From River Roots To Ocean Ultra-Marathons: Christine’s Journey Across Australia And Beyond

We sit down with Christine, an Australian ultra-marathon swimmer whose path runs from riverbanks to ocean lines along Sydney’s northern beaches and now onward to the English Channel in August 2026. She opens up about discovering open water as a sanctuary during a melanoma journey. Choosing presence over pressure—threads through every challenge she takes on.

Christine’s life blends purpose and performance in a way that feels both rare and attainable. By day, she works in the water sector; by dawn, she’s logging the miles for epic open water swims. You’ll hear how she avoided burnout by restructuring her work, staying connected to regional communities she cares about, and still found the bandwidth to train for long, cold, and unpredictable swims. Her story is a field guide for anyone trying to balance a serious career with ambitious endurance goals.

With support from her swim community, she maps the road ahead: the Derwent River swim in Tasmania and a booked English Channel swim in August 2026. 

We close with an announcement, thrilled to share—Christine is our Swim it Forward dreamer, with partial sponsorship toward her English Channel journey.

Please listen, share with a friend who needs a nudge towards their dream, and leave a quick review to help others find the show. 

Transcript

Christine’s Early Story And River Roots

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Welcome to Raw Podcast. If you haven't been here before and you're wondering what RAW stands for, it stands for Rad Active Water Women. And that's all of you that are listening here today. And that is all of the incredible guests that come on here telling their stories bravely and inspiring all of you. So I have this incredible young woman that is coming all the way from Australia, a place that is very close to my heart. And her name is Christine. And I know we're going to dive into a lot of things with her, but I've been also like going into this question the last couple of episodes. And I'm going to start it off again. Why do we spend why is it that you spammed? So if you're new here, you know, journal on this and I'm curious to know, send me a message. I want to know why you swim. Um so I'm gonna bring Christine into this uh conversation. Welcome, Christine. Thank you for coming all the way from Australia to Canada temporarily.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Well, thanks so much for having me.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

No problem. So let's just start off with like, why do you swim?

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Well, it's a good question. And I think for me, um I've swum for most of my life. Um and I guess the reason I've swam changes throughout the different stages of my life. So I was a pool swimmer um when I was going through school and I swam then because it it was fun, it was um it was good for my physical and mental health, um, and it was something that I did with my friends and I just absolutely loved it. And I guess as I got into later in life and I stepped aside from more competitive swimming, um, swimming was then something that I used as I guess a way to I guess have some me time and particularly for my mental health and the well-being aspects of it. Um, and then I guess in the past few years, I've taken up the long-distance open water swimming. And, you know, originally I guess that was because I wanted to challenge myself and to push my limits and see what was possible. Um, but I guess beyond that, what I've also found is just an incredible community of people. And I guess that's probably the reason I swim now is just to be part of such an incredible community who do really inspiring things and who motivate me to be the best version of myself.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

I love that. The community is so special, isn't it? I love like all around the world, it's something different. I was having a conversation today with a bunch of ice swimmers, and it was like hearing their stories about that connection, you know, no matter if it's warm swimming, cold swimming, yeah, long swimming, it's quite beautiful. I'm curious to know, um, did you ever pause in your swimming as like when you were like younger? Did you ever have a time where you put it on pause for school or anything? Or did you keep going?

SPEAKER_00 2:53

Um, I did. So I guess I was I was swimming a lot when I was at school, and then I was also a very academic focused person. So when I got to my final years of school, I put aside my personal training and I was still involved in the sport, but I did swim coaching and swim teaching instead because that I guess gave me a way to stay involved in that community without having to, I guess, have the same physical demands on myself whilst I was balancing my studies. Um, and then I guess the same whilst I was at uni and things, um, I never really fully stepped away, but I guess, you know, had a bit of a break from it whilst I focused on um, yeah, my university studies and then um getting into work. That sort of took more of my energy and more of my focus for a while. And then it was, I guess, a few years ago, I sort of started to think I missed the swimming aspect of it and I wanted to get back into it and I guess distribute my energy beyond work into some other aspects of life that I loved and sort of came back into swimming and brought it back. So yeah, I guess I did sort of pause for a bit, but um never too far away.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

Yeah, I love that. Thanks for sharing that. So now that I asked you why, I want to know like more about who you are and like what's the story behind like how you find found water or maybe water found you. But start off with like, who are you outside of the water, baby? Let's go there.

From Pool Lanes To Open Water Community

SPEAKER_00 4:14

So I was um I was actually born and raised in some inland regional parts of Australia. So I probably didn't have the typical background of a lot of Aussies that grow up in open water swimming. So the first town that I lived in was a very small farming town in the Riverina. Um it's about what 600 kilometres from Sydney. And our property there was on the banks of the Murray River, which is the longest river in Australia. And I guess for me, that's where I developed my connection to water was you know, living on the river, seeing the river every day. Um, the river was a huge part of um not just our family, but our community in terms of the environment, but also the farming community and its importance there. Um, and for me, the beach wasn't actually or the ocean wasn't something that was super familiar to me. So we actually did a beach trip once a year, um, and it was a 2,000 kilometre round trip to go. So I was a lot more of a freshwater baby for probably the first eight years of my life. And then when we moved to Armandale, which is um also about 600 kilometres from Sydney, but in the opposite direction, um, in the northwest, um, you know, I remember my parents sort of selling the move to us as we're going to be moving closer to the beach, but you know, that was still about a three-hour trip to get down to the ocean from there. So um I guess my connection to the water was was really from that young age, um, living by the river. And um, you know, that's that's how that formed. And, you know, living inland pool swimming was definitely more of the journey that I took up and I absolutely loved that. And I sort of got into the open water swimming when I moved to Sydney um a lot later in life when I came here for uni and then for work. And um I I absolutely loved the ocean, and that's how you know I started to then find that that community and find those places that I really liked. And I became quite aware that I had that strong connection to water. And funnily enough, I actually work in the water sector as well. So I did my um my master's degree in environmental law, specializing in water law, which is a very niche field, but it pretty much means I'm either um sitting at my desk working on water things or I'm actually in the water myself, which is I love that. So it's definitely a big part of my life. Um, and I enjoy still being able to have that connection to um particularly the farming communities that I grew up in um through my work. So I do a lot of work with um the agriculture sector um and then yeah, also balancing that in with my training now, which is a combination of um, you know, we do a lot of pool swimming, but also in the ocean and I'm training for riverswim at the moment, which is nice. So getting back into the fresh water and doing some swimming in the dam as well.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

Getting back to your roots. That's it. I love that. It's like you really are a water woman in every aspect of your life. It's beautiful. Okay, so I got some more questions for you. So um a moment when like water like either changed who you are or maybe taught you something. It could be either or something, maybe it changed something in your life or taught you something in your life.

Melanoma, Healing, And Living In The Present

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Yeah, I think for me, um, it probably, you know, people talk about the healing properties of water. And I think for me, particularly when I came into open water swimming, it was at a stage in my life where I was diagnosed with melanoma, um, which is a fairly, you know, it's the most common form of cancer for young Australians, but it's also something which is quite, I guess, eye-opening in a way when you kind of have a diagnosis like that. And I was fortunate because I, you know, detected it early. I got my routine skin checks and things, so managed to avoid the worst of it in terms of having to go through, you know, the more intensive treatments and things. But I think it was still, you know, a two-year process for me where you know we're getting scans done every 12 weeks and um, you know, you don't really know exactly what's going to happen. Um, so for me, I was living um here in Manley by the ocean at that point, and I think being part of the swimming community here was just a really important way to kind of focus on the present um and just have a bit of a break from thinking about all those other things that were happening and some of the fears around what may happen with that particular journey. And um, in a way, it was actually really nice because it helped me focus more on the present. And, you know, because you're sort of living your life within these 12-week intervals between the scans, um, you know, you stopped thinking so much about the long-term goals and each day having to be productive and working towards like, you know, the next step in your career or the next step in getting a qualification or something like that. And it was a lot more about just enjoying every day. And the ocean kind of gave me a way to do that and to just, you know, get up in the morning and, you know, how do I want to spend today? And that was to go down to the beautiful marine park that we're lucky enough to have here. And there's beautiful turtles, and sometimes we see dolphins and incredible fish. And you know, you go down and you do that, and you're just like, this is this is incredible. Like this is how I want to spend my time. So for me, it became a bit of a a symbol of making sure that I'm prioritizing what's important in life, which for me is being happy and being healthy. And I guess being connected to the ocean was my vehicle to do that.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

Yeah, I can see it. Like, I mean, I'm not there with you when you swim, obviously, but like just even seeing your videos on your Instagram, like I can see how much you love to swim. Like you can just see it in your stroke and like everything that you do. Like, um, and again, I'm not there, but I can I can see it in your smile.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

So it's definitely my happy place.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the water is such a a a healing place too, um, especially like you know, what you've been through and what you've gone through. And you know, like there's everybody has a story out there, but this is your story. And yeah, so thank you for sharing your heart on that one. I appreciate that. Yeah. What my next question um a time you felt strong or scared or transformed through water swimming, could be an event, could be just something you put out there to do.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Um a time I felt strong, I'd probably say um there's a swim here in Australia called the Palm to Shelley swim, which is about 26 kilometres along the length of the northern beaches of Sydney, so from Palm Beach to Shelley Beach, and it's part of the Australian Triple Crown. And it was funny because at the time um I was actually training for the Rotten Ice Channel swim over in Perth, which is 19.7 kilometres. Um, and yeah, unfortunately that year, due to the weather conditions, um, they did have to cancel the event part way through, which you know was absolutely the right decision. But you know, when you've been training for something um and it gets cancelled, you obviously have a bit of a mental adjustment about what you do there. And I was advised by some people around me that, you know, it's all right, just pivot to to another swim and focus on that. And the next swim that was coming up was this Palm to Shelley one, which was a lot further than I ever thought I could swim. Um, you know, it is another six or seven kilometres in distance, um, but also can have some pretty difficult currents and things along the way. And to be honest, it's something I may not have signed up for unless, you know, I'd had that other event cancelled and sort of wanted somewhere else to redirect that training and things. Um, and I was quite nervous starting it, and I genuinely wasn't sure if I'd actually get it done. Um, and my goal was really just to see how far I could swim. Um, but I was lucky enough to do that one in tandem with a teammate swimming next to me, and he was a lot more experienced. He'd done the English Channel and the World Triple Crown, and um, you know, he'd done so many incredible swims, so that gave me a lot of confidence. And um, we got to about, well, I don't know, maybe 20Ks into that swim, and we hit some pretty severe, severe wither weather that was coming through and some strong winds and things, and I was, you know, starting to fatigue at that point and the wind was really hitting. But um, I sort of found this sort of second wind or this this other gear that I could shift into, which I'd never experienced before. And I guess as it got tougher and tougher, I felt myself just lifting to match whatever was being thrown at us. And it was an incredible feeling. And I actually learned a lot from that swim that there's that, you know, once you push through that wall, there's this whole bubba, this thing there. And um, that's been really helpful for me in some of the future swims that I've done, just knowing that, you know, once you start fading, that that's it's not going to continue going downhill, but this other gear that that does exist. Um, so that was really valuable for me to learn that.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

That's amazing. And how cool is that to be able to swim like with somebody else? Like that is, yeah, that must have been amazing too, to be able to that's something we're really lucky here.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

We've got um our community at Vlad Swim. So Vlad, our coach, um, we have an incredible community that he's pulled together of people that have done some of the most incredible swims um in Australia, but also around the world. So it's just so inspiring to have those people there and everyone's so helpful and supportive, and it's definitely been a huge part of how I've been able to step into this board.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

Well, and I bet you those people, if they were listening to this right now, they probably say the same thing back to you.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

Oh well, hopefully.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

Oh, yeah, I think I believe so. So I mean you're doing amazing things out there. So okay, next question. Um, so what does being a rad active water woman mean to you? If you were to think about that, some I mean, you may never been asked that before, but what would your definition be?

SPEAKER_00 13:29

Um, I think to me it would mean something about being connected to water and whatever that looks like. And I don't think that necessarily has to mean chasing huge um goals or distances or times or anything like that. I think it would just be having an appreciation or a connection to water, um, whatever that looked like for that person and and you know, how that that connection then shapes the other aspects of their life, I suppose.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Okay. All right. So going back to that inspiring like question and kind of putting it back on you. So how is your story inspiring others? Or how do you think it is?

Big Goals: Derwent River And English Channel

SPEAKER_00 14:08

Yeah, I guess for me, probably you know, part of my story is rebalancing that career aspect and work. And I think for me, something that I really admire about some other athletes that we have in this sport is how they actually have incredible lives outside of the pool or outside of the water as well as what they do with their sport. And I guess it's it's pretty tricky, I think, particularly for people that do really care about their career and their work, to feel like it's okay to actually step outside of that and to put a lot of energy and a lot of time into a sporting endeavor. Um, I think, you know, particularly for young people and young women, there's this almost societal expectation of this journey of, you know, you do school, you do university, you get a job and you work really, really hard at that job. But, you know, all of that's absolutely great if that's what people want to do. But I think if you have dreams and goals that exist outside of work, I think it's really important to actually recognize that and give space and give energy to those as well. And, you know, that's not easy to do because that's a lot of time and a lot of things to try and juggle in. And maybe something that I try to share is kind of that full journey of it. So, you know, sometimes I'll find myself doing work trips out to parts of regional Australia and, you know, be doing our squad session in the morning in Sydney and then jumping on a plane and heading out somewhere regionally to work and then jumping on another plane and flying back. And sometimes I'll be doing my training sessions on my own in pools in in parts of regional Australia, and I'll be the only person there at the pool, or I'll be there for three hours busting out a set, and the lifeguards will be like, what's this person doing? Like, you know, we haven't seen someone swim that far in this pool. And I guess I I guess I like to kind of share that story that it's actually possible to do both. Like you don't have to choose between your work and your goals outside of work. Um, it's not easy to do, and I think for me it was a multi-year process to actually get myself into a position where I could do it because obviously there's the financial element of it that you know this is an expensive sport, you do have to fund that. So getting yourself um in a spot where you can do both, I think. Because for a lot of people, I think if you don't have role models for that, it would be really easy to feel like you just couldn't achieve these things because of your work. And I guess I'd like to inspire people that you can do both.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

Yeah, and you are. Um you are inspiring people, and it's just like even, you know, we're just getting like nuggets of your story here, you know, you've been through adversity in your life and like how that happened. And then with your, you know, I'm what I'm hearing you say with your career and your sport, like I get it, because like, you know, and it sounds like you're passionate about your career though, too, right?

Bora Bora Comeback And Heat Management

SPEAKER_00 16:48

Yeah, definitely. And I think because I grew up in a lot of you know, the communities and around the people that I work with now, I think it's definitely something that I'm passionate about and I care a lot about. And you know, you hear some people tell their stories about having to quit their job in order to pursue these things, which you know, if some people have to do that or they need to do it, then that's fantastic for them. But it's it's not something that everybody would want to do or could do. So for me, it's um it's about how do I actually sustainably find a way to do both. And I think at first, um, you know, I was working in an office job doing long hours and trying to fit in my training, and I could just see that that was probably a path towards burnout. So I did have to make some decisions to to kind of um restructure things a little bit so that I could um still still do both and balance that in.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

And have that flexibility to to be able to do that. Because like, excuse me, but like I'm kind of not living the same as what you're doing, but like it's like when you're passionate about something, like I love swimming like you do. And it's like I want to make space for that, but I also love my career as well, and I love what I do on that side, and it's like that ebb and flow of of both of it together, it kind of feeds off of each other. So good for you. I mean, you're a young woman and you're you're figuring it out and you're doing it and you're making your dreams happen. So that's that's pretty awesome. So I got another question. Um let me see. Okay, so what's next? The dream or challenge that you're chasing right now, or maybe it's more than one. I know it's more than one.

Water Wisdom And Quick-Fire Favorites

SPEAKER_00 18:18

So my next swim that I've got is the Joint River swim, um, which is in Tasmania. Um, and that's part of the Australian Triple Crown. So it's a 34 kilometer river swim, um, which is going to be the longest swim that I've done so far, but hopefully we'll have um a bit of current assistance in that. Um, and then leading up to next year in August, I've got a slot for the English Channel, which is something I'm really, really excited by um because it's one of those goals that, you know, I think a lot of people would think, like, oh, I'd love to swim the English Channel one day. And for me, it still feels quite surreal, but that's actually happening. And, you know, initially that was, you know, a few years away, and now it's only nine months away, I think. So yeah, doing um a pretty big training program leading up to that. And um, I'm yeah, really excited. It's all sort of part of this journey.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

I love this. And then so I want to go back a little bit because you did a swim not long ago in Bora Bora. That's like one of the places like that I want to go to one day on this pine bucket list. But you swam around Bora Bora.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

I did, yeah. It was a 24 kilometer swim around Bora Bora, which was absolutely stunning.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

Yeah, I'll say. And so why like offer odds? There's obvious reasons why you did it, but like why did you choose that for yourself, Bora Bora?

SPEAKER_00 19:32

Well, it's actually it's a funny story, really, because I just signed up for the English channel and I was just starting to put together my two year program and picking some particulars from events that would be part of that program. And two days after I got my channel slot, I actually injured my shoulder, which was um pretty pretty bad diving. But what that meant is that I was out of the water during the more intense training for about four months whilst I did the physio rehab on that. Um, and the first swim that I had on my Channel program was actually the Port de Pub swim, which is over in Perth, a 25 kilometer one. Okay. And as we started getting closer and closer to that, I was sort of looking at my you know physio rehab journey and I'm just thinking, well, I don't think my shoulder's quite up to that yet. Like I've, you know, I ramped up my training now. I feel like I could risk reinjuring that. And I think I need to listen to my body and just give it a little bit more time. So I decided not to do that port to pub swim, which is usually in March this year. But then, you know, I sort of wanted to do another swim soon after that. Um, part of getting my confidence back, particularly in my shoulder, and but also just getting a swim done because after that injury I hadn't done a long swim for six or so months. And I was looking around trying to find a swim to do, and it's kind of the end of the Australian long-distance swimming season. Um, so I started looking at swims over in Europe and then in America, and I was doing a lot of research and I came across this one in Bora Bora, and it seemed, I guess, a little bit off the beaten track. Like it wasn't a swim that I knew anybody who had done before. And, you know, it's not one of the regular ones people talk about. And I think I found something kind of exciting in that, that it was something a bit different. So I reached out to the the organizer SETI and we teed it up and we picked a date and we we ended up doing it. So what I what I love about that is that whilst it was a beautiful swim in and of itself, it was also a bit of a a comeback from the setback of a shoulder injury. And in a way, it turned out better than I could have ever imagined because it was such an incredible swim, and I had my family come across for it, and I had one of my teammates come across, and we just had such a great time and it was um it was a great experience.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

It looked amazing, like absolutely amazing. So congratulations on that. And the water must have been fairly hot though, no? Like compared to what you're trading in now.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

Yeah, yeah, that's probably not the typical swim people do when they're trading for things that's shuttled. Oh wow. The water was about 28 degrees. Um that is hot. It was like low to mid 30s as well. So it was definitely something we had to manage very carefully. So we upped the um the hydration. So normally I'd have about 250 mils of liquid every half hour. Um, but we dialed that right up to 500 mils, and we even froze the last half of our feeds as well to keep them nice and cool. Yeah, it must have been nice to have such a cool drink. Oh, geez. But we we really had to manage for the heat in that swim, and part of that was, I guess, controlling the pace and not going out too hard and trying to keep my stroke rate, you know, not too crazy, um, which was all going, you know, really well to plan until we actually hit some really strong currents. For um, it turned out to be the last 15 kilometres of that swim. It was almost like swimming upstream into a river, um, which became quite interesting because you sort of had to keep your pace on it, you had to keep your power up to combat that current, but you also didn't want to overheat. So it turned into it was actually um it was a challenging swim in a really good way. Um, and I think practicing swimming against those currents was a great experience for me. And um, yeah, I loved it.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

Well, that's incredible. Thanks for sharing that journey. Yeah, it was beautiful. If anybody hasn't seen this yet, um well can how can people follow you on Instagram?

SPEAKER_00 23:11

Is that the main place? Yeah, that's I do post a bit out there. So it's Christine's um dot swims is the Instagram handle there. And um, I was lucky to have one of my teammates, Eric, um, on the boat for that swim. So he's got some great footage um of the island and of swimming around it. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Yeah, he did a great job. And so did you. Okay, so one last like question here. One piece of like water wisdom wisdom, sorry, for women that are starting out right now. And I, women, young women, maybe it's somebody who's been through adversity, someone who has a dream, but maybe like, yeah, what's your wisdom? Like one piece of wisdom that you would share.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

I think um find your people, I think would be the most important part. Like once you you find people, they really take you on that journey and they're the most important part of it. Um, and the only way to find that people is really to get out there and just start doing it. So I think it can be, you know, easy to feel like, oh, you know, you're not ready yet, or you're gonna wait until you know XYZ happens first and then you'll start. But you know, I think if you just get started, even if you're not ready, and then you start to meet these people, um, that's how you start to feel ready. And that's you know, that's the best way. And once you meet those people, they'll take you on the journey and they'll support you. And I think I've found this main community to be so welcoming and so inclusive and so supportive. Um, I think once you have the right people around you, it makes such a difference.

SPEAKER_01 24:35

Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for sharing that. So, everybody hearing that, that's some great wisdom there. Um, so I'm gonna go into some fast, kind of like more fun questions. Um, cold or warm water?

SPEAKER_00 24:49

Funnily enough, I'm gonna say cold, but probably if you asked me 12 months ago, I would have said warm. So, but I've I've learned to love the cold.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

What's the coldest you've been in?

SPEAKER_00 24:58

Um, I guess in Sydney in winter it gets to about 14 at the absolute coldest. Um, but I do a bit of ice bath training at the moment to try and get more experience in the the colder water.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

You just need to come to our community here and like our water is ice. I'm having a hard time getting into it because it's freezing right now. So um that's awesome. Okay, um, favorite um swim spot.

SPEAKER_00 25:25

Oh, I'd have to say um right here at home in Manley, um Cabbage Tree Bay. It's a beautiful marine park area, great wildlife. Um, but I'd also say Lake Argyle, which is at the top of Western Australia, very remote place, but it's where I did my first 10 kilometer swim. So um that's a pretty special spot as well.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

I love it. I'm gonna have to come visit some of these places. I'm coming out there like almost a year from now. So amazing. Yeah, I'll have to try and connect with you. Okay, next one. Top three favorite events you've ever done.

SPEAKER_00 25:59

I reckon uh Palm Tychellou. Um that was incredible. Uh the Strait of Gibraltar, so from Spain to Morocco, there's something wild about that. That is wild. Um, and then I'd have to say probably Bora Bora just because that was so stunning.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

Okay, pre-swim ritual.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

Um I think I like to get to a swim quite early and just take some time to kind of take it in and soak up the environment. Um, maybe have a coffee whilst I'm you know doing my my physio work with my stretchy bands. Um but yeah, I think just just taking the time to kind of absorb where you are and and process that rather than rushing into the water.

SPEAKER_01 26:41

Okay, if water had a personality, what's yours?

SPEAKER_00 26:46

If water had a personality.

SPEAKER_01 26:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

Um I'm gonna say like go with the flow. Go with the flow. I like that.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

Um Do you have like a favorite song that you like to listen to before swimming or after swimming?

SPEAKER_00 27:02

Well, it's a it's a tricky one because you've got to be very careful with what you listen to before a swim because it's probably gonna be in your head for the next like many hours.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:11

But I'm actually I'm a pretty hardcore country music fan, so I love it.

Announcement: Summit Forward Dreamer

SPEAKER_01 27:15

Well, you'd fit in very well here where we live, um, especially in Alberta. I love it. Um, okay. If you could swim with any woman, past or present, who would it be?

SPEAKER_00 27:30

Oh, that's a good question. I mean, I always admire Sarah Thomas for what she's done with her swimming. Um, I think that's incredible. Um, so yeah, I'd probably say her.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

I love it. Well, thank you so much for being a guest on Raw Podcast and for saying yes.

SPEAKER_00 27:45

Oh, well, thanks so much for having me. It's been great to chat.

SPEAKER_01 27:50

Thank you, Christine, for being a guest on Raw Podcast. It was great to hear about some of your swimming journeys, and we can't wait to learn even more about you and your swimming and so much more. We can't wait to follow along with your journey to the English channel as well. You're inspiring to many people around the entire globe. So thank you for being a guest on Raw Podcast today. So doesn't stop here with Christine. I wanted to make an announcement. It is January 2nd, 2026. We're in the new year. And we have made a decision around the Summit Forward initiative and who the applicant will be, who the dreamer is. And the dreamer is Christine. And I looked through her application and it was so inspiring and brought me to tears. And I honestly can't wait for you to learn even more about Christine and her story as we go along this journey. The sponsorship from Sarah Freeman Coaching and the Summit Forward Initiative. Um, there'll be a partial sponsorship that will go to Christine, and this will go towards her epic journey to the English Channel in August of 2026. There'll be so much more to learn about Christine and her journey. And currently, right now, as you're listening to this, if it is January 2nd, it is actually January 3rd in Australia, she is swimming in this incredible river. And I will put it all in here in the details and shared on my Instagram too of her journey of a river to swimming in Australia. And she has mentioned it in this podcast. So much more to come, so much more goodness to come, and I just can't wait for you to learn more about Christine and for myself too. So if you're listening to this, I know you're loving it. Please leave us a rating or a review. Um and I hope this just touches you in a way that inspires you to want to get after your dream. And I can't wait for you to follow along Christine's dream, our net our first dreamer with a Summit Ford initiative. Thanks everyone. Happy New Year, and here's to a next chapter of Raw Podcast.