Multiple world record breaker, Josef Köberl from Austria, describes how he is able to withstand freezing cold waters. Watch this episode to learn about the underground river 100 meters below a glacier that Josef swims though. Josef broke Wim Hof’s two hour submerged in ice world record by 30 minutes, going 2 and a half hours! How does Josef do it! Learn about it here in Episode 10 of Talbott.TV.
Nicole Buckley, founder of “Meet me at Blue”, a no-one-left-behind open water swim (OWS) group, talks about Siesta Key Beach, wildlife (including manatees, dolphins, rays, cuttlefish, and other surprises), triathletes, training, and other benefits of swimming. She also discusses the therapeutic aspects of swimming and her personal recovery from obesity and depression. Experience this wonderful overview of one of the best OWS meetup groups in Talbott’s ninth episode of Talbott.TV and the benefits of “free” and “open” community activities. The magical sand of Siesta Key features the perfect grounding for the wonderful experience of entering the Gulf of Mexico on this island in Sarasota, Florida, just an hour south of Tampa and two hours north of Naples, where Talbott recorded this interview on April 27, 2021.
Mere Novack talks with Talbott about training for breaking a world record in episode 8. Training, a key for success in triathlons, open water swimming challenges, including marathon swimming (6+miles/10+KM). Hear from this elite athlete how she trains. We also talk a bit about SHARKS, yikes!
Her bio from https://www.meredithnovack.com: BASED IN HAWAII HAVING RETURNED FROM SINGAPORE… THIS FULL-TIME SWIM COACH and former professional triathlete turned World Record holding, and extreme marathon swimmer…is one of the most marketable and recognizable athletes on the planet! After a World Record channel swimming debut, people notice when Meredith walks into the room but not for the obvious reasons…
The Kate Moss of the channel swimming world – by most athletic industry standards Meredith is “not impressive enough” meaning that at 5’6″ and just over 120 pounds she is too short, too small and too old – plus (her favorite) she doesn’t “look like an athlete”. According to most marketing professionals “SHE DOES NOT EVEN LOOK LIKE A SWIMMER”!
In Episode 7, Meredith Novack (Mere for short) talks about her background and some of the challenges for women in sports. Initially recorded just a test interview for lighting and sound for the full interview (which will be released in Episode 8), we decided to release this because of some of the great topics discussed. Topics covered include her early years as a top 50 meter backstroke champion as a youth, the Ironman Triathlon, and women versus men in the Ironman and open water swimming.
A former professional triathlete, world class swimmer and coach, Meredith has the distinction of beating all of the male pros out of the water multiple times during her career. Meredith competed internationally for 14 years, representing the USA at the World University Games in Triathlon and at four World Championships. She was very well liked by her peers and voted onto USA Triathlon’s Athlete Advisory Council. While competing, she coached club and college swimming and triathlon – working with the best of the best: Coach Eddie Reese (USA Olympic Coach / University of Texas), Coach Tim Murphy (US Olympic Open Water Swim Coach), Coach Nick Baker (Canadian Olympic Coach), Coach Brett Sutton – to name a few…
Her coaching style is very direct and positive. She believes in empowering athletes of all ages! Her methods have resulted in more than 100 National Championship wins! Retiring from triathlon in her 30’s, she speaks to teams and clubs on reaching the next level in sport and gives consultations. She has worked at the Ironman World Championships in Kona six times…as a brand rep and spokesmodel for On-Running shoes, BeachBody and Ironman. Meredith loves sharing her knowledge and talking to thousands of people. At 45 years young, she continues to inspire and motivate!
Anthony McCarley at the age of 54 became the 97th person in history to achieve the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming (English Channel, Circumnavigation around Manhattan, New York City, and California’s Catalina Channel). Anthony McCarley is an American open water swimmer from Berwyn, Pennsylvania and is the CEO of McCarley International – a firm that focuses on helping executives, organizations and athletes reach their full potential. He is also motivational speaker – he has given keynote presentations to groups ranging from high school and NCAA Division I athletes to global executives throughout the United States and Europe. He completed the California Triple Crown of swimming which includes crossing Lake Tahoe. He is now working on the South America Triple Crown and talks about his short film about his swimming experiences in Brazil and other South American countries in this interview. Join us in this awesome one hour interview with one of the greatest swimmers on the planet.
The recipient of the 2019-2020 MSF Service to Marathon Swimming Award, recognizing outstanding contributions to the sport in a non-swimming role, is Phil White. Phil has organized many swims in his home state of Vermont, in Northeast Kingdom, on Lake Memphremagog. He organizes many sporting events including the Dandelion Run (which we learn about how all this madness started in this interview), Kingdom Swim, Vampire Swim, Tour de Kingdom bike race, and my favorite, Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival held usually in February by cutting out a 25 yard pool with two lanes for a two day swim meet in freezing water, literally freezing! Feb 2021 will be a virtual event due to COVID-19. Learn more about his events on his website KingdomGames.CO
Cristian Vergara and Capri Djatiasmoro are founders of CIBBOWS (Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers) and incredible marathon and extreme cold swimmers. They are heavily involved in organizing and participating in swims in the New York City area, including the swim from the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in Staten Island to Sandy Hook, the northern tip of Jersey Shore. Capri assisted Cristian in his attempt to circumnavigate Easter Island.
Cristian Vergara and Capri Djatiasmoro are founders of CIBBOWS (Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers) and incredible marathon and extreme cold swimmers. They are heavily involved in organizing and participating in swims in the New York City area, including the swim from the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in Staten Island to Sandy Hook, the northern tip of Jersey Shore. Capri assisted Cristian in his attempt to circumnavigate Easter Island. They made it almost 3/4 around the island but got stymied by the currents. They have both swum around Manhattan (almost 30 miles), and Cristian has swum the English Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar. In this interview, you can hear them describe these swims and some crazy swims in Glaciers in Argentina, winter swims in Russia, and a relay across the Bering Strait from Russia to Alaska in 2 degree C waters!
Scott Zornig is the co-founder of LBOWS (Laguna Beach Open Water Swimmers), a 33 year old 400 member swim group in Southern California founded by Mike Turdeau, Lynn Kuasek, and Scott Zornig. They swim in Shaw’s Cove (my favorite), Tablerock, Woods Cove, Crescent Bay, and Emerald Bay. I was fortunate to swim with Scott and friends in January of 2020 in Shaw’s Cove and experienced the Giggle Crack first hand, a terrifying and thrilling experience.
Scott is also a commentator in the movie “Driven: A Glimpse Inside the World of Marathon Swimming” and a star of the Emmy award winning documentary covering Scott’s 2001 swim from Anacapa Island to mainland California on Channel 4 News.
Scott was President of the Santa Barbara Channel Swim Association from 2008 to 2016 and member from 2006 to 2016, and has completed over 20 marathon distance swims. He is a Marathon Swimmers Federation – Finalist, Streeter Award (2017) and USMS All American. He swam around all 73 ocean facing piers in California in 2013, captured in the book “the piers of the California coast” by Ed Grant.
Scott started Swim Camp Catalina in 2013 with Jamie Patrick and Swim Camp Mexico in 2016 with Marc Horwitz. You can learn more about the swim camps here: http://swimcamp.us/. His most memorable adventure swims:
Swimming in Iceland in the January snow of 2015 and lasting 17 minutes in 37 and 7 minutes in 34 degree water
Swimming 6 miles in the crystal clear 49 degree waters of Alaska in the summer of 2018
Swimming 2 miles around the Parliament in the canals of Copenhagen, Denmark and getting last place against the Danish national team. They all wore a wetsuit but he did not!
You can hear about these experience in my interview with him from May 11, 2020 here on Talbott.TV, on YouTube, on Facebook, or on IGTV (Instagram TV).
Scott’s most satisfying moments in swimming: When a new person joins LBOWS and shows up with a wetsuit and eventually loses the floatation to discover the job and health benefits of swimming sans wetsuit. Second most satisfying moments in swimming: when an LBOWS swimmer goes on to do their first marathon or cold water swim. He has been teaching people how to swim in the pool and ocean since he was 14 years old. I am proud to have him as my guest on Episode #3 of Talbott.TV. This interview was recorded on May 11, 2020. Enjoy!
Watch Talbott.TV episode 2 with Eric Schall describe his encounter with the cookie cutter shark in the Pacific Ocean (18+ due to gruesome photos). Eric tells about the swim and rescue swimming between the Hawaiian Islands of Moloka’i and O’ahu.
Eric Schall, an incredible marathon swimmer with 17 marathon swims (10K or greater) in the last 6 years, talks about his open water experiences and gets into the gruesome details of the cookie cutter shark attack swimming Moloka’i Channel with Steve Gruenwald a year ago in March 2019. The Moloka’i Channel, also known as Ka’iwi Channel, is 26 miles (42 km) wide with a depth of 2,300 feet (700 M) and spans the Hawaiian Islands O’ahu and Moloka’i, is one of the most difficult open water swims due to the open Pacific conditions and aggressive water life. It is one of the Oceans Seven swims.
Chloë McCardel, world record breaking marathon swimmer talks about her experiences with UFO’s, sharks, machine guns, and COVID-19. Watch now the premiere Talbott.TV episode 1 with one of the worlds greatest swimmers.