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:04.919 they were running book books against you know, the odds 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:07.440 against her making it, and people were laughing at her. 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:10.920 And she went over and she not only became the 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:13.360 first woman, but she also smashed the men's. 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:15.920 Record by over two hours. So it's a pretty cool story. Like, 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:18.600 you know, I'm really I'm condensing her story. 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:20.960 She went through so much, like to get there and 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:23.560 to do it, and even to find a trainer someone 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:26.200 on a boat because you know, the men didn't believe 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:29.079 she was good enough to swim it, so she struggled on. 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:29.880 So many fronts. 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:32.480 So I either thought it would be amazing to do 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:36.560 the swim to highlight her contribution to women in sport 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:38.920 and particularly you know, like I wouldn't have been marathon 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:41.240 swimming without people like that. So you know, it's really 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:44.240 nice to reflect back and you know, one of the 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:46.440 people that have paved the way for you. So that's 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:49.000 really what the swim was about. And I was really 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:51.280 fortunate I didn't get to meet Gertrude, but I got 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:53.640 to meet all her family, so she never had kids, 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:56.320 but all her nieces and nephews. We went out to 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:58.920 dinner a couple of nights before the swim, and they 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:02.600 were just telling me stories about her, and they also 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:05.840 were on my support boat, which was just like, you know, 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:08.880 it was so inspirational to have that kind of support. 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:12.080 And then when I finished the swim, I broke Gertrude's 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:16.680 record by a bit over two hours, and as I 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:19.120 walked up the beach, the mayor of Monmouth County in 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:22.400 New Jersey actually you know, presented me with the certificate 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:25.600 and said, you know, from this day forth, every twenty 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:27.520 first of July, I will now be known as Tammy 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:31.800 vanwis the day in honor of what you've done. So yeah, 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:35.400 so it's really you know, it's yeah, I just cried, 0:04:35.520 --> 0:04:38.520 like honestly, because my whole motivation was really to. 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.160 Honor Gertrude and her contribution because I think, you. 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:44.640 Know, it's just so special and she encouraged so many 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:47.719 women to learn how to swim and you know, to 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:50.560 just open their world to what women can do in 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:51.520 the sporting arena. 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:52.960 So it was very early days. 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:56.039 So I think, yeah, it's just it's a beautiful thing 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:59.599 to have happened. So yeah, I'm really, really really humbled. 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:00.280 I don't know what say. 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:03.760 It's a beautiful thing. To have day named after you 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:05.240 is certainly very unexpected. 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:09.919 It's so special. You just reminded me a previous guest 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:14.839 not that long ago. Tara is a Australian Superbikes rider 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:19.200 who this year was the first female to win a 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:24.160 round in the Australian Superbikes the first female. And she's 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:28.560 this young girl, twenty one. I believe, if my memory 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:32.040 served me, which it really does, get punch in the 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:35.640 head a lot. But I said to her, and I 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:38.200 think of this right now, it is so like that 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:42.800 is a moment that not just lives in history, but 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:48.680 changes the future because when girls see now like you saw, 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:53.839 it's not just possible to do what the blokes do, 0:05:54.360 --> 0:06:00.120 it's also possible to win when we join them, it's 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:02.040 possible to be first. 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:06.640 It breaks countries, it really does, you know, it's the 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:10.839 it's the breaking of the thinking, you know, because let's 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:13.400 face it, you know, in our minds we all sort 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:16.080 of think, oh, you know, no one's ever done that before, 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:19.080 and when the first person does it, and it's funny, 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:22.120 it's you know, once one person doesn't, then you always 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:24.520 see a flat of others sort of following along. So 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:28.280 it's like that invisible barrier. And you're right, it is. 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:31.040 It is more than just a win. It's a it's 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:34.560 a change in history. It's a changing thinking for generations 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:38.320 to come that read that story or see that achievement 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:42.040 and then go, wow, she did that, I could possibly 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:44.520 do that, and then go on to do more. So yeah, 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:47.320 it is. It is incredible. So I think it's just 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:50.880 important that you know that we remember people like that 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:54.880 because I think sometimes we forget, we don't realize, you know, 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:56.840 for us to be able to participate in sport, there's 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:59.680 been a lot of groundwork laid before we even get this. 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.880 So that was really, you know, what I wanted to 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:04.960 do because I'd read about Gertrude and I just love 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:08.400 your story. And actually there's there's a film about her 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:11.800 life on Disney Channel and it's called Young Woman Against 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:15.560 the Sea and it is incredible. So if you get 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:17.680 a chance to watch it, or if any of your 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:18.760 listeners want. 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:21.480 To watch a great movie on the Disney Channel, yeah, Young. 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:25.680 Woman Against the Sea and it basically goes through Gertrude's 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:28.720 history and it's a really great movie. It's all based 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:32.120 on that. So yeah, it's wonderful, Absolutely wonderful. 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:33.200 I love that. 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:36.920 How weird is it to both look up to women 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:39.000 like that? But then, how long did it take you 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:42.200 to realize you were one? When you became one? 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:44.080 Still still don't know. 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.880 I get that vibe. I get that vibe. By the way, 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:50.080 you are one. You have a day named after you 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:55.280 in New Jersey. 0:07:55.800 --> 0:08:04.960 Yeah, today it's a bar of chocolate. Ah, whoa, I've 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:06.920 trouble remembering my birthday, so, you. 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:10.080 Know, just slips through the cracks, but it is nice. 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:14.400 One of the other things I read on your any 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:21.320 Career Highlights was one point five times around the planet? 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:25.920 Is the distance equivalent to what you have swum? It's 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:32.720 one point five times sixty five thousand kilometers. So the 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:41.320 first question that popped into my head was what drives 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:47.360 somebody to swim one and a half times around the planet? 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:55.560 Swimming like, it's hard, it's dangerous, it feels inconsistent. Right, 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:58.840 you're at the you're at the mercy of the weather 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:03.920 and the condition and all of the things. Tell me 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:04.800 what's underneath that? 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:08.040 Yeah, well it's a very good question and probably something 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:09.160 that I asked myself a. 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:11.800 Lot too over the years doing this. 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:15.080 But look, if I really peel all the layers back, 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:19.360 i'd have to say it's curiosity. So for me, look, 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:23.319 I wasn't a natural athlete, and in fact, in primary 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:25.920 school I used to get teased because I was overweight 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:28.000 as a child, and so I used to get teased 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:32.000 a lot at school and I hated sports days. I 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:35.199 hated when we had to remember in PRIMI schou I 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:37.280 don't know whether you went through this, but you know 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:39.720 they used to pick teams. We'd go and play cricket 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:42.160 or whatever, and you know, there'd be two captains and 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.560 they'd have to choose all the members of the class 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:47.319 and they'd move over to each side. And I dreaded 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:50.440 that because I was always the last kid chosen, and 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:53.480 you know they'd be arguing, I don't want her like 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:56.240 you know what I mean. So for me, yeah, it 0:09:56.320 --> 0:10:00.440 wasn't a great experience, and so my parents put me 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:04.160 into swimming lessons. I had something lessons when I was young, 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:07.000 like water familiarization. So at six months of age two, 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:10.760 about five, and then I stopped and then we got 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:12.719 a backyard pool for Christmas, so they put me back 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:14.960 into lessons, proper formal lessons. 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:16.360 I was about nine. 0:10:16.240 --> 0:10:19.880 Or ten, and at that stage I did not want 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:22.440 to go to the pool, like honestly, but my parents 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:26.040 were pretty pretty persistent, and in our household, you know, 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:28.800 it was a safety thing, so I couldn't get out 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:31.600 of it. So I guess, you know, I went under 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:34.720 huge protest. I didn't want to be seen in favors. 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:37.079 That was literally, you know, because I've been teased so 0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:38.520 much at school. The last thing you want to do 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:40.760 is like parade around in a pair of dogs. 0:10:41.040 --> 0:10:45.560 But no choice, so I did it. 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:47.280 And it was one of the you know, one of 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:50.520 those situations where when you practice and you do something, 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:53.040 you can discover, you know, new talents that you didn't 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:55.960 know that you had. And so, you know, I gradually 0:10:56.040 --> 0:10:58.480 learned how to swim, and you know, my teacher said, oh, 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:00.760 you've actually got a bit of tower in this, and 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:03.280 so I sort of worked my way through lessons and 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:06.439 got asked to join the squad, and you know, and 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:09.280 it was just really exciting for me because, you know, 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:12.560 this revelation that I actually could participate in sport and 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:15.960 find something that I was good at. And so then 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:18.120 I sort of, you know, did a bit of pool 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:21.920 competition for a number of years and loved being under 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:24.920 coaches and you know, I just loved being part of 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:28.400 the squad. You know, something, for me, the most exciting 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:31.080 part of it was actually the camaraderie and the friends 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:32.720 that you make along the way, and that was really 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:35.679 I loved training, not so much competition, person, but I 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:39.120 loved training, just love it. Love the whole getting to 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:42.920 the pool and you know, pushing myself and getting feedback 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:47.240 from the coach and yeah, just that whole, that whole environment. 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:49.680 Really I thrive in that particular environment. 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:50.840 So I did that. 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:53.040 But my results, you know, were that great in the pool. 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:55.320 I sort of you know, I won some states and 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:58.319 national titles, some state titles, but when I went to nationals, 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.120 you know, I really wasn't, you know, in the top echelon. 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:03.880 So I sort of got a bit jaded because my 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:09.000 improvement didn't come and ran about thirteen fourteen, I joined 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:11.000 a life staving club and so I was sort of 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:13.480 doing a bit of open water stuff and learning new 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:16.960 things in conjunction with sort of competition swimming, and I 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:20.600 found that that really took over, and I started entering 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:24.360 things like the Law and Peter pub and I want 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:26.360 it like I was just like blown away. 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:29.640 And then I started to really like open water way 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:30.920 more than the pool. 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:33.840 Just because you know, like it was you against the 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:37.920 elements more than you know, being in a stagnant environment 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.560 where you know, there's the lame ropes and really only 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:45.320 you sort of tenth of a second improvements. So that 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:49.360 really caught my imagination. And so the curiosity then began, 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:52.839 like in doing these open water events, like okay, I've 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:55.440 done this one, how much further can I go? So 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:57.800 I do another one and you know, go from one 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:00.480 point two k to five k to ten you know. 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:03.360 Then I did a twenty case and I, you know, 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:05.520 never swum twenty k's before. And there was just this 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:08.160 there was a race advertised in Port pilip Bay from 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:11.400 Baumorris to Frankston, and I thought, you know what, I'll 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:14.440 just have a going Yeah, And I remember I was 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:17.360 so scared at the beginning because you know, I thought, 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:19.640 why did I do this? You know, all the doubts 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:22.720 crept in my mind, but I guess I kind of 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:24.160 like got swept along. 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:25.240 And started the event. 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:29.760 And conditions were great at the beginning, but they turned 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:33.120 at the halfway mark, and I was just petrified of 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:36.160 everything in the open water, like particularly things with teeth, 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:39.720 and I was like, so there were so many fears 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:41.960 and doubts that I had to overcome. But I had 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:45.000 a strategy. I was swimming in a pack, like I 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:47.439 just went help the leather and swam in the pack 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:49.600 because I just let if anything happened, So I believed 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:54.600 shark take someone else, and I could use my springing 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:56.920 ability to get back into the you know, get back 0:13:56.960 --> 0:14:01.200 into the shore. So anyway work because once the condition 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:04.800 has changed, you know, people dropped off and I found 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.000 myself on my own, and my mind just went, you know, 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:11.080 in that moment of you know, looking down and I 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:14.160 saw a shadow and then I went full Spielberg. 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:18.200 I've just learned about cookie cut of sharks. 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:23.520 Yes, over in Hawaii, there's been quite a few. Actually, yeah, 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:26.160 I've been reading. There's been quite a few swimmers that 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:28.880 have been trying to swim the Molokai Channel, And yeah, 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:31.320 I think at certain times at dusk, yes, I know 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:33.680 it is serious. 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:39.520 I would be in the grips of a great white 0:14:40.360 --> 0:14:43.920 then have a cookie cut of shark. Everybody, go and 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:46.800 google cookie cut of shark bite and just have a 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:50.320 look at what happens. Yes, little piranha look and things. 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:52.360 Well, maybe not because you may never get back in 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:54.640 the water again, like, yeah, I probably don't know. 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:57.520 But luckily, you know, it depends on where you swim obviously, 0:14:57.560 --> 0:14:59.960 so you know, you've got to kind of weigh up things. 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:01.280 And that, you know what idea. 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:03.760 I went nuts and I swam faster than me and 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:05.720 thought thinking that I'd seen a shark and of course 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:06.960 it was nothing, and. 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:11.000 You know, as you do, and then of course, you 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:12.520 know reality, you. 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:16.160 Know, the heart rate came back down and I realized that, 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:19.520 you know, that fear, I could either you know, panic 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:21.560 and fall in a heap, or you know, you can 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:23.480 channel it, you know, And it actually gave me an 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:26.840 adrenaline rush, and I thought, you know, come on, you're 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:29.040 just being silly. You know, you're going to rationalizing and 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:32.240 ask yourself the right questions when you're in those situations 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:35.360 and say, okay, well look it was nothing. And quite 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:38.560 often we jump to conclusions, you know, so many times 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:41.360 in life, we you know, we panic about things that 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:44.080 are really quite minor and we just have to be 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:44.600 able to. 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:46.800 Sort of breathe, which is what I did. 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:49.240 I just concentrated on my breathing, got my breathing back 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:52.520 under control, you know, worked on my bilateral breathing again, 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:53.640 you know, counting every three. 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:58.200 Okay, let's come now, start thinking properly, ask. 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:01.360 Yourself the right questions and realize, you know, hey, three 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:05.360 quarters of the way, nothing's going to get me. I'm fine, 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:08.360 just keep moving forward. So I did, and I ended 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:12.120 up actually winning that twenty case whom I came third overall, 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:14.160 and I was the first girl home, and the conditions 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:17.800 were horrendous at the end, like out of the twenty 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:21.640 eight people that started, only twenty one finished. So and 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:24.240 I just realized that I had this talent for endurance, 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:27.120 like the further the distance than the harder it was, 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:29.240 you know, I guess, you know, mentally, I. 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:31.480 Was just able to cope. And I kind of. 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:36.800 Bring that back to my parents, particularly my dad, because 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:40.200 growing up My parents both immigrated to Australia back in 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:42.440 the sixties. They came out on a boat from Holland 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:45.080 and my dad lived through the tail end of World 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:47.680 War Two and he was just a young boy at 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:49.720 the time. But he used to tell us stories all 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:54.600 the time, particularly you know about my grandfather who apparently 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:57.680 walked like over eighty kilometers to go and get the 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:00.920 family a loaf of bread through you know, Upied territory. 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:02.400 So I could have easily been killed. 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:05.600 So many little stories like that, and he always is 0:17:05.640 --> 0:17:08.439 to say, you'd be surprised what you can do, like 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:11.920 your mind can do in credit, like if you learn 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:14.560 to think properly, you know, and control your might, you 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:16.399 can do amazing things. 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:18.800 And it always was something that he said. 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:22.480 And also to be humble, to appreciate, you know, the 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:24.439 roof over our head and food on the table. 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:26.680 So I think having that as part. 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:30.320 Of my I guess, you know, feedback growing up hearing 0:17:30.359 --> 0:17:32.679 those kind of stories all the time. Also you know, 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:36.040 channeled my thinking and so that that helped too. So 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:39.080 I think that's why I ended up in the endurance 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:43.359 side of things. Just yeah, genetically obviously that suited me. 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:46.119 But the mindset was there for that type of event 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:46.560 as well. 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:50.439 I love that when when you first started kind of 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:53.919 talking about the open water compared to the pool, I 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:59.040 started picturing and feeling an alliance between how I felt 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:02.800 with boxing of this sense of I know. I felt like, 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:05.639 I know I'm not the best, and I'm not the 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:08.000 most talented, and I'm not necessary. I don't feel good 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:10.520 at this at all. But what I do know is, 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.600 however good I am, I know I can stay that 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:17.320 good through the hardest shit. I know I can endure 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:22.560 more for longer than you, not you, but everybody else. 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:23.359 And that was. 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:27.919 In the thick of the chaos, in the thick of 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:30.400 the punches and the hard it was like, that's cool, 0:18:30.440 --> 0:18:32.760 I can deal with hard watch me. And that's how 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:35.520 I felt listening to you talk about the open water, 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:38.320 of like, Okay, I can do I can be this 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:41.080 good for as long as it takes. 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:45.080 Absolutely absolutely, and that you know, And that's a that's 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:48.000 a lot mindset that helps you through life because you know, 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:49.679 when you think about it, you know you don't have 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:52.800 to be fearless too. It's not about being fearless because 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:55.560 we all live with fear and doubts and you know, 0:18:55.960 --> 0:19:01.359 question our ability or choices, and you know, wonder about 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:03.479 whether we can do things. But it's about taking that 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:06.000 next step forward and believing that you know, even they 0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:09.000 can't see the finish line, trusting that you'll be able 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:12.080 to get there and stay the course more than anything else, 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:14.919 and taking those steps all the time. And that's you know, 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:18.440 really excise me something that I think you know as 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:21.760 being I just I am so grateful that I did 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:24.320 marathons in me because it's really helped me through life. 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:27.440 Because we all face challenges and big waves, whether. 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:29.280 It in the boxing ring or in the you know, 0:19:29.320 --> 0:19:32.359 in the ocean, that it happens in life too. So 0:19:32.520 --> 0:19:35.879 the same mindset that you know we learn as athletes 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:38.880 really transpose us into real life and helps you get 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:40.760 through ordinary challenges as well. 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:44.480 Yeah, one last swimming thing I want to ask you about, 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:46.480 because there's way, like I want you for about four 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:51.800 days on this. There's so much but that the best 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:59.240 like the only person to have ever swum the bast straight. 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:03.920 That that water in Tasmania, Victoria. Yeah, which is treacherous. 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:06.400 Well, I mean it's terrible enough getting on, but I've 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:09.600 worked on the spirit of Tazzy Forrile, it was rough 0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:11.800 enough doing that crossing and paid for it in a 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:15.720 cozy little boat. You're all crazy, But how does it 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:18.120 feel to know, Okay, I did that cool, cool cal 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:22.120 but no one else in the world has done it. 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:24.680 I know, I'm waiting for somebody to do it, because 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:27.679 you know, those ones are put down so that somebody 0:20:27.680 --> 0:20:29.560 else can do it, right, And I did this in 0:20:29.640 --> 0:20:32.359 nineteen ninety six, So we're going on, you know, thirty 0:20:32.480 --> 0:20:33.240 years next year. 0:20:33.280 --> 0:20:35.040 I can't believe it because I. 0:20:35.040 --> 0:20:37.720 Have reunions with my crew, and we did have a 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:40.280 twenty year reunion, so I think I need to pull 0:20:40.320 --> 0:20:42.000 my finger out and start organizing the. 0:20:42.000 --> 0:20:48.399 Thirty Yeah, we're all still around thinking, but it's yeah, 0:20:48.520 --> 0:20:51.240 it's one of those conic Yeah. 0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:56.600 Look, it was something you know, I was told it 0:20:56.640 --> 0:20:59.720