Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast with Grainne Moss - Exploring the World of Open Water Swimming with the Triple Crown Champion

Ever wanted to know what it takes to conquer the World Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming? Join us on this episode of Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast as we chat with Grainne Moss, the "Irish Kiwi" who has conquered the ocean's greatest challenges. From the World Triple Crown of Ocean Swimming to the Irish and New Zealand Triple Crowns, Grainne shares her extraordinary journey, beginning with her first ever open water swim at the 25K World Championships.

It's not just about individual achievements; the open water swimming communities have seen a remarkable surge, especially during the pandemic. We chart these developments, understanding the new respect earned by this discipline even from seasoned pool swimmers. We discuss how the entry of open water swimming into the Olympics can have both positive and negative implications, and we uncover the origin of the Spud Buds in the unique Wellington Harbour swimming community.

Listen in as Grainne takes us through her rigorous training regimen, her feeding and hydration schedules, and how she copes with varying water temperatures and the potential for seasickness. She also acknowledges the crucial role her family has played in supporting her open water swimming endeavors. Finally, we delve into the controversy surrounding Diana Nyad's Cuban crossing and explore Grainne's vision for the future of the open water swimming community.

Join us for an episode filled with resilience, endurance, and a deep dive into the open water swimming community.

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Transcript

Danielle Spurling: 0:08

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. We're joined today by another titan of open water swimming, Grainne Moss. When only has Grainne completed the world triple crown of ocean swimming, she has also banked the Irish and New Zealand triple crowns in her accomplishments. We chatted about those challenges and triumphs in all of those different swims and so much more. Let's hear from Grainne now. Hi Grainne, welcome to the podcast.

Grainne Moss: 0:53

Oh, thank you. Thanks for having me, danielle.

Danielle Spurling: 0:55

You're so, so welcome. I love your accent. It's superb.

Grainne Moss: 1:00

It's been a long time developing this accent.

Danielle Spurling: 1:04

Yes, well, you're originally from Ireland but now living in New. Zealand. How did you make your way to New Zealand?

Grainne Moss: 1:09

I made my way to New Zealand back in 1998, so a long time ago and my husband and I who actually weren't we weren't married at the time we came to New Zealand for a bit of an adventure. We had been living and working in London and we thought it would be good to have a change, and just arrived and never really left. So that's how we ended up here.

Danielle Spurling: 1:32

Lovely, and where are you based? In New Zealand.

Grainne Moss: 1:36

I'm based in Wellington, so that's the capital. It's at the bottom of the North Island of New Zealand, yeah lovely.

Danielle Spurling: 1:45

Well, let's start with your incredible open water swimming achievements, because there's been many, and the first one was you were the first Irish woman, at 17, to cross the English Channel. Tell us how that was sorry, how that all came about, because that was 1987, I believe.

Grainne Moss: 2:01

Yeah, so it was a long time ago and it was before kind of so many people did open water. So I had been a competitive pool swimmer but also lived by the sea and we had a fun outdoor pool in the north of Ireland called Picky Pool that the club would go to once a week, I think on a Thursday night, and I mean, look, the north of Ireland is freezing, it's cold, you know. So we were there, these little, you know skinny swimmers getting all blue. But we were kids and we had a ball and we loved it and we would do lots of fun swims and it turned out that I was quite good at them.

Grainne Moss: 2:39

And then in 1986, there was the first ever open water 25K World Championships and the Irish selectors decided to send a team and I was only 16 at the time, quite young, and they, I think they decided to kind of take a bit of a chance and there was four of us went over. Now it was quite easy for the selectors to select us in some ways because at that point in time there was no sponsorship. We all had to make our own way there. Our mums and dads and husbands and wives and things like that were the sport crew. Actually, at the time we had borrowed tracksuits, yeah and anyway. So we, I went over to that swim and it was fascinating because I got adopted really by all these other open water swimmers, because I was only 16, I was the youngest in the field and a little bit of novelty value, so I ended up swimming really well, I came ninth, I finished, which actually a lot of other people didn't finish, to be fair. So then a number of the swimmers there and they were the greats, like Alison Streeter said to me look, if you, if you swam this, you can swim the English Channel. And I was like really, and nobody from Ireland had swam the English Channel since 1972. So and that had been a very famous man called Ted Keenan, who was a pioneer as well, and he, yeah.

Grainne Moss: 4:09

And then back in 1987 and 86, like there was no internet, there was no Facebook, there was no kind of groups you could join. So I had to do things like write letters and wait for people to come back to me to find out information and make phone calls, and you know, actually gathering information about how to do it was actually quite challenging, compared to Nye where you can just, you know, join a group and all of a sudden ask lots of people. So anyway, we booked. We booked to do the English Channel and headed over to Dover in 1987, in the August. And what was interesting, because I do have a funny name, it's a beautiful old Irish name which I love but and I was only 17.

Grainne Moss: 4:52

A number of people when we met went to meet them over there. I assumed that my dad was a swimmer, so it's quite, they didn't know that Grania was a girl's name. So quite interesting kind of being you know them talking to him and directing questions to him. And then it was like oh, oh, it's actually you. And I ended up actually with a pilot and he was interesting. He said to me the weather hadn't been great and he said to me look, are you prepared to go on a day? That's not perfect? And I remember thinking about it and I thought, well, you know, we've kind of got all the way over here. And I actually said to him yes, you know, because actually you're the expert and I'll trust you. And it was interesting because I was the fourth swimmer on the list and actually I then went up to first swimmer because actually the other three in front of me had all said no, they wanted to wait for the perfect day.

Grainne Moss: 5:51

And it was interesting because actually my day absolutely was not perfect. The first three hours were horrendous and my dad and my brother had to be tied to the boat for their own safety. They were bringing up their breakfast, lunch and dinner, you know, and the pilot said to me thought it would get better, and he turned out that he was right, but it was. It was a very, very rough start, but what that really taught me is is like there is no such thing as a perfect day and sometimes you do. You do need to take your opportunities. So yeah, so that was very back in 1987. And yeah, it was. It was pretty exciting.

Danielle Spurling: 6:32

Yeah, I mean that obviously wet your appetite for future swims. I mean, what kind of impact does that have on your career when you do a swim like that at such a young age? How does it set you up for these future swims that you've just done?

Grainne Moss: 6:45

Well, I think there's a couple of things. I think one of the things that it set me up quite well for my work career, particularly in the early days of going for job interviews, was everybody wanted to ask you about swimming in English Channel and when you are the person who's done it, you're the expert that's been interviewed by people. You can't really go wrong. So I do think it helped the number of times for people to even read my CV, you know so and just to have a bit of interest. But the other thing is, I think open water swimmers you know they show dedication, they show discipline, they show tenacity, you know they show the ability to work with things that are uncomfortable and change, and you know they can plan. So I think it really helped. Actually, you know, helped form opportunities for me outside of swimming and I've gone on to have, you know, a very interesting and varied career, I think.

Grainne Moss: 7:41

Then, with the actual swimming, look back in 1987, there wasn't very many people who did a lot of this. So I mean, in the last few years, you know, the explosion in open water swimming has just been amazing and, like we were, I was talking to my brother who's also swam the English Channel. So he swam in 1994, a few years after me, and you know we were talking. We were in Ireland, you know, in Donica D, where they start the North Channel, and there was like six people getting in that day. In my entire lifetime there wasn't before that point there wasn't six people getting in at any point, you know there wasn't six people. Actually, whenever I was swimming there wasn't actually six people who had done the North Channel in total. So then to find the six people on one day, trying, like my brother, was like how did that happen?

Danielle Spurling: 8:33

It's crazy, isn't it? I think COVID obviously had a huge impact on that, because pools were closed worldwide and all the swimmers out there had to find something. And when you discover that open water and you haven't done it before and those that great rush of endorphins that you get after you've swam in it, it's a bit of a bit addictive.

Grainne Moss: 8:52

Yes, absolutely, and I think as well. What's happened is, you know, a number of pool swimmers who, I think it's quite interesting there was a couple of quite famous pool swimmers in the UK all decided they would try open water and actually weren't able to make it and then I think the respect grew. I mean, you know, at the end of the day, yeah, it wasn't just the oh, that's what people who can't swim do, because I think there had been a period of that potentially but then a number of quite famous, you know Olympians tried some things like the English Channel and didn't make it and realized, oh, actually this is kind of quite cool and it is tough and it is actually a true sport. I think also what's happened is the and I think it's a positive and a negative is the you know, the admission of open water swimming into the Olympics. So you know that 1986, first ever FINA World Championships, was a bit of a breakthrough and then, you know, over time it moved into the Olympics.

Grainne Moss: 9:51

I mean, I think the Olympics is good, but also what open water swimming is really special for, I think, is the community and the fact that actually everybody's a winner. It doesn't matter if you swim a kilometer. It doesn't matter if you swim 25 kilometers. You know the fact that people are getting in there and trying things and doing better than they could have done before doesn't matter whether they're doing an ocean or, as I say, you know the kind of local swim in the Wellington Harbour and I just really hope and I don't think it has lost it I was a bit nervous when it went into the Olympics that we would lose that. You know, celebration of everybody who takes part, celebration of everybody who makes up the community, and I know here in Wellington we haven't lost that. I mean, we have an absolutely amazing open water swimming community in Wellington, Very special place to be.

Danielle Spurling: 10:43

Is this where the spud buds and the washing machines, the squads that you swim with? Is that where they originate? Tell us a little bit about those.

Grainne Moss: 10:50

So I think what we have is it's quite interesting We've got a group called the washing machines that actually are a real broad range of kind of people who get in and dunk kind of thing and maybe go you know a few hundred yards and then to you know, people like myself and other, you know, like ocean swimmers and English Channel swimmers and Cook Street swimmers, and then within the washing machines there's probably a subgroup called the Spud Buds, which are actually the kind of real hardcore in terms of the Cook Street swimmers, the you know, the triple cryiners, the English Channel swimmers and yeah. But what I love is it's just an incredibly inclusive and varied and diverse community and actually originally we were almost two groups that now, as I say, we've kind of, you know, we've kind of merged. I would say the spud groups, the spud buds is the kind of almost in the band diagram. We used to overlap and I were kind of in the middle.

Danielle Spurling: 11:45

How did the names spud buds come apart?

Grainne Moss: 11:48

Well, it's interesting, and it was actually before I was a kind of member which is three of them Karina and Brie and Rebecca. Now Karina has done Fouvo and Cook Street, rebecca has done double leg topo, brie has done Cook Street. So they were training a few years ago and during a hard session and trying to challenge each other to come up with a motivational saying at the end of each set. And anyway, at one point somebody I think Brie said dig deep, you know, you need to dig deep, you need to dig deep. And somebody else said, oh, and you'll find a potato. And then all of a sudden, you know, the spud buds kind of evolved. So, yeah, so so nothing, nothing very spectacular, but it's, it's kind of stuck, you know, and it's been good.

Danielle Spurling: 12:40

That's good, isn't it? So how often each week are you swimming in the open water and how often do you swim in the pool? What does a weekly schedule look like for you in the water?

Grainne Moss: 12:48

Wouldn't. I'm in really heavy training. I think you know that it's the six days a week routine. We're very fortunate in Wellington to have Phillip Rush as our coach. So Phillip is the record holder for the three way English Channel. He actually did that in 1987, the same year I swam the Cook Street Sorry, the English Channel. So Phillip is an incredibly experienced open water swimmer and open water coach and, and what he advises and I, you know, think his advice is wonderful he advises, you know, you really need to do quite a lot of swimming to keep up your speed, to work on your technique, to get your distance in, thank you.

Grainne Moss: 13:26

So we do do quite a lot of pool and then also some sea, and very often what we'll do is one of our swimming pools is actually right beside the sea, so we'll do a pool session and then we'll go into the sea after that. We have a good plan. Actually, what we do is there's a small group of us within the spud buds when we're training. We have a shared spreadsheet and we'll put down what kilometers we're aiming for that week. And then also we have a number of formal sessions and then we call it secret training when we train outside of sessions but it's not very secret because everybody's invited. So you know. But again, that community, I've seen what everybody's trying to achieve that week and you can see, oh well, like Mike wants to get another few Ks in, or Karina dolls, and you know. So when are you going to do that? Can I join you?

Grainne Moss: 14:20

So quite a lot of pool but a lot of sea and particularly closer to the big open water swim events, particularly, for example, when I was training for the North Channel, what I did have was it was winter in Wellington, so you know it was. It was pretty cold and that was really helpful so I could do long sea swims to ensure that I was acclimatized to the cold. I was hoping that actually I would get to Northern Ireland and things would be warmer. So it was 12.4 degrees in the water in Wellington in the winter and I went to the North Channel and my average temperature was 12.8. So it was a good job. I had Wellington to train in.

Danielle Spurling: 15:01

Yeah, absolutely. I know I wanted to talk about the recent triple crown that you just completed, but tell us a little bit about the Irish triple crown, because that's something that not as many people know about.

Grainne Moss: 15:13

No, it's true. So the Irish triple crown is the North Channel, which most people know about because it's one of the Ocean Seven and absolutely fabulous swim called Fastnet, the Fastnet Lighthouse, into Baltimore, which, look, I can't recommend highly enough, but it's just great, great teams on there, but it's just such a beautiful swim, it's very full of history. The Fastnet Lighthouse is built on a rock that was called Ireland's teardrop and it's where all the immigrants to winter America that was the last part of Ireland that they saw, so they would be crying because they were leaving their homeland. It's kind of out in the middle of the Atlantic. You get to swim from this amazingly iconic Lighthouse and rock into the coast. The first couple of hours you don't see much, but then you're swimming along a beautiful coastline with lots to see. So there's the Fastnet swim. It's 21 kilometers. And then there's Galway Bay swim across Galway Bay. That's about 13 kilometers and I was very fortunate I had swung Galway Bay a couple of times actually, but we can't find the records of one of my swims Because it was back in the 1980s.

Grainne Moss: 16:30

But we did find the records of the 1986 swim. So that was good. So I did it in 1986. And then I actually ended up doing the North Channel on the 22nd of July and then Fastnet on the 4th of August 2023. So kind of quite a number of years later, I think.

Grainne Moss: 16:49

Yeah, so it's quite funny if you look at it Galway Bay 1986, the next one 2023, and then only two weeks between the next two of the Irish People's Crime. So, yeah, look, it's a great set of swims. I mean, the North Channel is incredibly challenging, incredibly challenging swim. And then, yeah, so now I've the Irish Long Distance Women Association also have developed this beautiful, beautiful crime actually, which sadly you don't get to keep, which I know somebody said to me at work oh, I wanted to see you wearing your crime at work, and they actually keep it under lock and key and then they take it out for, like the presentations, and but they've gone to a lot of effort to design something that is just spectacular and it's, you know, worth getting the photograph with. And, yeah, wearing, wearing briefly, briefly, yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 17:45

That sounds lovely. Well, you had a super busy 2023, because not only have you done that, but you've been over to America and done Catalina and Manhattan. Tell us a little bit about the Catalina swim, because that was your first one.

Grainne Moss: 17:57

Yeah. So, catalina, I did back in July and yeah, look, it's a night swim and you know, I'd say out of the Ocean Seven, it's relatively you kind of know what you're getting into. There's quite a lot of people that have done it. There's plenty of people to ask about it. I started off at about 10 30 at night, finished just under a kind of about 11 hours, 20 or something. I did Swam through the night. It was a bit sloppy and so, and there wasn't much, there was no moon or stars, so it was, yeah, I mean lots of other people.

Grainne Moss: 18:35

I was just talking actually to Kellam. E2 did it and he's a Kiwi based in Singapore and he got dolphins and wheels and amazing wildlife and I have to say I got nothing, nothing. And I think that's what happens Each of these swims you don't know what you're going to get. Some of them are, they're all magical in their own right, but some of them are more magical than others. So I mean, I think for Kellam, you know the, that, the cuddling, it was, you know, really magical.

Grainne Moss: 19:02

For me it was actually more like an ordinary day on the office and you know there was there wasn't quite as much, you know, glamour, yeah it, but look, you know I enjoyed it. There was a great crew there. I mean, the cuddling of iteration are great. The pilot was great. The other thing is is they've got kayakers that go alongside you and both of my characters kayakers one was Barbara, the other one was Patricia. You amazing, amazing and you know, and that's the great thing about any of these swims, it's, it's more about the adventure and the people you meet, and you know what I mean. So, but yeah, I mean Catalina was. Yeah, we got there and it was, but, as I say, I probably didn't have as many magical moments as some of the other swimmers get.

Danielle Spurling: 19:48

But most people do Catalina at night.

Grainne Moss: 19:51

Yeah, catalina is always pretty much done at night. Why is that? And we're partly because Catalina Island into the coast. The wind drops at night. So it's very unusual, catalina, because you don't swim on particular tides, you just get a date. It's one of the only swims that you actually get a date for and you go on that date pretty much 80% of 80 to 90% of the time.

Grainne Moss: 20:16

So that's quite unusual, because usually you go somewhere, you're sitting around, potentially weeks, you may not even get in, whereas Cadilline, you go and you say, oh, I'm going to be swimming on the 6th, 7th of July and, lo and behold, you do. So. It was quite nice because I actually did that during the New Zealand school holidays and my whole family came over and we could actually plan that one where she can't do that with, like the North Channel. I ended up in Ireland for a month. I booked to stay a month, but actually I ended up arriving on a Monday and swimming on the Friday, the very first possible day I could have swam, but I could have been there for a whole month and not go then. So Cadilline is very unique in that you can actually plan it far more than any other swim.

Danielle Spurling: 21:02

Wow, and you only had eight days between Cadilline and Manhattan. How did you recover Like? What strategies did you use to recover before the Manhattan swim?

Grainne Moss: 21:10

Well, I think I was feeling quite confident because I had done the year before the North Channel and Fastnet within two weeks of each other, and the North Channel definitely, I would say, is the hardest swim in the Cadilline and again, this is where Philip was very good. So Philip said to me look, bronja, based on what you've done, I'm confident and I really felt that my body had recovered quite well between the North Channel and Fastnet. And I think it's all down to your training. You've got to do the right training but not absolutely exhaust yourself. It's about listening to your body.

Grainne Moss: 21:46

And look, between Cadilline and Manhattan I had a good massage. I had a couple of chiropractor appointments I find chiropractor really works for me and also I just made sure that I took things very easy. I was relatively healthy with my diet and at the end of the day it's too late to do any more work. It days out from swim and actually you've done enough work in Cadilline. So within Manhattan, when I did Manhattan, I could feel that I had done a big swimmy a days before. There was no diet about it. But look, I had a ball, I loved it.

Grainne Moss: 22:25

It was a fabulous swim. I mean again, really well organized the New York Open Water do a fabulous job. I swam at night. I'm using all the twinkly lights so I'm past all of the iconic buildings but also, you know, real big contrast to Cadilline and Cadilline where I saw nothing, to be frank, you know, not even a star or a moon. And then you know kind of century overload almost on Manhattan and being able to see progress. You know, I mean you can see, oh, I was behind that building. Now I'm ahead of it. Magical, magical swim. And again, I can't recommend that one highly enough either.

Danielle Spurling: 23:04

Yes, does that go down to start down East Datton, staten Island? Berry, is that right?

Grainne Moss: 23:10

So they start in two places and I think it depends on the tides and this is where the New York Open Water people are just complete experts. So I started at Battery Park, you know Pier A, so that's done at the bottom. But some people do start kind of in the middle of the kind of junction between the East River and the Harlem Sometimes depends and then finish there. Depends on the tides and also they calculate. You tell them what's the kind of average and then they calculate what's the best option for you.

Danielle Spurling: 23:39

And at night time when you did that swim, did you encounter many other than your support boat and kayaker? Was there any other sort of boats on the rivers there that you had to navigate around?

Grainne Moss: 23:50

Yeah, well, it was quite quite funny at the start because actually we had to stop for the Staten Island ferry, oh really, and all these people from the Staten Island ferry were waving at us and we were waving back, so yeah. And then there was another kind of big kind of water taxi thing that we had to stop for, but actually in the night time itself. That was kind of more the kind of six o'clock to eight o'clock time early evening In the night time itself. No, not really. There was quite a lot of them. We had a lead boat and there was a follow on boat and then quite a lot of the swim.

Grainne Moss: 24:26

Actually the New York Peace Department had a boat and kept swimming, sorry, kept their boat quite close to me for quite a long time, which was in some ways quite nice, but they had those blue flashing lights which was a little bit, was actually from time to time slightly annoying, you know. So I had to kind of breathe the other direction so that I wasn't kind of getting the glare of their light. But yeah, it was, yeah, I mean again just really added to this what I'm so much was happening and so much to see, both on the water and then obviously outside the water, yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 25:01

And the feeding that you do during those swims and the hydration. Are they different for, say, Catalina to Manhattan, or did you keep the same type of schedule? What give us a bit of an idea of what you do with that side of things?

Grainne Moss: 25:14

So my schedule is pretty much the same. However, what I find is, with the warmer water and obviously Manhattan was warmer and then the other swim I did in 2023, back in May, was the Molokai. You know, Molokai to Oahu in Hawaii, and that's warm as well. So the key difference there is, you know, I do the drinks cold versus do the drinks warm. Yeah, and the other thing is, on the colder swims, I've been using leek and potato soup since 1985. And I continue to use homemade leek and potato soup. And I also use a New Zealand product called Pure, which is a, you know, sports drink, which I find excellent.

Grainne Moss: 26:06

But what I find on the colder swims, I do some soup, I also do the pure, but I do the pure warm. On the warmer swims, I tend not to do any of the soup and I just do the pure and I do it cold. I do what's relatively standard for a lot of open water swimmers first hour, nothing and then feed at an hour and then every quick feeds every half an hour. I probably, as I've gone through my career, ended up doing I do much more liquid than in the open days. I probably would have done a few more solids, but I just find I mean I'm really really happy with my feeding schedule. It really works for me and yeah, I'm really, you know, you just hone it and I don't really think I could make any improvements to it anymore, so I'm really comfortable with it.

Danielle Spurling: 26:58

But that's really good. That's good to hear. Do you do get seasick when you're out there or you don't suffer from that?

Grainne Moss: 27:04

I don't tend to. I haven't Now what I did do because in Hawaii the sea is very rolling and even when it's a good night it's still big, rolling seas because you don't have much land around. So I did use the Corsica Derm patches and you put a little patch behind your ear and a number of people had tried that. I think they're relatively new to the market. In some ways you can get them just over the counter and you put them on like for about 24 hours or like half a day beforehand. They do tend to come off, but yeah, I tried that before I swam. You know, again, this is the key thing about open water swimming Never do anything new in a big swim because some people find that with those patches they get quite dehydrated. I find that they worked fine with me Probably. I mean I think I have tried some of the seasickness medication, but again, I haven't tended to suffer. But I just thought on a couple of swims where we know that the sea is very rough, you know better to be prepared.

Danielle Spurling: 28:14

The torpedo swim talk newsletter is about to be relaunched and will include lots of free content for friends of the podcast. Drop us a line at torpedo swim talk at gmailcom to be included on our email list if you aren't already on it. And I know you just mentioned Hawaii and I know that when I been talking to Andy Donaldson a few weeks ago he said that was he's one of his tough swims and I just was interested in your perspective as to why that was such a tough swim. What did you sort of find with it? What were the challenges?

Grainne Moss: 28:48

Yeah, so actually I was the next person to swim after Andy. So that was quite funny and it was great actually because you know, I had a nice video conference with Andy and Jay and his support person. So, look, it's a long swim, it's a night swim, even when it's calm. It's not calm because you have rolling seas. What you have under the islands is quite an uneven seabed. So you get it's very, very deep at parts and it's quite shallow, so you get conflicting currents, unpredictable currents. Then you have, you know you're, there's quite a lot of wildlife. So we, you know, you've got your sharks and either you do some with a shark shader and then the other piece that now Andy did have. I had a better night than Andy in terms of weather conditions, but I got incredibly badly stung by a couple of fairly significant jellyfish which we which the jellyfish expert in Hawaii thought were potentially box jellyfish.

Danielle Spurling: 29:58

Oh, that's dangerous.

Grainne Moss: 30:00

Yeah, so I had a two hour spore and six hours I had got stung and it was not pleasant but it was. You know, I could work my way through it. But then as the sun rose, I got a sting on my foot and a sting on my arm and they were just absolutely next level. I nearly walked on water. So I think with the Hawaii swim you know it's there's a number of challenges and actually different people get different challenges, as probably if I hadn't have got those really bad jellyfish, I would have said you know it wasn't too bad. I mean, I did get really bad current near the end. So I had a beautiful straight line and I was making quite good progress. Probably you know was was on track for about a 14 hour finish, ended up being just over 15 hours because the last part was really wiggly and you know the teams that to me, get your head down. You need to know it's really hard for you. You know you just need to get your head down and fly through this. I think also, I mean I was.

Grainne Moss: 31:03

I think Andy was the 95th person to swim. I was the 96th and again, I think you know. So there is some data, but you think about, there's hundreds of people of some Catalina, there's hundreds of people that something was channeled, there's no died that, if I think back to when I first tried the North Channel in 1996, I would have been the sixth person to swim and you know, we just didn't know anything about it. We didn't know anything about the time. And it's interesting because the pilot who took me said to me, who actually then took me back in 2023 as well, when I successfully completed, he said look, grunewitt, a lot of people we got across that North Channel because of what we learned with you. So I mean, so I think with Hawaii, there's still that learning. I mean, 96 people is still quite a lot of data, but it's not and you know there could be more and and yeah, so I think, I think I mean there's no died. It's very challenging on a range of fronts.

Danielle Spurling: 31:59

How did you, how did you psychologically work through that pain? Because I would have stopped, I would have stopped. How did you get like? What did you say to yourself?

Grainne Moss: 32:09

Well, I think there's a couple of things. One was I'm never coming back here, so I might as well keep going.

Danielle Spurling: 32:17

Yes, I see that.

Grainne Moss: 32:19

I'm not putting myself through this again. So let's see if I can push, push through what I did have to do with with those two stings in particular, because they were very different and I have been stung by many, many jellyfish my nickname in Wellington is like the jellyfish magnet. So yeah, they were. I actually had to kind of monitor myself because I thought I could feel a level of swelling, I could feel a level of, I could actually feel the poison kind of coursing around my body in a way that I've never felt with another jellyfish sting. So I thought, right, so the first thing was kind of monitor, monitor, monitor and dig deep, dig, dig, dig, dig deep. Can you, can you keep going? So I think, yeah, the fact was, I'm never coming back to try this again.

Grainne Moss: 33:11

And then the other piece was, you know, I was it's all about trying to see it as relative pain. I mean, the pain will pass at some point. It will pass. And I was raising money for children's charity that supports young people who have suffered significant loss and grief, you know, and I kind of thought actually, look, this pain will pass, but for the people I'm raising money for, you know, their pain will potentially go for a very long time. So try to get it in perspective.

Grainne Moss: 33:42

Yeah, so just, you know, kind of keep your head down and just keep thinking about well, can I go for another five minutes? Can I go for another five? Can I last for the next fade? Can I last for the next fade? Don't make any decisions yet, just keep swimming. Can I go to the next fade? So yeah, yeah, I mean the recovery was terrible. I have to say I had two days where I didn't sleep a wink because the pee in was awful. I mean, I probably didn't sleep well for about a week actually after that swim. But look, at the end of the day you know the pain has gone and you know you have the swim and the memory of the swim and yeah, that's exciting.

Danielle Spurling: 34:18

Yep the achievements in the book. That's right.

Grainne Moss: 34:21

Yeah, it is, it is, it is.

Danielle Spurling: 34:24

If my maths is correct, you've done six of the seven ocean sevens. Is that correct?

Grainne Moss: 34:28

No, actually I've only done five. So I haven't done Gibraltar, because Gibraltar is quite hard to get a spot for. And then I haven't done Japan, which Japan has had quite a lot of controversy in recent times. So yeah, yeah, so, yeah, so yeah. And look, I never said I had to do the ocean seven. Really, I mean when I swam the English Channel in 1987, there was no such thing as the ocean seven. And I mean what I love is just. I mean I quite like the triple crime thing. I've really enjoyed that because I've now got three of those. I've got the Irish, the New Zealand and then the Catalina, Manhattan and English Channel. So, but, look, you know, there's so many swimmers now. And I mean I do think if I ever do end up doing the ocean seven, I'll probably be the person that it took the longest, which is fun. Andy was the shortest, I can be the longest, Maybe.

Danielle Spurling: 35:23

Have you put your name down for Gibraltar?

Grainne Moss: 35:25

Yeah, I have, I have, yeah, and I would really like to do that swim. Yeah, and everybody who does it says it's a lovely swim you know, but it's quite. A friend of mine was over there recently and hasn't got away, you know, because it can be quite windy there. So, and look, it's very popular because it's quite short compared to the rest of the ocean. Seven and I look pretty exciting swimming from Spain to Africa, you know, I mean that sounds pretty cool.

Danielle Spurling: 35:51

Yeah, how many Ks that swim? I think something there was somewhere between 13 and 16. So probably manageable for a lot more people.

Grainne Moss: 35:58

Yes, yeah, and also what they do there is they they have quite a lot of people swim it in wetsuits so that you know they've got people doing wetsuit swims and then people doing you know kind of ocean swim and ocean swims as well. Yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 36:13

Yeah, yeah, I'm not sure what they're going to do about that swim in Japan, because it sounds like the ocean nav guys are not going to take any people outside of Japan, so it was just Andy's pilot who had the only successful crossing this year.

Grainne Moss: 36:29

Yeah, yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 36:31

So I'm not sure what they're going to do, but they need to do something, because if it's part of the ocean seven, it's got to be able to be completed by people, otherwise they're going to have to find another swim.

Grainne Moss: 36:40

Yeah. So there has been quite a lot of discussion on by a number of the kind of open water swimming groups and you know some people are talking about when maybe make it the oceans tan and have you know the six and then you choose another four, or, and look, I think you know, again we'll see how things pan out in Japan. Because you know the thing that you learn is nothing ever today to see. And you know they've had a really bad season, there's no doubt about it, and there does seem to have been something going on with tides and currents, and you know also the Coast Guard there has got some new rules, so there's not as much night swimming. But you know things, things could change and again, you know, maybe, maybe there will be another swim, and you know, just just wait and see.

Grainne Moss: 37:27

But for me it's about, look, enjoying all of the swims and all of them are special because you get to meet fabulous people and have adventures, and have adventures with your family and have adventures with your friends. And you know even, you know, in Hawaii I had, you know, the moon was out, the stars were out, it was just. You know, you kind of sit there and think Gors, how did I end up here? Isn't this amazing? So, you know, I don't mind what happens with the Japan swim. I mean, I think the other piece is is we have to make sure that all these swims are safe. And you know, I do think something must have happened with the tides and the currents, because the times that people are doing are not nearly as fast as they were in the past. And yeah, you know, the important thing is is to keep the sport safe.

Danielle Spurling: 38:19

And you mentioned that your family came along to the American trip. Are they big supporters of your open?

Grainne Moss: 38:25

water swimming. Oh, huge, absolutely huge. And I think I think you know the kids think, oh, my mother's mad and whatever. But no, I mean, they've been crew and yeah, no, they've been wonderful, they've been wonderful. So my husband, he was on my Cook Street swim and my English Channel swim, and then Catalina and then a couple of my kids Well, all of the kids were on the Catalina and then one of my kids has been on Fouvo, north Channel, fastnet, hawaii, catalina and Manhattan.

Danielle Spurling: 38:54

Wow, that's amazing, isn't it? That's fantastic. Just back to the training you do do you add in any strength work, or is it all swimming in the pool and in the ocean?

Grainne Moss: 39:06

So what I find with myself, look, I'm, you know, a busy, busy lady with, you know, kids and the job and stuff. So, look, I would love to be able to be doing everything, but I can't. So I think the key things for me are the pool and then flexibility. So, and also because I'm not the youngest I'm 53, now I come in 54. And you know, I find that if I don't do the flexibility, that's the thing that's more important for me. If I then had time, I would then do strength work. But what I find is each season, that's kind of like.

Grainne Moss: 39:37

First of all, when I got back into Big Open Water Swimming in 2021, after having my last big ocean swim was the Cook Street in 2001. I find the first thing I had to get right was my training and then tweak that. Then it was getting the stretching right, then it was kind of getting the diet right. So I think I've got those three things right. I think you know then I could look at what I can add. But I also just need to be realistic about you know I'm working full time. I'm, you know, you know, got a family, so you know you can't do everything, yeah, yeah. So it's what you know that your body needs. And, as I say, I'd love to be doing some more strength work, but I can't sacrifice. I'm really quite stiff. So if I've got any extra time, I need to be doing the stretching.

Danielle Spurling: 40:29

Yeah, and as we age, we get stiffer. So it really is important, isn't it? I feel like I've always. I was always very flexible as an age group swimmer, but as you know you get older, I feel I'm stiffening up everywhere. So, yeah, it's a battle, I understand.

Grainne Moss: 40:45

Well, I was never flexible. As an age group swimmer, I was always the least flexible, so I've had enough of that for a long time.

Danielle Spurling: 40:55

Look, I'd like to finish every interview with some deep dive questions about your swimming, just to give us a little bit of a snapshot, and people love to hear a little bit about this. So what's your favorite open water swimming location that you've ever swum in, or can be anywhere around the world?

Grainne Moss: 41:09

So look, I do think the two for me are probably the Fastenet Swim and also Manhattan. So I think Fastenet because I'm Irish, because of the history of it being out in the Atlantic, it was just amazing. And then Manhattan because that was just a really special swim with, you know, special people and, you know, in a really special place.

Danielle Spurling: 41:32

Sounds nice. So what is your pre-meal snack that you have or not snack, but your pre-meal dish that you have before a big swim.

Grainne Moss: 41:43

Yeah, to be honest, that has varied, so it tends to either be some kind of like maybe chicken and vegetables and some potatoes, or kind of a pasta dish I have been finding the kind of in the old days I would have gone more kind of the macaroni, you know, cheesy, vegany, beansy type, but I do kind of find the chicken, the salad and the potatoes is probably agreeing with me more than I get older.

Danielle Spurling: 42:15

Yes, I understand what's your favorite song to psych yourself up for one of these big swims.

Grainne Moss: 42:21

Well, actually the song I sing a lot in the water is actually American Pie by John McLean, and I've been singing it for years and I think what happens is I try to remember the verses and the right order and the words and then I find I forget and then I come back to you know the start again. So that's one of my go-to songs in the water, yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 42:43

That's a good one. It's long too, so we'll keep you going for a while.

Grainne Moss: 42:46

Yeah, particularly when you forget and then you have to go back to the start. Yes, exactly.

Danielle Spurling: 42:51

And what's your favorite freestyle training set that you do in the pool? Well, daytime's the stripper yeah, we do it, we do it Great.

Grainne Moss: 43:00

I like a good Hungarian rep. So you do maybe 10, 100, 5, 200, then 2 or 3, 250s and then the 500, and then you come back down the triangle. So it's that pyramid. We call them Hungarian reps, but some people might call them the pyramid. But yeah, I like a good pyramid.

Danielle Spurling: 43:18

And what's your rest interval on those? How much rest are you getting in between each repeat?

Grainne Moss: 43:23

Yeah, I mean on the 100 is probably not a lot. It's about a steady, relatively fast piece but keeping it up. So 10, well, probably about 15 seconds on 100 and then a bit more, maybe 20, 25 on the 200. Yeah, just.

Danielle Spurling: 43:40

Yeah, and the pace was sort of like 80, 85% or a little.

Grainne Moss: 43:45

Yeah, yeah, yeah, 80, 80%, yeah, perfect.

Danielle Spurling: 43:48

Yeah, that's a good set to keep you going. Last question might be a little bit controversial, so I'm happy if you pass on it. Diane and I had just had a film come out on Netflix and it's a little bit controversial. What are your thoughts on her Cuban crossing and the film coming out?

Grainne Moss: 44:07

Well, again, it's really interesting because I didn't know much about it at all until recently and then it's obviously kind of hit the media and the discussions and obviously lots of people have kind of done investigations or not.

Grainne Moss: 44:22

I think what's probably for me it's not about that swim per se, but I think some of the other things that I have read in terms of potentially what worries me is the the open water swimming community has usually supported each other and there are some examples of where potentially Diana didn't support other swimmers or claimed to be the first around Manhattan when they weren't in that sort of stuff, and probably that's what worries me more, because I just think open water swimming is really special, really special community and we want to keep it that way, where everybody's a winner. Actually Everybody's a winner in different ways and we just need to continue to nurture that, because I think it's a relatively unique sport for that and I would hate to see that being lost. So hopefully and I do think the film may well bring more people to open water swimming, which would be a good thing, but let's hope it brings people that want to continue that support to each other and lifting everybody up rather than bringing anybody down.

Danielle Spurling: 45:27

Yeah, look, I think, reading a lot of those open water groups that I'm in as well, I think the overriding thing is that people want to keep it true and honest and supportive, and I think you've nailed that on the head there with that answer. But it is a supportive community and you're obviously a very passionate member of that community, so that's great.

Danielle Spurling: 45:49

Thank you so much for joining us today on the podcast. It's been lovely hearing about all your open water swims and best wishes for hopefully getting to Gibraltar soon and any other swims that you've got coming up.

Grainne Moss: 46:02

Yeah, thanks very much. I'll need to think about what happens next year. I've been quite enjoying having a wee rest.

Danielle Spurling: 46:07

I bet you have. It's been such a busy year.

Grainne Moss: 46:12

Yeah, and you do need that rest. I think that's really important prior to trailing. Rest is needed. So, yeah, it would be good. Well, thanks very much for having me, and I really enjoyed it. Thanks, danielle.

Danielle Spurling: 46:23

Thank you very much. Okay, take care, bye, bye. Thank you, mark. Thanks for listening in to today's podcast with Gronja. If you'd like to know more about her journey, you can check out her latest blog on our website at wwwtorpedoswimtalkcom. Today's episode was brought to you by Amanzi Swimwear and the Magic 5 Custom Swimgoggles. Use Torpedo SwimTalk at checkout for a 15% discount at themagic5.com. Until next time, happy swimming and bye for now.