Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast with Peter Plavec - Journey in Ice and Open Water Swimming

Ice and Marathon Swimmer Peter Plavec joined us on today's episode of Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast.  As the mercury dips, Peter dives into the crystal-clear world of ice swimming. Influenced by some legends of ice swimming, he details the rigorous training needed to tackle the cold head-on, while keeping an eye on the shifting Vienna climate and its impact on his seasonal transitions. Our conversation spans the globe, from the wintry embrace of the Danube to the historic waters of Lake Bled, Slovenia, where competitors race in man made pools in the lake.

Feel the shivers as Peter recalls competing at the Ice Swimming World Championships, where mental fortitude and minimal gear define the sport. He offers sage advice for newcomers, stressing the importance of gradual immersion into the cold, and the sweet warmth of tea for recovery. Balancing pool and open water sessions, Peter outlines how he tweaks his training with each temperature change, ensuring peak performance whether he's facing the icy challenge or the marathon stretch.

Away from the frost and in the spirit of camaraderie, we get a rare glimpse into the life of an athlete whose discipline shines through in his swimming. The swimming scene in Austria comes to life as Peter shares his favourite spots, insider training tips, and the harmonious blend of safety and community that propels him through the water.

Join us for this inspiring episode and discover what it takes to not just endure, but to conquer the waters that both chill the bones and ignite the soul.

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Transcript

Danielle Spurling: 0:00

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Danielle Spurling: 1:03

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. On today's episode, we meet a truly extraordinary guest, open water and ice swimmer extraordinaire, Peter Plavec. Situated in Vienna, peter explores the icy lakes and rivers all around Europe and he shares with us how he deals with those ultra cold temperatures and emerges not just surviving but thriving. We cover how to acclimatise and train for swimming in extreme temperatures and also chat about the ice swimming world championships which Peter has meddled at. Let's hear from Peter now. Hi, Peter, welcome to the podcast.

Peter Plavec: 2:00

Hi Danielle, thank you.

Danielle Spurling: 2:02

Yeah, it's great to have you here. What's the weather like in Vienna today?

Peter Plavec: 2:07

Oh, you know it's a bit. It's not the nicest weather at the moment. We have winter time, so it's like maybe plus five degrees Celsius, quite cold.

Danielle Spurling: 2:20

Yes, quite cold Is there lots of snow around already.

Peter Plavec: 2:24

We had a lot of snow, but the last few days there was some plus degrees and it melted already again. So it's gone. No more snow at the moment here in Vienna, but in the other parts of Austria there is a lot of snow.

Danielle Spurling: 2:37

Yes, and is there a white Christmas predicted for you? Do you know that yet?

Peter Plavec: 2:43

No, it is not. No, I was watching the news today in the morning and the weather forecast and it looks like there will be no white Christmas now, and I think the last time we had last Christmas was like 15 years ago or something like that. Oh, really.

Danielle Spurling: 2:58

Okay, yeah, many, many years ago I spent a Christmas in Stuben, I skied there for a week and we spent a white Christmas. It was a magical, beautiful place of the part of the world to live in. Yeah, yeah. How many swims have you managed this week?

Peter Plavec: 3:17

This week two only because Monday Tuesday, I was not feeling very well, so I just started yesterday with two swims already on one day. Yeah, the first two days were off, yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 3:30

Yeah, okay. Well, let's dive deep into your swimming. You swim both over water marathon swimming and ice swimming, and I was just wondering if you could share with us a little bit about how you got involved in both of those areas.

Peter Plavec: 3:43

Yeah, yeah, that's true. I started like six or seven years ago so not so long time ago and I met a friend in Vienna. He's called Josef Kerbel. He's one of the most famous ice swimmers here in Austria and also maybe in the world. So I met him and he showed me the way, because I was like I was doing some cold exposure. You know, I was just going into the cold water for some health benefits and he showed me that it's possible not only go into the water but also to swim, and I found it as an interesting sport. So I started to do this ice swimming and the next step was to do the marathon swimming. You know, because if you are swimming the whole winter time and you are swimming in the open waters and then if you continue in the summer and swim longer and longer distances, so somehow these two sports belong together.

Peter Plavec: 4:44

So you sort of you do the ice swimming, in winter obviously, and then sort of moving to the ice swimming in winter, yeah, and in the summer it's too warm here, so there's not really a possibility to do some ice swimming, so that's why I just train the long distances in the summer.

Danielle Spurling: 5:01

And so where do you find places to do your ice swimming around Vienna?

Peter Plavec: 5:05

Where are your sort of locations In Vienna we have a very good possibilities to do it. You know, we have the Danube. That's the biggest river and it has small parts where the water is not moving and it is almost like a lake, you know. So the water is very clear, very nice, and there's always a chance to go in and have a nice swim.

Danielle Spurling: 5:28

Is there any temperature that you won't go in?

Peter Plavec: 5:32

No, there's not. I'm normally going until zero degrees, and below zero degrees is ice. So there's no more chance to go in, maybe only if you cut the hole and sit inside for a few minutes, but there's no chance to swim.

Danielle Spurling: 5:48

So how do you sort of acclimatise yourself to be able to swim at that low temperature, and how long can you sort of last in something like one degrees?

Peter Plavec: 6:00

So I try to acclimatise all year long so I'm not wearing so much clothes. Also, in the wintertime I'm trying to have some light clothes only and not big jackets or things like this. And, yeah, that helps me to work with this cold. And when I started I was going only for short distances. You know, I started maybe with 50 metres and then I was swimming it a few weeks and then I did 100 and 200 and then I worked up to more and more and more and now I'm doing the longest possible distances. So it's in the race. It is the 1000 metre race. That's the longest race which is done worldwide. And the longest which I did was the I smile. That means 1600, 9 metres in water under 5 degrees Celsius, and I was not a really good swimmer that time when I did it, so it took me 34 minutes. So it was a tough one.

Danielle Spurling: 7:06

And is there any special equipment that you need by swimming?

Peter Plavec: 7:10

Not really. You know, you need just a cab, goggles and speedos and maybe earplugs or a boy to be seen in the sea or in the lake, but that's it. You don't really need nothing. You just need to go in and swim.

Danielle Spurling: 7:26

Yeah, so obviously, when you do your races which I want to ask you a bit about in a moment that's in speedos, but do you do your training and ice swimming in a wetsuit or you go bathers all year?

Peter Plavec: 7:37

No, I never tried the wetsuit Right.

Danielle Spurling: 7:39

Okay.

Peter Plavec: 7:41

I don't really know how it feels, because I never had one, so I'm wearing only speedos or some race jammers in the race, but that's it.

Danielle Spurling: 7:49

Yeah, okay. And do you? Do you adapt your swimming technique depending on the cold? Like, do you have to adapt your breathing pattern or the way you move your arms in the water? How does, how does your?

Peter Plavec: 8:03

technique? Sort of not really. You know, I'm training at the moment seven times a week. From this are five in a pool and two outside in the lake or in the sea, and I try to swim in the pool as nice as possible, so with a great technique, and then I can transfer it to the cold water as well, you know, because in the cold you don't really feel your hands and your feet and the technique is not so good. And if you are, if you are trying to swim as perfect as possible in the pool, then you can memorize this good technique and transfer it to the cold water also.

Danielle Spurling: 8:41

And you've sort of raced in a few ice swimming world championships. Can you tell us where they're held and what kind of pool that is in?

Peter Plavec: 8:51

Yeah, I raised I think I raised like three years ago the first time in the in the winter swimming world championship in Lake Bled in Slovenia. It was in a beautiful lake with a beautiful view and the small island with the church on it and everything everywhere snow, so amazing conditions, yeah. And that was my first big race and I was like fourth or fifth and seventh, so it was not not the the best three and I got motivated there that that I want to win, you know, because I saw there's the chance. I need to work harder and swim more and more. So I tried one year later the ice swimming world championship in Poland, in Glogo, and I won the 500 meter in my age group and I got second on the 1000 meter and third on the 250 meter or something like this. Yeah so, and then I knew that this sport is really for me and I just need more and more and more because I, because I love the training part, but I love the racing as well. You know this whole atmosphere and everything.

Peter Plavec: 10:02

Yeah so, and then last year I went again to a big race. That was the winter swimming world championship. It was again in Lake Bled in Slovenia and I won the 1000 meter category in my age group. So that was my goal, you know, to win the 1000 meters, the longest distance, and I had it. Yeah, so it was. It was a really great feeling. And this year, in 2020, so in February and March, we will have two big races again that will be one will be the European ice swimming championship in Romania, and one month later there will be a winter swimming world championship in Estonia, in Tallinn, which will be really really cold.

Danielle Spurling: 10:50

Do they set up a pool in, say, in Lake Bled? So it's, they've got lane ropes and walls that you turn at.

Peter Plavec: 10:58

Yeah, yeah, they set up a pool in the lake and the shorter distances will be held in this, in this pool or where where held in this pool, and the longer ones were in open waters. So there was two or three boys and we were swimming the circles.

Danielle Spurling: 11:15

And so do you dive in and do tumble turns as well in the race.

Peter Plavec: 11:20

No, no, no, no, no, no. You can do only open turn because of the safety. Yeah, so you are swimming in a regular pool, but the rules are very similar to Finna rules, but with small changes, you know so. So, no, there is, the start is from the water. So no jump and no tumble turn, but only open turn.

Danielle Spurling: 11:42

Yeah, Right Any other, any other rule changes that are different.

Peter Plavec: 11:47

I don't think so. These two are the most important. If yes, then maybe something smaller, right? I don't know.

Danielle Spurling: 11:54

And is it just freestyle, or do they do all the strokes as well?

Peter Plavec: 11:57

No, they do all the strokes, yeah, the most of it. So the longer distances, for sure, only freestyle, but the shorter ones there is also butterfly, breaststroke, backstroke, everything, yeah, wow.

Danielle Spurling: 12:09

That's amazing. I mean, coming from Australia, we don't have ice swimming here, so it's really intriguing to learn all about it, because it seems to be very, very big in Europe.

Peter Plavec: 12:19

Yeah, it is, it is. Yeah, it has a big history, you know. And yeah, you know it's a sport. Sport is normally healthy, you know, like swimming is very healthy, Everybody knows. But ice swimming is one step more, you know, because of the cold exposure it is more healthy than the regular sport, you know.

Danielle Spurling: 12:37

Yeah, for sure, do you sort of have, do you have to have any sort of special mental strategies that you sort of employ to cope with that kind of cold water and the cold water?

Peter Plavec: 12:49

racing. I think you have to, but it's, you know, when you start to swim in ice water, you will be automatically stronger mentally. You know, because it's a kind of pain If you go to the very, very cold water. It's a kind of pain and you need to be mentally strong to accept this pain. You know, and you are doing it for longer and longer. Longer times you can accept it, better and better and after a while it will be easier. Yeah, so if it's good, if you are already mentally strong, but if you are not, you will be.

Danielle Spurling: 13:25

Yes, yeah for sure. And someone coming to ice swimming for the first time. What sort of tips could you give them that they could use to get better at it?

Peter Plavec: 13:37

Okay. So my most important tip is to bring some warm tea, you know, because if you come out of the water, every, every small help is needed, yeah, but you just need to have the equipment, you know, like the towel, some jacket and, and yeah, speed or scuggles and you just go in. For the first time is maybe enough, just two or three minutes just to stay in the cold, accept it and to feel this pain, and after that to go out to drink some tea, warm up and enjoy the positive feelings after it. And then the next time you can start to swim a little bit, maybe first time only breaststroke with that, with head up, so not putting your face into the cold water. And then, if it also feels good and everything you can do, it maybe two, three times and then maybe start to do a shorter distance with freestyle.

Danielle Spurling: 14:35

Yeah, good advice.

Peter Plavec: 14:37

Very, it is very important to start it slow for a shorter time and then slowly, slowly, do more and more and more. You know it's not good to jump in and try to do 500 meter at the first time because maybe you can't do it and it can be too risky, and yeah. So start slowly, that's the most important.

Danielle Spurling: 14:57

Yeah, great advice. And can you give us a bit of an insight into a typical training week? I know you. This week you felt a little bit sick, but normally what does it look like? How often do you train? Who do you train?

Peter Plavec: 15:09

with. Yeah, so, how I said, I trained seven times a week. Yeah, there is one day off, so I'm splitting these seven swims to six days. One day is free and yeah, so I go two times to swim outside in the cold water and five times in the pool, and my normal pool sessions are somewhere between 3 and 5k per session and outside in the lake. It depends on the season. So in the summertime I go for longer swims outside, somewhere maybe between 3 and 10k per session, and in the wintertime always depends from the water temperature. So the colder the water is, the shorter the distance. So I was like yesterday I did 650 meters in the cold water and then I had two hours break and then I did a 3k session in the pool.

Danielle Spurling: 16:12

OK, oh, that's good. Yeah, do you swim with other people or by yourself?

Peter Plavec: 16:18

If I'm going to swim outside, I always swim with some friends, because of the safety is always better not to do it alone. You can never know what can happen, you don't feel well or something, and it's also more funny to swim with somebody else in the open water. So I do it always with some other people two or three guys joining me and we go together and in the pool. I'm going once per week with a squad and the other days on my own.

Danielle Spurling: 16:48

Right and the days that you work alone. Do you have a coach set those programs or you make them up yourself? You follow a training plan.

Peter Plavec: 16:57

I'm following a training plan made by a coach.

Danielle Spurling: 16:59

yeah, and so how big is the squad that you train with?

Peter Plavec: 17:03

The squad that's a triathlon squad, so the other guys they're also cycling and running and everything, but I am doing just the swimming part with them and we are like between 6 and 10, it depends.

Danielle Spurling: 17:19

And so what is a typical pool training session look like for you?

Peter Plavec: 17:25

I'm doing a lot of basic endurance because I'm training for the longer distances. So I'm training a lot in zone two, but there are also some sprints and some medley too. So it's quite mixed up and, depending on the season, where I am.

Danielle Spurling: 17:43

Yeah, sounds good. And do you use much equipment in the water? You begin to kick and pull and fins, snorkels, things like that.

Peter Plavec: 17:51

Yes, yes, how I said, I just started seven years ago. So I was never a swimmer as a child. I could swim, but I was not doing it as a sport or training it, so I was just swimming for fun. And yes, I'm doing a lot of equipment because I'm working a lot on my technique and I think there's no chance to improve the technique without equipment or it's very hard and takes a long time. So of course, I'm doing a lot of things with fins, paddles, snorkels, so a lot of technical swims.

Danielle Spurling: 18:32

And what are some of the technical things that you're working on improving?

Peter Plavec: 18:37

At the time I'm working mostly on the high elbow catch, so I'm doing some drills with tennis balls and holding the paddle in my hand because of the start of the catch. So I think that's the biggest issue at the moment the high elbow catch.

Danielle Spurling: 18:57

What sort of do you when you're training by yourself? How do you keep the motivation at a high level that you're training enough to get training gains or physical gains from that workout?

Peter Plavec: 19:11

I think the motivation is not the most important part for me. I'm more a fan of consistency. So it's like some days I'm more motivated, some days less. But I know my goal, I know when my next race is and what I would like to achieve, and I know that I just need to go consistently train To do my six to seven trainings per week. It can be. Some of them will be better, some of them will be less good, because I'm working full-time. Sometimes I'm going to swim before the work, sometimes after the work, sometimes on my three days. So the motivation is not always there, but I'm trying to be consistent. So I have my plan. I just go in the pool, I start to swim and sometimes it feels great and sometimes it doesn't feel so good, but I just want to stay consistent always.

Danielle Spurling: 20:13

Yeah, look, I think that's. The key to improving is consistency, and I think exactly what you say is correct.

Peter Plavec: 20:20

Yeah, that's really good. A lot of people find it hard to always go to the pool and train. I love trainings. I have the plan what I should do. I know already if it will be hard or not, but it doesn't matter. I just go in because I like to do it. I like every stroke. That's my hobby, so yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 20:44

Yeah, I'm the same. I think the hardest part is actually getting to the pool, but once you're there and you're training, I think that just goes.

Peter Plavec: 20:53

The hardest part is to go out of the home. Yeah, for sure, and we'll be everything good.

Danielle Spurling: 21:01

What do you do in your professional life?

Peter Plavec: 21:04

I am working as a FMB supervisor so it is kind of a head waiter in a five-star hotel here in Vienna.

Danielle Spurling: 21:14

Oh, ok, yeah, so do you have to work shift? Work with that.

Peter Plavec: 21:18

Yeah, shift work, yeah. So that's five days a week, but sometimes working in the morning and sometimes in the evening.

Danielle Spurling: 21:25

So that's tough fitting in your training around it because you have to change the times each week with shift work.

Peter Plavec: 21:30

Yes, yes, I'm changing the times always.

Danielle Spurling: 21:32

Yeah, that's good, and so, as you mentioned, when you're not ice swimming or when you're coming into your summer there, which you're just coming out of in the Northern Hemisphere, you're doing open water swimming. So you've got a little bit of time before that comes about for next summer. What races have you got coming up that you're aiming for in the open water marathon swimming scene?

Peter Plavec: 21:55

You know it's quite hard. I'm just planning the summer season now. At the moment I there was a plan of swimming in November this year. So, like one month ago, I wanted to swim the Sea of Galilee in Israel, but because of the situation there, it's not possible to travel to Israel, so we just needed to cancel it and at the moment I'm thinking of if I should try to reschedule it for the next year or should I book another different swim. Yeah, so at the moment I'm just I'm just searching what to do. Yeah, I have a. I have a few possibilities for the next year, but I'm not sure what which I will choose. Yeah, I was thinking also about Lake Tahoe, you know in.

Peter Plavec: 22:49

California.

Danielle Spurling: 22:50

Yeah.

Peter Plavec: 22:50

Yeah, that's also one chance, because there would be a swim window free and there will be a possibility to swim it. So I'm just discussing it at the moment.

Danielle Spurling: 22:59

Yes, yeah, I've actually had one of the boat captains that does that Lake Tahoe swim on the podcast and she talked a lot about that. So, yeah, if you get a chance, go back and have a listen to that, because she had lots of really good advice for Lake Tahoe.

Peter Plavec: 23:14

Was that Sylvia?

Danielle Spurling: 23:15

Yeah, Sylvia.

Peter Plavec: 23:15

Yeah, yeah, okay, I know.

Danielle Spurling: 23:17

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Peter Plavec: 23:18

Yeah, I think I heard that podcast I think I listened to you.

Danielle Spurling: 23:21

Yeah, okay, yeah, she's really experienced it like Tahoe. Yeah.

Peter Plavec: 23:25

Yes, yeah, I was swimming All the cut runs with their company, right.

Danielle Spurling: 23:30

Okay, yeah, how long is the like the Galileo?

Peter Plavec: 23:36

The Galileo was 21 kilometers, so not really long, but there are some currents so it's not really the lightest swim yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 23:48

And would you look at doing something longer than that, like the English Channel or something like that? Is something that in your sights?

Peter Plavec: 23:56

I did. I did the North Channel in a two way relay, so we did it there and back. For guys. We was the first four person relay who did the North Channel. It was, it was hard, it was really hard and, yeah, I'm thinking to do something like this, but but somehow my dream would be to swim something which was never swum before. Okay, yeah, so I'm trying to find a place where nobody swum before me the length of a lake or some crossing or something like this. Yeah, so that should be my dream to do.

Danielle Spurling: 24:40

Yes, and obviously you can't tell us that because it's a secret. Yes, someone else is discovering it.

Peter Plavec: 24:44

Someone else will do it, maybe earlier than me, yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 24:48

Yeah, I know I've had a few open waters swimmers come on and say similar things actually. And there's Andy Donaldson who just did the Ocean Seven this year. He's, he's, I think he's got some of those swims underway, but he can't mention them at the moment Because other people might jump on board.

Peter Plavec: 25:08

And not also other people. It's not only because of the other people, but also, you know, the world is big, you know there are a lot of places to swim and you need to discuss with, with the associations, with both captains, and everything. So I have always like 10 plans and and some of them will work, some not. You know, there's the weather also, which is playing a big role in marathon swimming. So, yeah, it's hard, to hard to plan.

Danielle Spurling: 25:38

Yeah, and look what you've mentioned. They're all sort of soul-worshipping. Are there any open water races that you would like to include over the next year or two?

Peter Plavec: 25:48

Yeah, there is. Yeah, I would like to swim Lake Zurich. Where's?

Danielle Spurling: 25:52

that Switzerland.

Peter Plavec: 25:54

That's a lake 27 kilometers long and, yeah, it is a beautiful swim and it is also a race. So I would like to, but there have very limited starting places. So I'm trying already for two years to swim, wow, and now maybe, yeah, maybe this year there will be a chance to do it. We will see, but for sure I will do some local races here in Austria, like 10K and 14K and everything to be to be prepared for something bigger.

Danielle Spurling: 26:29

And how many? How many starters do they take for the races? That's learned.

Peter Plavec: 26:33

Yeah, I think they take only 20 or 25 starters. They are all guided by a boat and yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 26:42

No, okay, well, fingers crossed that you get to do that one, because that would sound lovely. The lakes in Switzerland are absolutely beautiful, aren't they?

Peter Plavec: 26:50

Yes, yes, they are.

Danielle Spurling: 26:52

They're that beautiful sort of blue.

Peter Plavec: 26:55

Yeah, like something. Blue green water, yeah, and very clear. You can almost drink it while swimming there.

Danielle Spurling: 27:02

Yes, stunning. What's the water quality like in Austria?

Peter Plavec: 27:07

It's perfect. You know, here in Vienna, where I'm training, you can see all the fishes and everything. It's really really clear. And in the wintertime it's much more clear than in the summertime because the small boats are not moving, the water is more calm and in the wintertime it's really very, very nice. But in the summer also and there are a lot of beautiful lakes in Austria in the mountains there is also very nice to swim. I swam already a few of them the length of them, like Fuscialse or Atterse. There are a lot of them and they have also very high water quality. So it's great to swim here and train.

Danielle Spurling: 27:50

Yes, are they only sea creatures in those lakes fish, or is there other things as well?

Peter Plavec: 27:57

Not really only fish, only fish, yes, yes, because in Australia, we obviously have many, many sharks.

Danielle Spurling: 28:06

Yeah, we're not, so you're very lucky that that's the case. Yes, and what's it like being part of such a wonderful global swimming community? You have quite a big presence on social media and a lot of followers. Have you connected with people around the world because of that?

Peter Plavec: 28:29

Yeah, with a lot of them. Yeah, so I started to do this social media thing a few years ago when I was racing and my wife told me it would be maybe a good idea to share with the world what crazy thing I'm doing. So I started to post every day and it was maybe like three or three and a half years ago and from that time I'm doing it every day and I'm trying to share with other people what I'm doing and to motivate them to do it as well. And it helped me a lot to connect with other swimmers and when I traveled for some swims I always, in every part of the world, I found somebody and he helped me to prepare for that swim or showed me the best parts of the country where I was. And I'm also welcoming other swimmers if they are coming from the world to Vienna or Austria just to contact me and I can help them out a little bit. So it's really a big help to be connected with other people and to have new friends because of this.

Danielle Spurling: 29:42

Yeah, that's fantastic. Do you do all of that social media yourself?

Peter Plavec: 29:48

Yes, I'm doing it myself. The videos, the most of the videos, are made by my wife, so she's guiding me with a boat or she's doing a lot of videos about me. But yeah, I'm posting everything there.

Danielle Spurling: 30:05

Yeah, fantastic. Well, that's nice that she comes along for those open water swims with you.

Peter Plavec: 30:10

Yeah, she's coming to the most important races, or sometimes to trainings too, and she's doing it.

Danielle Spurling: 30:17

Yeah, is she a swimmer as well?

Peter Plavec: 30:20

No, she's not. No, she's a runner.

Danielle Spurling: 30:23

Oh, okay.

Peter Plavec: 30:23

Yeah, she loves to run.

Danielle Spurling: 30:25

So do you guys support her when she does her running races?

Peter Plavec: 30:29

Yeah, I supported her with her first marathon Fantastic. And yeah, it's hard to do more support if I need to do my own trainings and our work is different, so she's working in other times than me and then she needs to train and I need to train. So we try to deal somehow with this.

Danielle Spurling: 30:53

Sounds like a really busy life that you've got there. Yeah, it is. And what's the swimming scene like in Austria? Are there a lot of swimmers and a lot of ice swimmers?

Peter Plavec: 31:04

There are not really a lot of swimmers. Austria is more famous for skiing and some winter sports ski jump and things like this. Not really much swimmers and also not so much ice swimmers. But the community is getting bigger and bigger every year. So it's like now if there's a race in Austria, we are maybe somewhere between 80 and 100 swimmers at the race. So it's not a big community, but the positive thing is it's growing from year to year, always more and more people doing it.

Danielle Spurling: 31:43

And is there many races on the schedule over the winter period in Austria?

Peter Plavec: 31:48

Here in Austria we have only two races per winter season, but I'm coming from Slovakia. It's the next country next to Austria and there is a much bigger race season. They have like seven or eight races in the season. So I'm trying to combine these two. So I'm taking part of these two Austrian races and if I have time I go over to Slovakia and I race there too.

Danielle Spurling: 32:17

Fantastic. Yeah, that sounds like a really good idea and you're so close.

Peter Plavec: 32:22

Yeah, it's really close. It's like one hour by car or something Amazing.

Danielle Spurling: 32:28

That's so good, Peter, everyone that comes on the podcast. I like to ask them five deep dive questions, which gives us a bit of a snapshot about this swimming. So just give me the first answer that pops into your mind what's the favorite pool that you've ever swumming?

Peter Plavec: 32:43

Budapest. It was in Budapest. Yeah, the Arianna. It's a new beautiful pool, 50 meters, but they can split it to two times 25. And I think that's the most beautiful pool. It was like two or three weeks when I was for the first time there and I love it.

Danielle Spurling: 33:02

Sounds beautiful. And what about your favorite open water swimming location?

Peter Plavec: 33:06

Favorite open water swimming location is, I think here in Austria it is the Lake Fuschelsee. That's a beautiful lake. It's like only five kilometers in the length I did a double there for a few years ago, so 10k and I think that's the most beautiful location. A lot of people can't see it on my Instagram. I was swimming. The water is completely green, you know, very light green, beautiful to swim there. So I think that's my favorite location for open water swimming.

Danielle Spurling: 33:40

I don't know whether you've ever considered this, but I always know. When I go to different types of places to swim, all the water feels slightly different, even pools that I swim in. What does the water feel like in that beautiful place to swim? Does it make you float? Or does it keep you low in the water? What's the feeling that you get.

Peter Plavec: 34:02

You know, I don't really feel difference in the water, but more in the nature around me. You know the color of the water, the trees and all the nature around. That's so interesting, it's so beautiful that I don't really felt a difference in the water, but more in these colors and the nature.

Danielle Spurling: 34:24

How often do you sight when you're swimming? How many strokes before you sight?

Peter Plavec: 34:31

It depends if I am guided by a boat or not. So if I'm guided by the boat, I'm bracing to the side where the boat is and I don't need to sight to the front. But if there's no boat and I'm just swimming outside, I'm sighting, maybe every 10th stroke or something like this. But also depends if it's just training or a race, if they're swimming somebody next to me or not. But let's take the situation that I am alone and swimming open water, so I would take every 10th stroke.

Danielle Spurling: 35:03

Yeah, do you use a float for visibility when you swim open water?

Peter Plavec: 35:09

Yes, if I swim open water, I always use it. Yet, not only because of the visibility, but also mostly if I'm going to swim somewhere I'm going by car, so I keep all my belongings in the car and I just take the car key, put it in my, in my boy, and that's it. Yeah, but it's good for everything, for visibility and for safety too. Yeah, if there's a longer distance I'm swimming, then maybe I can take a drink or a jail into my boy, so it's also helping to carry my thing.

Danielle Spurling: 35:42

And what's your favorite freestyle training drill?

Peter Plavec: 35:45

Favorite freestyle training drill, it's maybe the Superman drill. You know, that's if your one hand is in the front, the other one next to your body, and you are doing like six kicks and then you do one stroke, you change your hands and then the other hand is in the front, you make again six kicks and change, yeah, so you like at the situation you look like Superman flying. You know, one hand in the front, one in the back and doing some kicks. Only I think I like that one. Yeah, but there are. You know, I always try to change it up and do always some other drills, because if you do one drill a lot then it starts to get boring and it's not helping so much to improve the technique. So I like to change them up, to do always something else, to find my two to three mistakes or two to three problems with my technique, which are which are not perfect, and all they work on them, yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 36:45

Great advice and, I think, videoing yourself to when you can look at that later. You can pick up those mistakes and then you can self-correct. And how about your favorite training set?

Peter Plavec: 36:55

It was like. I don't know if it's my favorite, but but a few days ago I did a very good one. It was the main set was four times 400. The first was always with parachute, the second was with pull boy and pedals, but a bit faster. Okay, so always one with parachute and the second one with pedals and pull boy, but faster, and this four times. I think that this is very good. It was like I finished my training and I had a feeling that I'm faster already because it was so hard to do and so technically complicated. You know, 400 meters with a parachute and then the next 400, bit faster, and then again with the parachute and then again faster. It was so demanding that that I think that's a very good one.

Danielle Spurling: 37:54

Yeah, okay. And how much rest were you taking between the 400s?

Peter Plavec: 37:58

I took 30 seconds rest.

Danielle Spurling: 38:00

Last question who's the swimmer that you most admire?

Peter Plavec: 38:04

You know there are. There are a lot of good ice swimmers and a lot of good marathon swimmers, but if I need to choose one, I would say it's Krzysztof Raszowski. It's the one of the best open water swimmers from Hungary, A young guy I think. He won now the fourth times the open water swimming cup, so I think he's my. He's the best, yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 38:33

Well, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today, peter. It's been lovely hearing all about ice swimming. I'm intrigued to try it, but it sounds really cold. But, wishing you lots of success for those two coming up in February and, yeah, if I ever make it over to Austria, I'll be sure to look you up for a swim.

Peter Plavec: 38:54

Yeah, thank you very much. It would be great to meet. Yeah, so if you come over and just contact me on Instagram, yeah, yeah, for sure.

Danielle Spurling: 39:00

Okay, we'll have a very merry Christmas.

Peter Plavec: 39:03

Yeah, you too, merry Christmas.

Danielle Spurling: 39:05

Okay, then bye.

Peter Plavec: 39:07

Bye, bye, thank you.

Danielle Spurling: 39:11

I hope you enjoyed my chat with Peter today. Look out for our December newsletter in your inbox in the next week, which always has some extra information for our subscribers. If you want to join our email list, please send us an email at torpedoswimtalk at gmailcom and we will add in your details. Thanks for joining me on the podcast this year. I hope you've really enjoyed all our episodes and hope you have a very merry Christmas and a happy holiday Till next time. Happy swimming and bye for now.