Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast with Andy Donaldson - World Record Ocean 7 Channel Crossings adventure

On today's Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast listen to the thrilling journey of Andy Donaldson, the first man to conquer the Ocean 7 Channel Crossings within a span of a year. From tackling the treacherous waters of Catalina to braving the wild waves of Molokai and the Gibraltar Strait, Andy's story is one of grit, resilience and a relentless pursuit of ambitious dreams. Not one to shy away from sharing the lows, Andy gets candid about the gruelling Tsugaru Straight in Japan, a challenge that was amplified by the restrictions of the Japanese Coast Guard and the strong currents.

Venturing beyond the physical realm, Andy opens up about the shifting mindset throughout his journey. As he moved from chasing best times to embracing the thrill of the chase, it became clear that the real victory lay in the journey, not just the finish line. He also shares about the invaluable support he received from the global swimming community and the friendships he forged during his journey.

But the story doesn't end with the Ocean 7. Andy teases his future swimming plans, including a long swim in Montenegro. He also shares his awe-inspiring encounters with marine life in Hawaii, which will give you a taste of this unique adventure.

Tune in to explore the true essence of human endurance as encapsulated in Andy's monumental journey against the tides in completing the Ocean's 7.

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Transcript

Danielle Spurling: 0:06

Hello Swimmers and welcome to another episode of torpedo swim talk podcast. I'm your host, Danielle Spurling, and each week we chat to a master swimmer from around the world about their swimming journey. Only one swimmer has completed the Ocean 7 Channel Crossings in one calendar year and he joins me today to chat about the highs and lows of that experience. From Catalina to Molokai and the Gibraltar Strait, Andy Donaldson has had a year of hitting swims out of the ballpark. Andy has been one of our most popular guests and I'm so delighted that we have him back on the podcast to update us on his epic adventure. Let's hear from Andy now. Hi, Andy, welcome to the podcast.

Andy Donaldson: 0:55

Hey Danielle, how are you getting on?

Danielle Spurling: 0:56

Yeah good, thank you. You've been up to so many special adventures since we last spoke. Congrats on completing the Ocean 7. It's fantastic.

Andy Donaldson: 1:08

It's been a big year since we last spoke and a lot has happened, but, yeah, really pleased with it. Obviously, finished the Ocean 7, did this crazy journey and really happy to be here and to still have all my limbs.

Danielle Spurling: 1:28

Are you the first person to ever do them all in one year?

Andy Donaldson: 1:34

Yes, first person to do them all within a year I think the quickest before that was it might have been Linton Mortensen, I think two and a half years. We ended up doing ours in 355 days, so managed to sneak under that 12-month window.

Danielle Spurling: 1:55

That's amazing. Can you list them all in order for us, so that we all know what you did and in what order?

Andy Donaldson: 2:04

Sure, sure. So, to anyone that doesn't know, the Ocean 7 are considered to be seven of the toughest and most iconic channel swarms in the world, and last year I set off to try to do all seven of these within the space of a year. So started with the English Channel in August, followed by the North Channel, which is swimming between Ireland and Scotland, then the Cook Straight over in New Zealand from South Island to North Island, the Molokai Channel in Hawaii, the Straight of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco, the Catalina Channel over in Los Angeles and finished off with the Suguru Straight in Japan, and we did that at the end of July this year.

Danielle Spurling: 2:50

I wanted to start with the Suguru Swim in Japan. First, because that obviously you are the only person to have completed that crossing this year, I believe because it's such a tough, tough crossing. Give us a bit of the perspective around that. How tough was it and why do you think other people didn't get across this year?

Andy Donaldson: 3:11

Yeah, it's a very tricky swim. So it's in the north of Honshu. So you leave from the north of Honshu swimming across to Hokkaido, and it's quite a narrow channel. So it's about 20 kilometers, very similar to what we have here in Australia with the Ron S Channel swim, and it's passing water from the Sea of Japan on the west through to the Pacific Ocean. There's a bit of a slant. I think the Sea of Japan is actually higher, so it's not really back and forth tidal movements, it's more like a flowing river, so to speak. But what happens is at certain times of the day it's stronger than others.

Andy Donaldson: 3:52

So at its strongest it's about 10 kilometers an hour the speed of the current but it comes right down to about maybe one or two k's an hour at certain times of the day and, just like any channel, it's all dependent on the moon movements and tidal movements, and the best time of the year to swim is sort of July, august, sorry July and what had happened was there were 13 people that had tried it this season or that were signed up to try it, and out of the 13, this is not including myself none of them were able to either start or were successful when they attempted it. It's a complex situation, but there was a lot of factors involved and essentially, in the simplest form, there are two organizations that organize swims there. So you've got Ocean Navi, which have been doing it the most, probably have the most experience and have taken most of the swimmers across in the last decade, and then there's the Suguru Straight Swimming Association, which is headed up by a man called Harayuki Ishii, and that's who I ended up going with, but the other 13 swimmers had gone with Ocean Navi, and there was a number of factors this year that made it particularly tough. One of them was that I believe the Japanese Coast Guard had imposed restrictions, meaning that swimmers could only swim during the hours of daylight, so between 4am and 7pm, and it just so happened that in July most of the daytime swims had these powerful currents of up to 10km an hour. So the fastest swimmers in the world are really only holding 5km an hour. So that's not a battle that you're going to win. So Ocean Navi like to start from a particular point which is a bit further back, leaving from Cape Kodamori, and they tried to take their swimmers and do a bit of a banana across the channel. So it's not a straight line, but they try to swing out west, take their swimmers out west so that when the currents kick in they've got a bit more breathing room to get across to the other side and come in at a more forgiving angle. But most of the currents were being too strong and Ocean Navi, from what I understand, had imposed a rule that they weren't allowing swimmers to pass a certain line in the channel. If you went east of that line they would pull the swimmers out and that's what was happening a lot.

Andy Donaldson: 6:58

It was very difficult to watch in the lead up to my own swim like just fail, unsuccessful crossing after unsuccessful crossing, and the discomfort was starting to grow online and I was watching this. I could see it when I was over in Los Angeles getting ready for Catalina and I was speaking to a few of the swimmers after their swims, just getting their experiences. They weren't very positive. They didn't have many good things to say about how the swimmers were being operated over there, but I think things really kicked off. I don't think she'll mind me saying this, but when Sarah Thomas did a kick to start her swim, things really kicked off and that probably propelled it a bit more into the limelight. The World Open Water Swimming Association sat up and started investigating how things were being operated here.

Andy Donaldson: 8:07

My name started getting pulled into the conversation because I wasn't going with Ocean Navi. I was going with the Suguru Straight Swimming Association and people were questioning how has he managed to go with these guys? And Ishii hadn't taken many swimmers across in the last five years I think maybe only one swimmer. He's a general man in his 70s and it's not his main job like Ocean Navi, but it's something that he can do on the side. He does it out of a place of passion. Really, I was very fortunate in that. Well, to take a step back. I had tried to organise a swim with Ocean Navi but I hadn't been successful and I was very fortunately introduced to Mr Ishii over 12 months ago and we've been speaking ever since and built a relationship and he kindly agreed to help me organise a swim.

Andy Donaldson: 9:13

All of this noise was happening before, in the build up to the swim, and it was quite. It was not easy to focus on the swimming. I was being bombarded with messages like have you seen this? They're saying the swim is now impossible to do, and such and such is questioning how you organised your swim. And I'm just. I'm a swimmer, I've just done what I thought is right and I've been fortunately introduced to this guy who's able to take me across and has taken swimmers across successfully in the past that going in. And then, obviously, this was the last swim of seven that I was trying to do in the space of a year. There was a lot, the stakes were high and there was a pressure coming into this one and naturally, doubts are going to cross your mind. This was probably the hardest build up to a swim I've ever had in my life.

Danielle Spurling: 10:27

I mean that, must you're so strong to be able to block all that out and be able to go ahead? Because those doubts must have been creeping into your mind, but you powered across in an unbelievable time as well.

Andy Donaldson: 10:41

Well, I mean it was yeah, it was pretty rough out there in the water. We had a window, I think we had a window of maybe five days, which, in contrast, the ocean Navi guys were only getting windows of maybe two days, I think, which is a lot of pressure. We all know how nature and how changeable it can be. For us we identified a date that was the best of a bad bunch, really. We thought let's give it a crack anyway and see what we can do, and it was pretty rough. We set off. We were starting from a different point to what most of the ocean Navi guys do a little bit further up the peninsula. But I knew we were in for a long day when, within 30 minutes, it was that rough that I was already projectile vomiting.

Danielle Spurling: 11:49

Oh, no it was really bad.

Andy Donaldson: 11:52

So, yeah, we had to just kind of sit tight and dig in and dig in for the long haul. It was going to be a long haul.

Danielle Spurling: 12:01

Is that the toughest of the seven, do you think?

Andy Donaldson: 12:04

The toughest for me. Yeah, yeah, and that's it. Everyone has different experiences. Some people have had really nice and calm straight crossings and others, like myself, like Adam Walker I think he had a really tough one. It's always changed, but that's kind of the beauty of the sport and what makes it exciting and interesting. Like, no one swim is the same.

Danielle Spurling: 12:31

And reflecting back on now that you've done that swim, do you think that they need to consider another swim in the Ocean Seven or do you think they should keep that in, knowing what you know now?

Andy Donaldson: 12:43

It's an interesting question and I did see it come up online quite a lot. There were people asking whether it should stay in the Ocean Seven or not. What I would say is the Ocean Seven was conceptualised by an incredible man, stephen Manitonez, and his idea was to create something equivalent to what mountaineering has with the Summit Seven and create this bigger challenge for people to aspire to and try. But one of the things that was interesting to me was and he said this when we met in Los Angeles for him, yes, it was this incredible challenge for people to work towards, but he also explained it as something that would give swimming communities around the world a reason to be connected to each other. So we've got the English Channel over in the UK, we've got the Cook Street in the down under here in New Zealand. Now you had this overarching challenge that would actually connect people and have given them some kind of common ground to be related to the people over in New Zealand, or the guys over in Hawaii and swimmers over in Los Angeles and swimmers in Ireland. They were all part of this Ocean Sevens challenge and that was something I certainly noticed over the last year, like the amount of people that we met the swimming communities and the incredible people along the way that were just so generous and supportive. That was really the highlight of this last year that I've been able to make these friendships and the connection which will probably last a lifetime. You know Japan we didn't meet too many swimmers over there, but it is a different swim. All of the swimmers are quite unique in their own way, like old swims, like Ireland, scotland and New Zealand You've got the warmer ones and huge swills over in Hawaii. They all present these unique challenges. I think Japan, I think it's a worthwhile challenge and I think it's an incredible place. For me, it probably needs a bit more support with the infrastructure. Now, off the back of that swim, ocean Navi have dropped out from taking on international swimmers. Mr Ishii is in his 70s. He's come out saying that he's happy to take more swimmers across in the next year or two. I think all of these swims need to be held to a certain standard. Really, for me, the English Channel, the North Channel and Catalina are really the standouts in terms of they have incredible safety and supply of boats that can take you across. They can meet the demand, because I think this challenge is only going to become more and more popular. We need to look after the swimmers, and that needs to come first.

Danielle Spurling: 16:27

There is a great business opportunity for you.

Andy Donaldson: 16:35

I think a few requisites, probably being able to speak Japanese. True, anyone listening that wants to set up for the swim.

Danielle Spurling: 16:49

In terms of your support crew that you have on the boat. Did you take the same people to each of the swimmers? Was she at all of your swimmers, or was that just in Catalina? Who do you take?

Andy Donaldson: 17:03

Yes, good question, daniel. I think the ideal scenario would be that you'd have largely the same crew in each one, obviously, with them being all scattered around the world. You link up with local skippers because they know the waters best. We had incredible skippers in each of the locations, guys that really knew the waters. You place your trust in them because you don't really want to be worrying about whether they are going in the right direction or whatnot. In terms of a support crew, I was quite fortunate in that. A gentleman here in Perfey, a guy called Jay Prashal, fellow swimmer we trained together. He was able to come to six of the seven swimmers with me. He became really my key handler and member of support crew for the Ocean 7. The one that I did miss was the Cook Straight, which is the one that I brought the record in. I do kind of give him a bit of a miss in that one. I was super fortunate. Shelly Taylor, if you mentioned there absolutely incredible swimmer, one of the legends of our sport. She's been really involved since the beginning of this challenge, just providing a lot of insights, taking me under her wing a little bit, mentoring, speaking from her own experiences and really providing a lot of guidance from that mental aspect of the sport. There's statistics out there that say that marathon swimming is 80% mental, 20% physical. That's been really incredible to have her support. She's been able to connect me in with a lot of people on the ground in all of these locations Guys like Jer Kennedy in Ireland or Gronje Moss down in New Zealand, incredible people over in Los Angeles. It's just been really amazing.

Andy Donaldson: 19:29

When I set off on this journey, we'd come out with these pretty lofty goals. We'd come out being quite vocal about trying to do the Ocean 7, but not just doing it, but trying to do it within a year, which no one had done, and trying to break the world record for fastest cumulative time, which at the time was 64 hours 30 minutes, held by Attila Manjoki, incredible swimmer from Hungary. A lot of people, I think, felt that it couldn't be done. I came under a bit of fire. People messaged me saying you won't get the slots. That's never been done before it is. It's hard when you're open about your goals. You do put yourself out there for scrutiny and you're a bit vulnerable. The flip side of that is people will stick up their hand and offer help. People will admire your guts and see what you're doing and will want to help.

Andy Donaldson: 20:42

I was very fortunate. Guys like Shelly came on board and Jay Prashile came on board to support. Obviously, my family were big parts of the support crew too. My mum came on two of the swims. My dad came on three of the swims. My sister took over my social media and embarrassed me a lot, but she was my father. So, yeah, it's so important. I think when you've got the same crew or people that know you well, it just makes it a lot easier and it's one less thing to worry about when you're preparing for these swims, because they know you and they know the drill. So it's just a matter of it's one less thing to worry about and you can just turn up and execute.

Danielle Spurling: 21:32

I know you just mentioned Shelly helped you a bit with the mental side of things. What kind of firm strategies did she give you to help with that?

Andy Donaldson: 21:41

I think there were a lot of different ones. When I went to Dover for the first time for the first swim and yes, we'd been quite vocal about going for fast crossings and breaking records it was difficult because I hadn't really experienced the Dover coaster before. So the Dover coaster is what they call the sort of waiting period before your swim. Like a lot of these channel swims, they give you a window of days. They have a slot system. So slot one will go and get first priority in that window of like a good day. Then it goes to slot two, slot three I was slot four for the English channel. So I'm having to wait for three people to go before it's my turn and if the weather's not good in that window, then you're out of luck and you might have to come back another time or they'll squeeze you in elsewhere. So it's very different to traditional racing, which is what I'm used to, where you pretty much know what day, almost down to what minute, you're going to be starting, whereas here you've got so many factors involved, like the weather and the wind, the tidal movements, the time of the year.

Andy Donaldson: 23:11

So for Shelly, she was kind of consulting me, not consulting, she was making sure that my head was in the right space, trying not to be too worried or get too worked up or impatient or any of that kind of stuff during that period, just staying calm but also being ready to go, because sometimes you can get notified only four hours before you're meant to go. So it's that kind of balance of staying calm but being prepared for dropping into a swim. So yeah, just things like that, especially in Japan, when there was a lot of noise. Just what kind of advice she could provide from her own experiences that might help me in those situations. So what we ended up choosing to do was to stay offline, have social media blackout and just focus on the present and the task at hand. So there was a lot of things she was able to share from because she's been down this path herself and able to speak from experience, which is just so helpful.

Danielle Spurling: 24:35

Yeah, absolutely. And if Japan was the toughest of them, what was the one that you well? What was that? No, I won't say easy, because none of them are easy, but what was the one that you enjoyed the most? I enjoyed them all.

Andy Donaldson: 24:50

Yeah, I enjoyed them all. I mean, I think you look at Japan or Hawaii, which was another really rough swim, and of course I think at the time you're not. The word enjoyed probably doesn't come to mind. I know I'm sure you go through those experiences and it's amazing how resourceful we can be as people and as humans when things aren't going to plan or we're pushed beyond our limits, like we somehow can find a way through. And I think what's amazing is when you can look back at that and you can realize just how we can deal with adversity when it comes our way, because it is, it's inevitable in life and that's quite amazing. I think that those points which I suppose are your lowest lows when for me I was only covering 1.5 Ks an hour in Hawaii at one point which is taking for the swimmers out there, it's taking four minutes to do 100 meters that is like the lowest of lows and you're getting pushed off course or you're not making any forward progress but it was also the highest high because I was able to push through and keep on going no matter what, and there was a lot of things that motivated me to keep pushing through in those moments. But that will always be in my arson or I can always draw on that experience when life ever gets tough. And if I hadn't gone through that in Hawaii and had a really tough swim there, I might not have had it in me to finish off in Japan when times got tough. So that's not really answering your question, though I'd say I mean I think it enjoyable.

Andy Donaldson: 27:02

I really enjoyed straight at Gibraltar. That was the shortest of the swims and it was quite calm. Everyone on the boat was laughing and listening to music. I was actually a bit envious because everyone's having such a good time on the boat that wanted to be joining them. Same with Catalina we had. I think we had like 18 people on the boat. It just it was like a party. I kind of wished I was on there, I think.

Andy Donaldson: 27:28

Obviously, swimming to Scotland, that was very special. I've grown up there and being a Scotsman, new Zealand was amazing and if I was really forced to pick a favourite from all of them, I think my time over there was really special. I ended up spending almost a month in New Zealand trying to wait for an attempt and a crossing and I really got to know a lot of the swimming locals over there, made some really amazing friendships and still spoke like speak to a lot of them most, most days. So as a whole that was a really special experience and obviously I went on to break the world record in that swim, which was something really special.

Danielle Spurling: 28:21

What was your entire time? I know you mentioned before the world record was 64 hours. What did you end up doing across all seven swims?

Andy Donaldson: 28:29

I ended up swimming all the ocean seven swims in 63 hours and two minutes, right. So when I started I sort of had this mind, this number in mind of around 50 hours, and, look, I think I probably came into this challenge a bit, I'll be honest a bit naive and not really knowing what was out there and probably a bit too focused on on numbers and times and results. In that attitude, I mean, it's probably a byproduct of coming from the competitive background, especially pool swimming, where that is the focus it's always about the times and the results. But in these channels there's so many factors involved that time is really a product of things largely outside of your control, like the weather and the conditions. And that mindset sort of changed as I went and for me it was more about right, if I swim, the best swim possible based on how I feel on that day. If that's good enough to get across, then great. If it gets a fast time, that's really a bonus. And that my sort of mindset and what I defined as a success, that perspective changed and it's highlighted by Molokai.

Andy Donaldson: 30:08

I went almost 16 hours in Molokai and then my friend Ronja Moss, who's, let's say, a bit older than me I don't wanna put a number on it maybe 20 years older. She went an hour faster, like two weeks later, a woman in her 50s. So it's you can't do any more than giving it your best. And with that cumulative time we came into the last swim with a fairly decent buffer on the Tillerman Yokies times, if you were to add them up, and it went right down to the wire. On the day we had the 7pm curfew and that 7pm also was like the almost like the time limit for beating a Tillerman Yokies 64 hours and we came within an hour of that at the end. So it was, it was stressful and it really went down to the wire. But that's ocean swimming for you and that's the nature of the beast. If you give it your best, you can't ask for more.

Danielle Spurling: 31:22

Absolutely, and you certainly gave it your best. I mean, what an amazing feat that you've done. You must just be so exhausted.

Andy Donaldson: 31:32

I think, yeah, I think mentally as well. We talk about the physical challenges of the sport and obviously the cold water, the distance, large swells, they're all gonna take it out of you. But I think mentally the way things landed like, as I mentioned before, I didn't start this challenge with everything booked in, we pretty much just took whatever we could get and how that ended up falling was like the last whoa. The last five swims were month back to back, back to back. Yeah, they were close, yeah, and having to pick yourself up mentally after each swim and get back on the horse and give it another crack, that was really tough. And I'm not a full-time swimmer. I have a job. I have external pressures as well.

Andy Donaldson: 32:34

In June that happened to me. I had some work issues that really were starting to overflow into the challenge, a couple of personal issues. I was in a bit of financial trouble and that really, really smashed me mentally and I ended up I flew over to Los Angeles and I just completely crashed before the swim Got really sick. I was in pretty much bedridden in the day. It was sleeping 14 hours a day and it's hard enough when you're not feeling great to just go on to work or to do turn up to training, but when you have to do a 32-kilometer swim and you've got people I had my family flying in from Scotland to watch you.

Andy Donaldson: 33:38

I had other people from America flying in To sport on the boat you don't want to let anyone down. It was tough and it was the only time in this last year that I felt like I didn't want to be there. And I felt like I didn't want to be there because I was scared to fail and to let people down and that was very confronting those days and the negative thoughts were sort of blowing in, smashing through. It felt like a sort of damn wall and everything's like trying to hold and that was tough, but I was really scared, I was scared.

Andy Donaldson: 34:31

I was scared and that was tough, but it was amazing. It wasn't really until the day of the swim when my dad I saw my dad and my aunt and uncle, my dad's partner, debbie. They were waiting in the docks and, just like a switch flicking, I just thought you know what? Don't really care how I feel, I'm just going to give this everything, whatever I have in the tank. I don't feel like I'm 60% good, but you know that's life. You know you wait for the stars to align. You can't feel your best every day, but you can give your best every day, so let's just do that.

Danielle Spurling: 35:22

I think that's what got you through all seven of the swims. I mean that's fantastic. I love that mindset and you must just have such a strength of mindset and self-talk to be able to get yourself through those times. I mean even more impressive when you are feeling down and not physically well.

Andy Donaldson: 35:41

Yeah, I mean, I think for me it's. Yes, it's good to have self-talking and all these tools and the arsenal. I think I draw my strength from others. That would be my secret. Like I'll give an example of that in the North Channel, this one from Ireland to Scotland. It's 34 kilometres. They consider it to be the toughest channel swim in the world or the toughest of the ocean seven swims and for anyone that's obviously been to the UK, you know it's cold enough in the air, on the land, never mind in the water. So it kind of paints a picture.

Andy Donaldson: 36:27

And so we're swimming this swim. As you know, as all marathon swims do, you're not wearing a full body suit or a wet suit, you're just in your trunks and I get to the, I get to the three hour mark in this swim and it's a cold day, like it's just cold in the water, it's overcast, so there's no sun on your back and I'm really starting to struggle. I'm really starting to struggle. I feel my arms just getting really heavy, the stroke rate is starting to plummet and my body is just shutting down, really having a bad time.

Andy Donaldson: 37:13

And in my head I'm thinking to myself like geez, this is like. This is not even halfway, like a third of the way, and I don't know how I'm going to keep going. For another, you know five minutes, like I'm really in a bad place and I was trying to go to my usual tricks, you know, like my positive self-talk. Or you know breathing slowly in and out to try and breathe out the you know that kind of stuff, but none of it was working. None of it was working. And so in a long I just think, like I look up at the boat and you know I see my mum there, I see Jay Jay Prashala, I see Jer Kennedy, and I just remembered that I was like, oh crap, they're here for me and these guys are here.

Andy Donaldson: 38:13

They're here to support me. So I had a sort of a eureka moment and I shouted up to them. I was like I need to tell them what's going on because they might be able to help me. So I shouted up to Jay and I was like Jay, arms are heavy, feeling weak, but energy is good. He just laughed and he usually writes on a whiteboard so that I have my earplugs in. And he wrote on this whiteboard and it was something along the lines of we hear you, everybody's received warm feeds coming.

Danielle Spurling: 38:57

Nice.

Andy Donaldson: 38:59

And it was something as simple as that. But, like in an instant, this weight off my shoulders just completely left and I remembered that I'm not tackling this challenge alone. And you know we talk about marathons, something it's. You know people think it's this solo endeavor but and to an extent you know you've only got the once one in the water, but it's the furthest thing from a solo as possible. You can't be challenges on your own and you have to have a team to be successful. And you know you've got the skipper, you've got the support crew, you've got your observers and your. You know, if you take a step back, you've got your coaches and your team mates, your family, you have your stroke of the way. And that was an incredible reminder of that moment.

Andy Donaldson: 39:49

And what the guys did? They heated up the feeds so that it was like almost piping hot, trying to warm me up from my insides and heat up my core. And they made the feeds a bit more frequent. So instead of every 20 minutes, they brought it down to every 15. And it was just amazing, like it really just started to pick me up again and I started feeling lighter. I could bring up my stroke rate and we started charging home and from this position of being, you know, thinking to myself, I can't even manage another five minutes, the guys managed to squeeze another five hours out of me and we ended up finishing in a time of nine hours 13, which was only four minutes off the world record. So it was just incredible and it was the epitome that for me, it was an incredible reminder that, like life, you know when challenges come our way, it's OK to stick up your hand and ask for help.

Danielle Spurling: 40:55

And I know that you've tied these swims to the charity that you're raising funds for. Do you want to just tell us a little bit about that, because I was going to let everyone know. We'll put a link in the show nights for people that wanted to still donate to that fund for you, yeah, of course, of course.

Andy Donaldson: 41:13

So yes, when one of the big things that I wanted to do through this Ocean 7 challenge was to use it as a platform to share powerful messages around courage, resilience, the importance of teamwork, and to also raise money for mental health. You know, as someone that's had their struggles as well and knowing many people that have suffered from depression and anxiety, it's a cause that's close to my heart. So I chose to raise money for a international mental health research charity called the Black Dog Institute. They're all about trying to better understand the whole subject, not just how to better treat it, but to understand it so that it can be mental illnesses can be prevented and issues can be prevented. So it's been incredible and I feel that marathon swimming and all of these challenges, they've taught me so many lessons that I feel are so transferable and applicable to life and so heavily tied to resilience and mental health.

Andy Donaldson: 42:42

You know that example I just gave there with the North channel, sticking your hand up for help, or, you know, defining what is success, like the straight edge brawler, where I crossed in two hours 56 and there's a 70 year old woman that's only five minutes slower than me. You know, but that was the best swim that I could create on the day, and that day was it was like super flat, it was just a loot Amazing. But underneath things weren't good and the currents weren't ideal. And there's an example of you know, there's more than meets the eye, and like there's more beneath the surface, and like life, sometimes our biggest challenges are hidden from. So, yes, it's just been amazing and I'd love to, I think, for me, my future steps. I'd love to continue sharing these kind of messages in my life and hope that it might help other people, especially those that have been through tough times, like myself and other swimmers who would love to take on challenges like the ocean seven.

Danielle Spurling: 44:02

Yeah, that's like. Have you ever seen that diagram where there's a it's sometimes it's portrayed as a pyramid or a mountain and the person standing on the dais getting their gold medal, but underneath them is all their support people under the water. No one gets to see all their support people, all the struggles they've been through, everyone that's propping them up to get them to that point.

Andy Donaldson: 44:26

I think you just described that perfectly, right then, and there I mean, I think that's it's an incredible image that, danielle and you know I wanted to make sure that through this journey, we showed all aspects of it, or as many aspects of it as possible, because I feel like with things like social media, you only see the highlights of things, and I didn't want it to be like that, like I didn't want to just pictures of everyone at the finish line high fiving, and we've done this one.

Andy Donaldson: 45:05

That's not reality, like there's so many challenges and things that happen that bring you to that point. So we wanted to show, you know, the difficulties out in the middle of the channel and how bad the conditions were. Or you know me throwing up after a swim, after my blood sugar levels getting completely thrown off, or in Molokai it was. It was a very emotional swim and afterwards I was in the, in the showers and I pretty much broke down. It was just so mentally smashed. It was a different thing and you know it's it's. It's quite scary to be that open and vulnerable, but on the flip side, I felt that it might show other people that are experiencing adversity and going through tough times that they're not alone there, and it's a more realistic view of of these challenges and a more realistic view of life.

Danielle Spurling: 46:11

Absolutely. I think that you the fact that you're so honest and sort of giving about your experience, I think is going to help other people listening, and I know you're doing a lot of speaking sort of around different swimming sort of places and other podcasts and public speaking as well, and I think that just getting your message out there is going to help people in general.

Andy Donaldson: 46:35

Well, that's the plan.

Danielle Spurling: 46:36

Yeah.

Andy Donaldson: 46:38

Understand my accent. Yes, we like your accent, that's nice.

Danielle Spurling: 46:43

Do you see yourself doing any more big swims like that? I know you're going to do one coming up in Montenegro, but any more really long swims on the agenda?

Andy Donaldson: 46:54

Yes, so I've got Montenegro later this month. I had a listen to your chat with, is it Nicholas? Yes, so we get to catch up with him over there For him to experience open water swimming. Yes, that's, that's the idea. We we have a few swims in the works.

Andy Donaldson: 47:20

There are a couple around the world that I'd love to to have a crack at and really train up hard and see if I could see what I could fall down at, maybe something like the Manhattan Islands one that that has a bit of a draw to it. You know, I've never been York as well, so I think that would be special. But there's there's some exciting challenges in the works. There's one here in Perth that I'm going to do next month in conjunction with telephone, the major charity event here, and. But I think where I might, where I see myself going, and what appeals to me is more like the idea of the expedition swims and doing these longer ones that that might take several days to complete, and trying to swim from one place to another, that that maybe someone hasn't done before. So, speaking with a few people, we've got a few things in the works which which I can talk to.

Andy Donaldson: 48:36

Public but yeah, that's, that's in the works. And then also, you know, looking at the ocean seven. We filmed a lot of that and making a documentary is something that I think, something I'd love to do and to not just, you know, share my share, my stories and my learnings, but it's also shine a light on the sport and the community that's in it, because without the community and the people that I met, you know, I wouldn't have finished. I wouldn't have completed this challenge like it. I wouldn't complete this challenge and it wouldn't have been as valuable and experiences as it has been without their involvement and support. So I'd love to do that. You know, share their stories and so many selfless people in our sport that are helping and encouraging people to, you know, follow their dreams and reach their dreams. I feel that they deserve some recognition and it would be amazing to share their stories and something that might encourage other people to give swimming a try.

Danielle Spurling: 49:53

I would certainly watch that documentary. So let's get it up, let's get it on Netflix.

Andy Donaldson: 49:59

Anyone's listening. You know that was the hire or was the be a Netflix or?

Danielle Spurling: 50:06

Exactly. I want to. I know I asked you this last time you came on, but I always like to ask favourite five deep dive questions, but I've made yours a little bit different today so you know, I don't know you won't give the same answers. You had a great Spotify playlist that you you had on your boat, which I one side didn't like but like the rest. What were your favourite three songs from that Spotify playlist?

Andy Donaldson: 50:41

I like what's it called, and Casey and the Sunshine Bund. Oh yeah, Give it. Do you know the one?

Danielle Spurling: 50:55

I'm just Baby, baby, give it up. Is that the? One, but I don't think that's the name of the song, but anyway you know what it is. I know that one.

Andy Donaldson: 51:06

Yeah, that was on there. I'm pretty sure the Preclemers was on there.

Danielle Spurling: 51:14

That was the one I didn't like Come on.

Andy Donaldson: 51:16

I don't like the Preclemers.

Danielle Spurling: 51:17

I don't like the way they bob up and down in the video.

Andy Donaldson: 51:26

What else was on there? I'm not too sure. I mean there was. There was all sorts of things that there was pumped the jam. I'm pretty sure MC Hammer was on there. It was. It was all 80s and 90s, which is really my jam. Too difficult question, Daniela. I can't know. That's all right.

Danielle Spurling: 51:51

What about, out of the seven swims, the sheer beauty of the environment that you were in? What was the most beautiful sort of natural setting? Forget about the currents, but what did you know? The surround, the surrounds. What was the nicest one?

Andy Donaldson: 52:06

Obviously, on the island it's basically like Jurassic Park, you know, huge mountains that come right down to the sea. But we also saw bioluminescence in the water, which was really quite spectacular, and it was like swimming in the stars. It was just just surreal.

Danielle Spurling: 52:27

That would be beautiful. And what was? What was the nicest water to swim in, of the straits, the channels? You know how every every water has different feeling, wherever you go. Which one did you feel the best in?

Andy Donaldson: 52:45

The best in New. Zealand.

Danielle Spurling: 52:48

Nice.

Andy Donaldson: 52:49

I felt quite nice in there Beautiful water, Catalina was nice again by luminescence and a really clear sky. I was a bit nervous swimming in Japan. I remember we did a test swim before and I remember saying to Jay like it was just this different colour of turquoise that made me feel a bit unsettled. I was like, oh, I have to suck this up.

Danielle Spurling: 53:21

Yeah, did you come across any marine life, larger marine life?

Andy Donaldson: 53:28

In Hawaii. Yes, yeah, did you? What kind? I can't really. It was at night time and it was a big shape Looking below and that was sort of was was in my head. So I'd actually encountered dolphins not long before it, so I thought it was more dolphins. I was just waiting for the waiting for the dolphins screeches and I'm swimming along and it would have been about 11pm at night and I see this shape lurking underneath and I'm like where are these dolphins?

Danielle Spurling: 54:08

screeches.

Andy Donaldson: 54:09

And when they didn't come, you know what? My heart just sank. I'm just thinking to myself no, that's not a dolphin, that's a shark. And so, you know, I'm trying to fight all my urges Not to not to panic, because I think they pick up on that sort of thing. So, fortunately, the kayak or that was on the kayak they had two shark shields and they were hanging in the water, so like these kind of cables that hang in the water and emit some kind of frequency that disturbs the sharks and drives them away. So I swam right up here. It was basically a kayak, because the boat is, you know, a couple hundred meters in front. Yeah, and I think Kainoa, who was the kayaker at the time, I think he thought I was swimming, off course he was paddling away.

Danielle Spurling: 55:09

Oh, no, wait, don't go.

Andy Donaldson: 55:14

That was an interesting time but it disappeared off. But sharks, jellyfish, dolphins, tuna they'd probably be the main ones that I've seen in this challenge.

Danielle Spurling: 55:35

I hope that you don't come across another one of those sharks.

Andy Donaldson: 55:39

Hopefully not.

Danielle Spurling: 55:41

Yeah, and I suppose, the last question I wanted to ask if, out of all of the seven, which one would you do again?

Andy Donaldson: 55:52

The shortest, I think for me.

Andy Donaldson: 55:58

I mean, it would obviously be lovely to go back and, you know, have a crack at something like the English Channel and try to get it on a better day with camera tides and just see what I could throw down.

Andy Donaldson: 56:10

But with these swims, like I'm not really driven by times or records, with the English Channel you really have to wait for like one or two days a year and, if you have that sort of, you know, be able to go there and sit there for five weeks or be able to get there at really short notice, which is hard when you live in Australia. So I don't know Like there's a lot of swims around the world that I think I'd love to go and do. So if I was to return to swim I could be tempted to go back and have another crack at, but again, it's one that has a big queue of people wanting to do it, so I wouldn't want to come in over the top of them if it was ever to happen. So, yeah, maybe, maybe he's Scotland, then I'll have a crack at that and really give it a good go and go in with a bit better preparation for the cold and see what I could do.

Danielle Spurling: 57:15

Yeah, yeah, sounds good. Well, andy, thank you so much for coming back on the podcast today. You've been one of our most popular podcast guests and I'm sure everyone's going to really enjoy listening to everything that you had to tell us about the Ocean Seven.

Andy Donaldson: 57:30

Well, thank you again for having me on, daniel. It's been an absolute pleasure and, yeah, hopefully catch up in person at some point, hopefully, okay.

Danielle Spurling: 57:41

Hopefully. Yeah, absolutely Okay, take care. Take care, bob. I hope you enjoyed my chat with Andy and that this has inspired you to discover your own challenges in the water. We're finally back to weekly episodes. How are you enjoying them? Drop us a line at wwwtorpedoswimtalkcom to let us know how we're doing. Today's episode was brought to you by Amanzi Swim and the Magic Five. I would like to thank them both for supporting the podcast. I use both of their products A lot of bathers from Amanzi and I use them all the time. They're colourful, they're long lasting. I love them. That's why I recommend them to people if they ever ask what bathers I use. And the Magic Five goggles are fantastic because they're really designed to fit my face. Check them both out, with their links in the show notes. Till next time, happy swimming and bye for now.