RAWW Podcast

Building Community and Resilience Through Swimming with Robyn

• Sarah Freeman • Season 2 • Episode 1

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 35:36

Robyn's journey through the world of swimming is nothing short of inspiring. Once a "water baby," Robyn faced the challenge of a pediatric stroke at age 12. Her story unfolds in this episode, where she shares how the water has been both a healing force and a source of empowerment. As a competitive swimmer and coach, Robyn reflects on her evolution and how swimming has been a pivotal part of her life, from childhood memories to the ambitious goal of conquering Okanagan Lake.

Listeners will be captivated by Robyn's passion, not just for the sport, but for the community and joy it fosters. Her high school years taught her resilience, balancing training with academics, which she now channels into coaching young athletes. Robin's dedication extends beyond the pool; she's pursuing a fitness trainer diploma. Swimming is more than a sport for Robyn—it's a lifelong pursuit that offers personal growth, stress relief, and a strong sense of community.

Robyn's ambition knows no bounds. Her recent 25-kilometer swim at Christina Lake fuels her drive to set a Guinness World Record in June 2025. In the discussion, Robyn offers advice for young female swimmers facing burnout, emphasizing the importance of enjoying the journey and cherishing the memories made along the way. Her commitment to building a supportive and empowering community is a testament to her love for the sport and the connections it creates.

Click here for Robyn's Website

Ready to dive deeper into stories like this? Don't forget to subscribe to the RAWW Podcast and leave a review- it helps us reach more water-loving women like you! Follow us on Instagram @sarahfreemancoaching for updates, and if you are a Waterwoman with a story, please reach out to be a guest! 

Until next time, keep making waves!

Speaker 2

Welcome back to Raw Podcast. It has been a moment since I have done a recording and honestly, I think as a podcaster it's really good to take those pauses, just like in life and in swimming as well. You know, you have to take that rest, and I just kind of knew that the guest that I'll be introducing today was a woman that I just wanted to wait for and for the right time, and it didn't feel like I needed to rush into it. So her name is Robin and I met her not on social media, through that world, through, it was the Christina Lake, like on social social media and I reached out to her because I loved her story and then I just I really wanted to meet her. There was something special about her, so I'm going to bring Robin into this conversation.

Speaker 2

Robin, welcome to Raw Podcast. Hello, it's so nice to be here. It's so nice to have you here. The last time we saw each other was in the summertime, when we swam in Two Jacks Canal. Do you remember that?

Speaker 1

I do remember that it was very nice. It was like the beginning of September and yeah, it was super awesome. I've never swam in like Two Jacks or that water, that cold or in a while. It's been a while.

Speaker 2

Yeah, it's so. It's so beautiful because you're surrounded by the mountains and yeah, it was just great robin drove all the way down from like edmonton area to swim that day with her family and her dog. What's your dog's name? I can't remember uh, it's deadly.

Speaker 1

That's my dad's dog yeah, he's like yeah, he's my dad's third child oh, third child.

Speaker 2

So we had a great swim and, um, it was just nice to have that support of your family paddling alongside of us and I got to meet you and then now we're we're like full circle, almost like back here on raw podcast. So, thank you, yeah, of course. So we're gonna just dive in here and I'm sure we'll go off track to Robin, because we both love swimming. So I think that's just going to happen organically. So I just wanted to open it up.

Speaker 1

And just can you tell everybody that's listening today who are you? Okay, so I'm Robin. I was a age group competitive swimmer for eight or nine years. I'm currently a swim coach. I absolutely love, love swimming. In fact, I'm going through like college and education right now in order to be kind of like a lifetime swim coach. So, yeah, that's that's kind of who I am. It's been pretty awesome.

Speaker 2

I love that and I love your passion for swimming, cause I share that too and I it's quite evident when I met you in person how much you love swimming.

Speaker 1

So it's amazing.

Speaker 2

I think maybe we're like part fish, or I don't know if it's a mermaid but, like? Would you like literally live in the water if you could Like? What can you imagine if you could breathe underwater? Would you?

Speaker 1

live in there. Oh, I totally would um like give me some fins and like a snorkel, like I want to get like a scuba diving certificate or something so I can like pretend to be a mermaid.

Speaker 2

I think it would be awesome but maybe you already are a mermaid we are mermaids, just without the breathing underwater part. Exactly that would be my superpower. If I had to choose one, what would be yours?

Speaker 1

uh, probably breathing underwater or oh, you know what. No, like shape-shifting, because then I could shape shift into like a fish or something and then, yeah, wow yeah, I never really thought of that one.

Speaker 2

That's awesome, totally, totally off. So let's get back on track here. So where and how did the love of water like come into your life?

Speaker 1

oh, man I've. So I've always loved the water. My mom calls me her water baby. Um, I like ever since I was young I've always wanted to be in the water, um, and it's like like it'll be stuff where, when I was about eight to 10, I'd say, my brother did theater and just like at our local it's called like a communityplex I had a pool and then I also had the theater in it and since we lived in the kind of like a we lived on an acreage away from town, so it just made most sense for both of us to be in there, because my parents had to wait around.

Speaker 1

I'd go swim and just do kind of whatever for the whole like two hours. He was in theater. I've absolutely loved swimming ever since I was super, super young and I started competitive swimming when I was 10. I started in summer club and I didn't compete for that first summer, but it's the first time my parents ever really saw me kind of like latch on to a sport or like any sort of activity. Um, and then they put me into an all-year-round club and uh, yeah, now we're here now you're here.

Speaker 2

Yeah, swimming is such an incredible sport, so thanks for sharing that. Um, so how has swimming or the water helped you move through like stress or healing something in your life? Um, this could also be. I'll add something in here. It could be like through school now and you're in college, but it could be something different as well.

Speaker 1

Yeah, totally. Um. Well, I think so from the beginning. Uh, so I'm a pediatric stroke survivor, um, and so that's a pretty big thing at age 12. I had a stroke and I didn't have.

Speaker 1

In rural Alberta there's not a lot of access to a lot of diagnostic tools, and so it was initially misdiagnosed.

Speaker 1

So it wasn't until like a couple months later when they actually kind of finally came to the conclusion like, oh, you did have a stroke, but during that time I, like I still swam through it and we actually were told by the pediatric neurologist that, uh, swimming is actually probably something that really helped me recover from it. Um, but when it comes to stress and stuff I found, especially recently with um college and just like work anytime I'm feeling stressed, there's, um, it's really nice to be able to go to the pool and maybe like challenge myself with a harder set. Uh, just in that way I can stop thinking about that stuff for a bit and I can just focus in on swimming, which is something I love to do, um, and also just through going through competitive swimming, uh like an age group swimmer and all the friends I've been able to meet there. Um, I know when I was going through stressful times in high school or whatever, uh, getting to go to practice and see my friends and then also swim, because again, the water, um it's, uh, it's helped me a lot, yeah and I'm curious.

Speaker 2

Thanks for sharing that and thanks for sharing part of your story too, robin. Um, yeah, um. Is there anything else like when you get in the water where it's not even like? Do you have anything else that you do besides like swimming a hard set? Is there anything else like when you get in the water where it's not even like? Do you have anything else that you do besides like swimming a hard set? Is there anything else that calms your mind that you use when you go to the pool sometimes?

Speaker 1

curious, um, when I go to. Okay, so it kind of depends if I'm like super stressed about something. Like I said, I really like to do like a really hard set, because it's really hard to think about like anything other than like, oh my gosh, this sucks um. But um, if uh, sometimes it's a nice like mental break to just kind of swim back and forth or to just do uh like some kick. Um, I really like doing um, I've always really liked doing like the any kind of set like you have to hold your breath a lot like the underwaters.

Speaker 1

That is probably my favorite part ever, just because I find it really calming and I'm also surprisingly good at it, um, and so that's like my other main thing. I usually do that a lot in uh, cool down, um is that I just do a lot of underwaters, just um, holding my breath or uh, and like trying to swim across the pool or underwater dolphin kick, that sort of stuff.

Speaker 2

We definitely need to tap into our superpower. It's like somebody has to give us a superpower, because like that's amazing. So like I'm curious to know, like when you enter in the pool, like you know, when you first get in, like how do you get into the pool?

Speaker 1

How do I get in? Usually I'm the kind of person where I like I sit on the side and then I kind of slide in um. But if I'm like, if I know I'm about to do a hard set, I need to like hype myself up a little bit. So I do like, uh, like I do a bit of a jump in um, but that's only if the water is pretty, it's like on the deep end. I I am the kind of person, uh, if I go lane swimming, I like to be uh like leave all my stuff on the shallow end, because I hate having to like grip onto the wall while you're trying to grab like your kickboard or something.

Speaker 1

I totally get the worst um and uh, but yeah, so if I'm in the deep end of the pool then I'm like I'm jumping in like full cannonball.

Speaker 2

I love it. That's awesome. I, uh, I'm with you on the shallow end as well, so, okay, so what was one of your best um, like swim memories that you've had and that could be recently? Um, and just tell us a bit about that memory, or it could be from the past too.

Speaker 1

Ooh, okay, I think one of my best swim memories, um, oh, okay, I've got a couple, but I think so during, uh, covid in 2020, I was 14. Um and um, and I, uh, obviously, all swimming, all activities shut down. Um, and so my mom saw there was like this big sale from like Xterra wetsuits on for wetsuits, and so she was like, oh, you know what we could get? You should try open water swimming, because I was really really missing swimming. Um, and you know, all pools and stuff were shut down.

Speaker 1

Um and uh, I mean it's Canada, we can't go swimming in March outdoors, but um, so in May, uh, when there's still ice on the lake, I got in in like a wetsuit, with gloves, with like the like the socks and like an insulated cap, and I remember just getting to swim in the cold water. It felt so nice, but it's such like a because at first getting into the cold water it doesn't feel that nice, like let's be honest, but as soon as you kind of like get into it and you're like in the moment, it's like it's a really relaxing feeling. And I just remember that was also my. We had like these inflatable kayaks, and my parents, my brother, came along with me and kind of just followed me around the lake. That was since that was my first time ever doing like open water swimming, and also it was like really cold water. I think the water was like eight degrees celsius. I didn't swim for that long. I think I swam about 800 meters and then I got out, but that's probably one of my favorite swim memories.

Speaker 2

Oh, I love that. Open water is so special too, and good for you for taking that leap and I know, like I met your mom and she's so supportive with you. It's beautiful to witness. So it's good to have that in your life and I'm glad that you like literally jumped into open water swimming.

Speaker 1

And we'll get into that a little bit more soon.

Speaker 2

So how does water build your self-confidence, your self-esteem? How has it maybe, um, and what would you tell other water women or other swimmers that are listening, like you know, around, that kind of the self-confidence, self-esteem piece? You know, when you're getting your swimsuit on, we're probably in the sport that wears the least amount of clothing.

Swimming as a Lifelong Passion

Speaker 1

So yeah, yeah, um, I think a big self-confidence piece for me is that it's like, uh, I remember an age group a lot. You know it's it's very competitive. There's always, uh, like I mean, there's always a kid younger than you that's doing something better than you are. But part of it, too, is that it's like you just have to think about it, like okay, I'm getting in and my regular practice is like like two kilometers, three kilometers or whatever. Right, there's a point where every day, I was doing about a five or six kilometer swim in pool. And you just have to think about it, like how many people can say that they do that, especially at the age of like 16.

Speaker 1

Like, I was in high school and doing that and I there's so much stuff going on, um, that it's it's hard for most people to build that time into their life. But clearly I had the time management stuff. Like that's something I had to really tell myself when, kind of like my last year of age group. Um, I think in general, though, uh, so that's like a really big self-confidence booster for me, because there's so many adults, um, that struggle with swimming or, uh, they can't swim and I'm able to swim and I'm able to talk about it and to hopefully get more people into swimming.

Speaker 2

It's really awesome and Robin, like I'm curious to know. Like, do you share your story often with other people? Is that something that you do? Is there nuggets of it that comes out in your coaching, or is that something really like personal that you don't? Yeah?

Speaker 1

um, I I share a lot of my story, especially now that I'm a coach. Um, I coach two different groups. One is a little bit younger, they're about like eight to ten-ish uh but the older group I coach is uh anywhere between 12 and 16, um, and I like sharing bits of kind of um, like my experience in swimming, just because I think, um, it's really important um for coaches to connect with their athletes, but also just so that it's like, um, some of those kids can see that like it's okay to still love swimming as an adult, or like you know, it's a it can be a lifelong thing.

Speaker 2

Um, I love that so much and it's and also, too, it's like yourself, and for me too, it's like your athletes are seeing you swim right. They're seeing you do it and you coach, I coach, but we also train and we love it.

Speaker 1

So yeah, I think, and also at school, I'm going for a personal fitness trainer diploma right now and it's a two year transfer hopefully into some sort of like kinesiology related field. But because I'm in a personal fitness trainer diploma and stuff we have to talk about kind of our experiences with fitness a lot. And I mean I love talking about swimming and it's such a great thing like health wise for you to do and it's such a great thing like health wise for you to do. But it's awesome getting to talk to some of my classmates because they're people that are recovering from, like a sports injury where they can't put a lot of weight on, like their knees or something like that, and that's where swimming can really help Absolutely.

Speaker 2

So yeah.

Speaker 1

I talk about swimming as much as I can.

Swimming for Joy and Community

Speaker 2

Yeah, it's interesting, I'm noticing, like'm noticing, like this year in my swim squad that I coach there's a I mean it's probably what I'm talking about but there's a lot of more women in my group this year, like it's beautiful to see, yeah, coming and wanting to build their confidence and not necessarily wanting to compete, you know but yeah, it's just about the community and the friendships and the fitness and building that confidence too, because that that, as you know, that's taken off the pool deck, so well, and so at this high school meet I just coached at um I had uh.

Speaker 1

So there's swimmers of all um ability level there. There's some, uh, some of the high school kids. This is the first time they've ever swam um competitively at all. Right, know, we have our heats. And there's some kids that are, you know, they're new to the sport, and I had one swimmer that was asking like okay, well, but like why would you even try and compete in swimming if, like, you're not going to go fast, right, and it's well, it's for fun, it's for the community, it's because swimming is such a great sport. It's not always about, um the competition side of it. Um, there was a really long time when I was in competitive swimming, which is competitive in the name. That I mean. I think it's really important to keep the fun part of it in. You're not competing just to compete, you're competing because you enjoy it and you want to?

Speaker 2

yeah, exactly it's. It's interesting because how you say that? Because I used to compete in triathlon and and now it's like like I was done with it, and now swimming is what brings that joy into my life, right? And I do it. Exactly why you said it? Because because it lights me up right, yeah, and then when you do it, or I do it, it lights other people up, right.

Speaker 2

So it's like this ripple effect, which is really beautiful. So, all right, we're gonna hop on to the next question. Um, on the hard days, because we all get those days like how, like, how does water help you move through those tough days? And that could be. That could be like with school.

Speaker 1

It doesn't have to be swim related yeah, um, I think it's so on hard days. Um, a lot of it with when I do go swimming on tougher days is that it's, it's nice, because I know how to swim quite well. You know, I competed for like eight years or so, so swimming is something that it's like I don't even think about it, I can just do it no-transcript and it just it's. Yeah, it's a really great. I guess it's a stress reliever and also it kind of ties back into the self-confidence thing. It's like you know how many people can say like, oh yeah, I wasn't feeling that good today, so I went and swam for an hour Like yeah, know how many people can say like, oh yeah, I wasn't feeling that good today, so I went and swam for an hour like, yeah, yeah, swimming has got this amazing gift, if you choose to see it right.

Speaker 2

So, yeah, thanks for sharing that. So what has been your biggest challenge that you've had to overcome?

Speaker 1

uh, like in swimming, it's up to you okay, um, okay, well, probably the stroke, if I'm being entirely honest, that's a pretty big one. Um it just because I um. So I was a swimmer at the time, as I previously mentioned, and, um, I had to relearn how to swim and how to eat, and, um, I had, um, I had to relearn how to talk, um, and there's just a lot of obstacles I had to overcome with that um, and so I'd say that's probably my biggest challenge, because it also, part of it too was like a lot of mental effect. Um, for a really long time. It took me a while to, I guess, cope with the fact that it happened, but now I'm at a place now where it's like, yeah, I went through that, but I'm here now.

Swimming for World Record Challenge

Speaker 2

So it's amazing. You're amazing Like, resilient, like, and that's. There's so many reasons why I've connected with you, robin, and so I want to kind of just talk just a little bit about this one thing that you're doing this year. But yeah, robin, you've done so. You dabbled in the open water during the pandemic, but then then I, you fell in love with it. I'm gathering, yes, okay. So so now Robin has swam. So what was the biggest swim you swam last summer? You did it in Christina Lake, I did a 25 kilometer swim.

Speaker 1

It was originally supposed to be 36. But at 25 kilometers I had to get out. But 25 kilometers, still 25 kilometers. We started at 4am. And I swam for nine and a half hours straight.

Speaker 2

That's amazing. So you've gone from like you've gone. You told us a bit about your story and relearning, like your stroke, and then now look at you. You're swimming like 25 kilometers swims, you're coaching people, you're giving back to the community, you're sharing your story. But now you have this other very big goal. I don't want to put you on the spot because we haven't talked, so I'm assuming you're still doing this big goal. Do you want to talk about that? Yes, I do.

Speaker 1

Yes, okay, so in June of 2025, I am planning a Guinness World Record attempt for swimming the entire length of Okanagan Lake in BC. So the length of Okanagan Lake is 106 kilometers. It'll be a continuous swim. There has only been two people to ever have completed it, as like a continuous straight beach to beach swim, and both of them are men. So if I do complete it in June, I'll be the first woman to have ever completed it, and I've actually talked to Guinness World Records and they are making a separate women's division, so I will be setting a world record.

Speaker 2

Oh my God, I just got chills. Yeah, Totally. I mean, do you know the date that you're doing it? Have you set that yet, Robin? So we haven't set a firm date.

Speaker 1

We know we're planning for it to be in June. That's kind of like where, uh, definitely what we're going to be doing. We just have a couple um scheduling things to figure out. We're going to figure it out quite soon, though, like uh, we'll probably have a specific date by, oh, march or April okay, and so, as we're listening to this and I will share more about this, if, robin, if you're okay with this yeah about the when it's gonna happen.

Speaker 2

where it's gonna happen because I know I've talked to people out beyond Lake Canmore that live in the Okanagan that would love to support you, um, so I just I think this conversation, let's keep that going, and I know the people listening right now are going to like, oh my goodness, like I want to watch this incredible woman like attempt to swim right, so keep sharing that. How's the training going?

Speaker 1

Like, yeah, how's that going right now it's going really good. So I have a personal trainer. I've been working with him since I was about 12. So he's like, oh, he's so excited for my attempt, um, but, um, so back in beginning of September we decided that from September to January, I'm gonna be focusing on getting like some strength. So, outside of the pool of strength, um, he's turning me to like a super athlete, absolutely bulletproof, and then in January that's where bulletproof, and then in January, that's where yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1

And then in January, that's when I'm going to start getting more volume in. I'm still swimming and I'm still like I've got a kilometer goal per week, sort of thing. But in January that's when we're going to really start hitting the swimming hard, just because you know it's important to get that base strength before you start like going all in.

Speaker 2

you know, Absolutely, I agree with you. So I cannot wait to follow your journey along and I'm so like it's so exciting, robin Like yeah, I'm just getting to know you something and I'm gonna, I'm gonna let you know down the road. I'm kind of pondering swimming Cal Lake, so maybe you might want to come and join us there's another one that's probably listening to this podcast. Okay, I mean, it's 18 kilometers, so it's not 105, so you don't have to worry about that.

Speaker 1

Yeah, totally so that'd be in the loop. Yeah, please do, I'd be. Uh, I'd be so happy to do that. I'd be. I'd love to join you guys.

Speaker 2

Okay, that sounds awesome. So I'm gonna run through just some like really fast fun like questions, um and um. Then we'll just kind of bring it to a close, um, and I'll have one more final question at the end for you, though.

Speaker 1

Okay, awesome, all right.

Speaker 2

So do you have a mantra or a quote that you live by, like when you swim?

Speaker 1

Oh, um yeah. Oh, that's a tough one. I think that I'm trying to remember the wording for it. It's something my coach always used to tell me. It's oh okay, so it's practice doesn't make perfect, it's perfect, practice makes perfect. So kind of do what you want in the water, so what you want to achieve, you have to do that in practice you have to do that in practice.

Speaker 2

I love that.

Speaker 1

Okay, three favorite place, three favorite places you love to swim? Oh, okay, um, I, okay, I really liked swimming in two Jack's Lake, um, I think, uh, christina Lake was absolutely beautiful. The water is super warm, uh, but I love swimming there. And then, um, we have a place just outside of Edmonton that's, it's called Coal Lake. It's not really like a, it's not like a beach lake sort of thing, but it's a giant lake. It's 18 kilometers and that's where I did a lot of my like this summer, you know, working up to my swims. I did like a couple 10 kilometers there and stuff. And it's just such a beautiful lake and it's nice and quiet. It's perfect for open water swimming.

Speaker 2

Oh, that's beautiful. Do you have any post rituals like swim rituals? Oh, okay.

Speaker 1

So, okay, post event rituals. I like this summer, so my big open water events. I had a mimosa, that's my main thing. Love to have a mimosa, love that um, post swim in general, though, I usually drink, I have an applesauce and then I do some uh like heat packs and cold packs on my shoulders and, um, sometimes I'd like to take a bath after too relaxing what's can I ask more about the applesauce, like I'm curious about that?

Speaker 1

one. Um, that's just something I started doing when I was an age group. Um, just because it's like, um, I'm the kind of person where, uh, like some people they'll eat during practice or something like they'll get out and have a quick snack, um, but I have I don't know, it just never really worked out for me. So applesauce is like it's really easy, like the squeeze packs that are made for like toddlers. I love those because it's like they're so easy to eat and then I get a little bit of nutrients after practice because you deplete a lot of calories and all that. Um, so just getting some of that back, um, I also really like. It's like um, oh, they're like cubed pears that are in juice and they're in like the little fruit cups. Okay, yeah, I love those as well well, I love that.

Speaker 2

I'm gonna. I always have an apple afterwards.

Speaker 1

That's close oh okay, let's try applesauce.

Speaker 2

I used to have like that baby food when I competed in like long distance triathlons too, because it was easier to digest as well.

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2

Cool. So what's in your swim bag?

Speaker 1

Ooh, okay, so I always have like a million swim caps with me because I'm really really bad for accidentally ripping them and then so I have you know swimsuit. I'm not the kind of bring a spare swimsuit I probably should, um, but uh, then I have about three towels in there. Two of them are microfiber and then one of them is kind of like more like a face cloth. Um, I usually only use one of them, but it's just like you know, the selection is nice.

Speaker 1

Um, I have a comb and and I usually have some like fruit snacks or something hidden in my bag, just in case I like show up to the pool and I'm like oh man, I'm starving, I need something right now. That's a good idea, that's a really good idea. Yeah, also a bunch of hair ties. They're kind of just screwed about my bag. I used to have them on like a clip, but uh, I like accidentally dumped a bunch of them and so now it's just, if I need a hair tie really desperately, I go over to my swim bag and I just root around until I find one we have to have some ties.

Speaker 2

Oh, my goodness, I don't know how I can't swim like I have shorter hair than you. But yeah, I cannot tie it back. It's like oh it's. It's that length, yeah it's like it starts to come out every oh yeah, it's not especially when you're doing like a harder set, it's like it doesn't oh, that's the worst.

Speaker 1

When you're like in the water and you've got a hair that's coming out the front of your swim cap or you can just feel like kind of like your swim caps escaping your head. It's the worst it's so true.

Speaker 2

When you get like that, when oh yeah, I totally know what you're saying, okay, so what? So? This is another question. So who are some of the women that you admire most and why?

Speaker 1

Ooh, okay, um, I think okay. Well, katie Ledecky Um, she's a very big one. I think that it's just, uh, it's so amazing how long she's been swimming and just her, uh, like her swim leaderboard, uh, like the the current fastest times in the 1500, the top 20 times, it's all Katie Ledecky like. It's. It's insane. I really really like Katie Ledecky. Um, who else I also, uh, my mom is a really big inspiration for me. Um, she's a business woman. Uh, you know, she's an online business manager, um, and she's just a very strong woman. So I look up to her a lot, like her daughter, yeah, um and uh, probably also so.

Speaker 1

Uh, my boss, uh, leslie saradak at uh olympian swim club. I look up to her a lot as well just because she is a female head coach, um, and there's not a lot of female head coaches um not yet in swimming. Um, there's, it's getting much better. There's a lot of female coaches now, that's not, but um, I just think that she's a super, um strong, professional yeah, well, thanks for sharing all that.

Speaker 2

I always love hearing what everybody says about that yeah, they admire, you know um and then. So my last question is a little well, it's not my last question, but it's getting close, so it's kind of about different. So what's the important, most important challenge that women are facing today? Like, what do you see out there in the world and it could be in the school world, it could be in the sport world, it could be something different but what do you think is the most important challenge right now for women?

Speaker 1

um, I think, in pertaining to the sports world, is getting more attention and recognition in women's sports. Um, you know, uh, team sports, but uh, specifically because I I find individual sports like swimming or triathlon uh they get, uh, um, I do find that they get a lot of attention, specifically like we had canada had summer macintosh and swimming this summer she got a whole lot of coverage. It was awesome. Um, but I think, in team sports specifically, it's a really big deal to me that there is um not a lot of viewership or just um fandom in women's sports.

Speaker 2

I hear you, and it's interesting you say that, robin, because there's something I came across I don't know if you've seen this, and it's not swimming specifically, but it's all women's sports network. I don't know if you've seen this okay, with whoopi goldberg is the one who started this. So it is just have a look. Um, so, but it's quite something. So it's for all women. Have a look at it, because I think I agree with you a hundred percent.

Speaker 2

So, um, I think there should be more and more of that, so, yeah, so, thank you for sharing that, yeah, so, just to kind of close this off, I feel like I've got a couple of questions, though this is a thing, so I'm going to start off with this one first, and so I'm curious to know if you could give any advice to, um, I want to say, girls out there that are in swimming and maybe they're like they're teens I'm gonna say and if you could give them any advice, these girls, to to just continue, to not stop the swimming and but not to burn out, like what would you advise these girls that love to swim but they're just getting to that burnout stage? But yeah.

Speaker 2

I'd love to see more of them continue that into their adult, but I'm finding I'm hearing more stories that they're stopping right, um, okay.

Speaker 1

Well, I think my main advice would be is that, um, when you're, especially when you're like around high school age and you're in swimming, like that's the only sport I can speak on I only did swimming, but it seems like super, super serious if you don't make your qualification time or if you're missing practice and stuff like that, and I think it's you know, now that I've I've been out of competitive swimming for about two years now Um, and it's. Just enjoy the time you have there. Um, because it's at the end of the day, you're not going to um, uh, you're going to regret thinking back on it and being like, oh man, I was so upset after this race because I didn't make my qualification time. Just enjoy that you have the swimming. It's because when you're an adult, it's you're going to realize it's really was never that deep, it was. It's important to you at the moment and it's it's very important. But just enjoy that. You have that, that experience and that importance and have fun, yeah.

Speaker 2

Yeah, exactly, have fun. I love that. Thank experience and that importance and have fun. Yeah, yeah, exactly, have fun, I love that. Thank you for that advice. This is something that I've been thinking about and it was not on my list of questions, robin. Um, and just to just to end it, like, what brings you the most amount of joy in swimming? Like what is it the specific thing that brings you the most amount of joy?

Speaker 1

um, other than like the actual swimming part. I think the community, um, there's so many people that it's like, um, you know there's uh, like for example today when I was talking about, uh, you know the underwaters and how I love just like going underwater and holding my breath and doing that sort of activity and stuff, and you totally agreed with me. It's the community where there's you can find so many people that you have stuff in common with that you would never think that you would, because you all love swimming. I think that's the swimming community is really, really beautiful.

Speaker 2

I agree with you and I find like, as soon as you find that swim friend, it's like you can't stop talking right, because you have something in common and it's that community and you get it, you get it especially like whether it's pool or open water.

Speaker 2

Um, it's. It is a beautiful community. So, yeah, um, yeah. So, robin, I really want to say thank you so much for being on Raw Podcast and I cannot wait to follow along with you with your upcoming goals, and you're just an incredible woman, so just keep shining that light thank you.

Speaker 1

Thank you for having me. It was awesome to be here today and, uh, yeah, I'll make sure to keep you updated on my journey.

Speaker 2

Yeah thank you, robin, for being a guest on raw podcast. It was an absolute honor to be able to speak with you, um to hear part of your story and your upcoming goal to swim across lake okanagan in june of 2025. I will put all the details in the show notes here if you want to reach out to robin via social media, um and just follow along her incredible journey setting um a guinness world record. Um. Thank you so everybody for listening to raw podcast. Uh, we will have another swim guest coming up soon, in the next month. Cannot wait to share that journey with you. Um. If you're just loving the raw podcast, please share this with your community, especially those amazing, like people that love water out there, which is a lot of you. Um, just spread the love around. Please leave a comment. This helps us grow and I want to keep growing this community. Thank you so much everybody, um just keeping the incredible, rad, active water woman that you are and the most beautiful soul that you are.