E53 - Ivan Polyntcev - Dancing in the Waves

This episode of Clever Dicks dives into the story of a man whose journey has taken him from the dance floors of Russia to the deep, cold waters of New Zealand.

Ivan Polyntcev is one of those rare people who embodies both grace and grit, always with a smiling face. A former dancer in Russia in his youth, he made the bold move to New Zealand and found a whole new rhythm — in the ocean. Since then, he’s become a dedicated open-water swimmer, taking on some of Aotearoa’s most challenging swims, including the mighty Cook Strait, Lake Taupō, and even a gruelling 24-hour solo pool swim.

When he’s not chasing his own goals, Ivan is in the water or on the boat helping other swimmers conquer their marathon dreams — offering the same encouragement and calm determination that have carried him through his own adventures.

Recently married and with an ever-growing bucket list of swims ahead, Ivan’s story is one of reinvention, resilience, and the power of passion — whether it’s on stage or in the sea.

Cool dude. 

Transcript

0:00

Welcome to another Clevverdiks podcast. In this podcast we're talking to Ivan. Ivan is based in Auckland but grew up in Russia near Lake Baikal and moved over here some time ago. He's done some great swims, he's from Cook's Straight and the length of Tapa. So let's hear him tell us his story about how he managed to do those and some of the challenges that he faced on the way. He's a great guy and it was a great chat. I think you might enjoy this one. Well, welcome to another Clevverdiks podcast. In this podcast we're talking to Ivan. It's Ivan, right? Not Ivan. Yes, Ivan. And your surname is pronounced? Paul Insef. Paul Insef. Well, I was going to ask you to say that. Well, as we always do, I think it's just a chance for you to give us your swim story kind of how you got into it and kind of what it means here and then we'll take the conversation wherever it goes. So, Ivan, what's your swim story? Awesome. Thank you Clevverdiks for first of all for inviting me over to your podcast. It's an honor to be on your podcast and speak with you both. So my swim story began in 2018 very briefly. I was kind of just swimming because I love swimming. Since I was very young, I just wanted to swim. And all my dad taught me how to swim when I was a kid and then sort of, yeah, I would just kept swimming. But the actual swimming began in 2019 when I started swimming and at the time, I was living with homestay and the person who then ended up coaching me for the rest of my swimming career. His name is Clive Lewis. He just asked me one day and he said, well, you know, I asked one before, you know, and then I didn't know his story before and he was like, oh, let me have a look at you. Was Clive your homestay? Yeah, I lived with Clive for four and a half years. I don't know that. Okay, cool. He was like my, well, he's like my granddad actually because he, you know, he took me to practice and things like that. But yes, so in one day, we went to a parallel bath and I swam a couple of hundred meters day and I was absolutely naked. And then I said, well, you know, we can work on it, you know, you know, that, you know, helpless, we can, you know, we can, we can work something out. And then yeah, and I just like, start swimming with him. I started going with him to a parallel bath and he introduced me to a few people around, a few legends that I don't now like, you know, uh, uh, Rick Wells is one of those first people that he actually introduced me to. And he and I just started swimming and I was like, well, and then I was like, well, what, and I'm very like, you know, setting goals and like to achieve things. Yeah, yeah. So I wanted to, yeah, like put myself out there and then, you know, set a goal. And Clive said, yeah, I mean, why not you try open water swim under the bridge, you know, under the bridge when like one cake. So sure. And then still I stopped training for that. So I stopped like 400 meters, I think. And I was absolutely like exhausted after 400 meters. And then we slowly started getting ready for that about maybe two, three months before this one. So I stopped training consistently, swimming, swimming, swimming. And then when that, in that way, I think everything changed after that. And the way I went into swimming a lot, a lot deeper than I thought I would. Um, so I swam one K. And it was just amazing. I think I still remember how tired I was about how satisfied and how whole, like I just felt amazing after the one case swimming. And then, yeah, there was from the bridge, yeah, yeah, under the bridge. So one K. And then, yeah. And then I remember that we had to wake up early. It was a really like, it was raining. It was like stormy conditions. I never swam an open water before ever, especially one K. And yeah. So I swam it. And I was like, yeah, I fell incredible. And straight after I said, well, I want to do something big. And then 2019, I think 6th of April, that's when I swam the bridge. I talked to Clare and said, well, I want to do something big. I think he just mentioned Kukstra to say, I want to do that. That's it. And then 2019, since then, yeah, that's all I was thinking about doing Kukstra, even though I was young as well. So I was only about 19 years old. And you know, at that age, you know, everything is possible. You know, you have no barriers. You know, it's something new. You just enjoyed what you just did. And yeah. And then from there, we started. Can I just go backwards a little bit further? Because I found it quite interesting. And I'm sure some of the listeners will as well. But you were, you were always really competitive as a sports person. And your sport of choice prior to come to New Zealand was dancing. Yes, correct. So what type of dancing was that, you know, what level did you get to? How often did you practice? And what's the difference between swimming and dancing, dude? Because it's like talking cheese, yeah? Yeah. Well, it's a good question. I start dancing when I was three. So I started when I was in the kindergarten. And then my mom said, you know, well, actually, quite funny. You asked me that because I had a choice between swimming and dancing the three years old. And I chose dancing because at that time, the pool where in the kindergarten was shit. Like it was really like not appealing. And I didn't really like that. Or three years old. Yeah. Like what else can I think? So dancing seems a bit easier. And then, and more fun. Yeah. So fun. Yeah. So then yeah. And I just don't start dancing like whatever, you know, there's like, you know, pop dance, I guess at that time. And then slowly, slowly, and also at that time, the dance school where I started only established, got established. Yes. So I was basically from the beginning. And then so yeah, we start growing. At the beginning, I was like, you know, kids just doing some fun, a bit of competition, you know, in the city and things like that. But then things got a lot more interesting after probably when I was what middle school, you know, like 12, 13, when we started actually going to competition around Russia. And then, you know, actually doing a lot of stuff like. And then we've been, we trained, we trained a lot. And to the maximum, we did train five to six days a week. No hold is nothing of that. My parents, my mom was enjoying me having a lot of dancing. But my dad was the opposite. He doesn't like me dancing at all. He was always against it, you know, because like, I mean, from where I'm from, it's not very appealing. Like, you know, people, you know, from boys, you need more like, you know, martial arts, many, you know, many enough. So we just mentioned that. So whereabouts do you come in? You mentioned Russia. Whereabouts in Russia? Did you grow up? So it's part of Russia near the biggest lake in the world. It's called Lake Baikal. Yeah. So it's the biggest lake in the world. And then in the town that I'm from, it's called Yukutsk. So, yeah. So I'm from that, it's fairly close to Mongolia. It's about maybe three, four hundred kilometers. That's quite, it's on the eastern part of Russia. It's quite far from Moscow, which is kind of the more sort of, yeah. Yeah. Well, it, it, it could cause it's a part of Siberia in the region. Yeah. Okay. So it's, it's, it's cold and winter and it's cold and summer. So my mind immediately goes to what's that lake's water temperature? I think in winter, in summer, in winter it froze completely up to three meters, ice, ice depth. And then in summer, I think it goes up to nine degrees, eight nine degrees maximum. If it's a really good summer, if it's the summer, it's like five degrees. But it's a single digit, sometimes double digits, but normally it's single digits. So, so out of the question to India, Americans from English conditions, are, yeah, but maybe, uh, yeah, it's, uh, it's different. Yeah, it's, uh, it's a quite wide lake as well. So the, I think the, the shore, the nearest part is 90k. Yeah. And it's deep and it's very deep and because of that, it's, it's cold. So the water can warm as quickly because any storm, the water gets, you know, messed up and it's it. And then it goes back to whatever level. So I understand that in winter, way back more than a hundred years ago, they would actually lay railway lines and put trains down the lake in the middle of winter. And that's one of the ways that people would get to the eastern part of Russia. It was that a, a story that I heard or would you think that might be true? Um, not sure about the train, but definitely trucks. Oh yeah. Well, a hundred years, no trucks, but yeah, any, any, you know, like horses, horses, wagons, things like that. Yeah. Yeah, trains probably not because it's still quite dangerous. Yeah. Because, you know, yeah, it's a heavy resource. How much, how much white debt can take a lot? Yeah. Yeah. Well, nowadays, some part people go across on a trucks, heavy trucks, like, you know, food trucks or something like that. I wouldn't want to do that. Okay, so some of the bridge cooks straight, yeah, we come. Yeah. But before that, just to finishing up on that prior story to swimming, is that, um, when I was around 15, that's when we were training really hard. We didn't have any days off. Yes. We just trained every day. We competed a lot. And then yes, I think the biggest similarity between swimming and dancing as consistency, being consistent in training and you'll be able to practice daily. So you don't, you're only getting better. You can't get any worse. Yeah, because you just, yeah, you just, it doesn't matter good a bad day. You're still doing it. And then that's where winners and losers are actually, you know, different. Heads down, practice, put the hours in and you'll see the results, yeah. Yeah. So there's no any magical form, formula way. You can just show up and just do it because, because you do, you can't. Yeah. There's still behind. There's a lot of work behind. Dude, I would, I'd like to say that I can relate, but I can't because I can't dance to save my laugh literally. Yeah, but it's about putting effort into what you want to do. Whatever it is, I'm certain. Yeah. Cool. Okay. And then yeah, based to back, back to, yeah, from the bridge, yeah. And then I just start training, you know, Clive, because I was living with Clive, Clive will take me to swimming pools, like Olympic pool and tapet bath. And we would just, and I would just practice because I didn't have a card, didn't have anything. Some days I would just walk to the pool and I would just swim, swim, swim, swim. I swam probably in 2019, I swam a year and a half by myself. I couldn't join any clubs because I was too slow. I couldn't do anything. So I just swam by myself. And then Clive would write a session to me every time I go to the pool. Yeah. And then like I'll probably swam like probably four times a week. So he'll give me a session every time. And then I will always come back and say, well, this is what I've done. This is the times I swam. And then sometimes he will be happy. Sometimes he will be angry because, you know, well, I, you know, I know he knows how much effort I can put in. And then sometimes when I come back with some, some information or excuse here, well, he can definitely, you know, sort of see the bullshit that I tell him. So, yeah. So that was, yeah. But I also wasn't really trying to hide any anything that, you know, I didn't do it. I was really almost like, well, this is what I've done. That's it. Like, that's me. So I didn't try to, you know, sort of hide the lie. Yes. And then I just been swimming and then I get into more open water swimming, more and more, try to get it myself into any races that I can find. Yeah, because you used to do, obviously, the ocean swim series. Yeah, I did. You've done a couple of those three K, like three Ks, four Ks races. And you would always come out like top 10, top five age group. Always get a medal. Yep. Bronze, bronze normally bronze. Yeah. Yeah. But you say that you are slow. Now, now all of a sudden, you, is that just with the training you've got from Clive? You're, you, there's a lot of squads here to be at those kind of speeds. You could have joined many squads, right? Yeah. I think a few things was that I didn't learn to swim when I was 19. Like, I already knew how to swim. And I would, I didn't, like I didn't say that my swimming was bad. It was just not good enough. Yeah. Well, in Clive's eyes. Let's put it that way. Yeah. Yeah. But I also, I also wanted to improve a lot. And then I don't hear it. So I just wanted to improve. And then I was just taking everything on board wherever Clive would say to me, you know, about, you know, technique and technique, stamina, you know, consistency, again, consistency, being consistent. And he will always talk to me about, he'll give me a lot of examples of different athletes in different, you know, different, from different sport. Like, you know, you can be boxing, can be gymnastics, anything. You just tell me those stories and I'll get like inspired, motivated, and also, yeah, and just sort of, you know, it's a really good, you know, example. He didn't push me to do things. I wanted to do it. And he just let me imagine, bring that imagination, even in broader. Yeah. Pushed in a lot direction. So why, why did you choose cook? Because that's the hardest of the music to become art. That's a good question. I think I was just young and I didn't really understand what I was, what I was really putting myself into. I just didn't know. I just, I think it's a lack of knowledge and a lot of confidence and ability to do anything I want to. And that's, I think that's where I came up to with a quick straight. Yeah. And yeah, that's something that kind of told me about it. And I was like, well, cool. I mean, yeah. Yeah. Because you see, like, I'm a competitive person and I like to achieve things and I didn't find it hard. So how, how long after that conversation at the, from the bridge, did you physically book your swim for the cook's right? Like, what, what year did you put in for? So probably it's either 2020 or 2021, because another person comes up into conversation. It's a genre. We swim beach to the Bay. What is that? That Takapuna in a narrow neck, narrow neck to Takapuna. We swim that. And, and yeah, Clive was there like, well, you know, kind of because I've been talking about it with everyone. I wanted to cook straight and everything. I wanted to buzz and everything. And then, yeah. And then John or John or King to me and asked, you know, I've heard you want to do cook straight and everything. And at the time, I didn't know who I'm talking to, just, just a guy, you know, but, you know, now, obviously like, well, you know, he approached me and then he recommended me to book a slot two years in advance, which I guess would be, so I booked it for 2023, summer, which was what, yeah, 2021, yeah, 2020, yeah, two years, two years, yeah, because I was still like, you know, swimming, but nothing, nothing like important. Like I didn't, we still were discussing a lot and talking a lot about the straight and like, and Clive was preparing me for what about to come, because he was coaching me for the swim. And then, but he knew, and I didn't understand that, I was just that selfish ego with a big ego boy that just, whatever you say, old man. I just, I just, I just want to, I just want to do it, you know, is it all to imagine that if one isn't. Yeah, I don't know, he's talking about it. Okay, cool. So when, when did, and that's all, that the day that I spoke to Jonah, we're basically within the next like week, we, yeah, basically booked the slot, I paid deposit, and that's it. Like it was basically that. But at that time, I didn't have any experience. At that time, we were doing it with Phil, Phil Rush, legends of and, yeah, he said, what experience do you have? I have nothing. There was nothing, at that time, there was nothing more than 5K. I put a aura in the wetsuit, in the wetsuit. Yeah. So you said, but I'm, but I'm Russian and I've been dancing for 15 years. I'll be okay. Yeah, I said, well, you know, and I miss kidney boys just standing there. Yes, you put on a lot of bulk since those days, huh? Yeah, I was, how many kilos more or less from then to now, dude, 20, yeah, 20, 20, maybe a bit more now, 25, 25, 25, that's a lot to you. Yeah, but I was also, you know, 20, 21, I struggled for two years to put on weight, but then over all of a sudden, I just, then you got the hang of it. Then I'm boom, boom. You know what happened after I started swimming a little and open water without a wetsuit. That's where the change happened. I think, naturally, my body said, well, if you're not going to put a weight, we're going to die. And then so I naturally start putting a weight without any effort, any dieting. No, up to this day, I eat exactly the same. Like I don't have any specific diet. I just eat like normal. Yeah, you know, just, this is just, I reckon there's something in there. So your body goes into the ocean and it's cold and it knows it needs to survive and it changes. Yeah, yeah. That's my excuse I'm going with it. Yeah, man, it's good too. No, I can't, no, I can't lose any weight. It's only going up. It's okay. You go to just do like one ocean swim every year and you can say, hey, I'm a marathon swimmer and that's why my shape is the way. Yeah, actually, that's true. No, no, no, this is really well. I don't, I don't have any apps. You know why? Because I'm a marathon swimmer. Yeah, we need to have, I'm training. Yeah, I don't have a six pack. I've got it here. Right? Hello, swimmers. I'm Shannon Keegan, US-based founder of Intrepid Water and host of the podcast Stories from the Water. My friends at Swimscape in Auckland, New Zealand are the proud ambassadors of Auckland's most iconic ocean marathon swim. The 20 kilometers around Rangitoto, volcano in the Haraki Gulf. This is a very achievable marathon swim that like all long distance swims will live in your memories forever. I don't know about you, but I've got this swim on my bucket list for when I get to visit the beautiful land of the Kiwi. Jump on swimscape.co.nz or email info at swimscape.co.nz to book your slot. See you in the water. Okay, so in that journey, you through your ego and your motivation, you also put up your hand for some ice rink, and you kicked a little bit of ice in the Alex Swing pool. Yeah, yeah. So we're here, 2023. Yeah, so July, 2023, what about six months before my first attempt? Yeah, 2023, first, before first attempt. Cook straight. Yeah, I think at that time I was quite experienced already, because I've already done like 10, 20, 25, 30 case swims, like I already knew what I need. And I thought, well, it's the first ever event in New Zealand, and I thought, well, I better participate. And then everything just came up together nicely. You know, the company, the people who was there and everything just sort of came up nicely without any effort, like without any extra effort that you have to put into things like that. So, and yeah, and then, yeah, so there was another big shift in my overall training and confidence swimming long in lower temperatures. Just tough. Yes, I think mentally, mentally, mentally, I think it's more important to actually highlight it that mental side of preparation is more important than physical, you know, physically can be really strong. This is what happened on my first attempt that, yeah, I was physically strong, really ready, but mentally, it wasn't that I was scared. So that's not to talk me through that. So, first attempt, first attempt 2023, yeah, so my whole family came, yeah, I think it was too much disruption from my family. You know, that's, you know, honest answer, but at the same time, the weather was shit, then Wellington, it was so bad, like there was like blowing really hard, raining, then tides were not thin, and that was my week. So that was my week, and then the week before that was nice, it was funny, the week after was nice, just my week was absolutely sadly came through the, I think water temperature dropped from 18 to 15 within like base, and then we were wearing not shorts, but there were like five degrees, eight temperatures, five degrees, it was like suddenly blast. So was there a risk of not starting your struggles because of the weather? That's what happened, yeah, I didn't even, I didn't even get into the water. Oh, you didn't even swim, I don't know, that was really shit. Yeah, so I didn't, I didn't swim, and that's it, but at the same time, you know, I had university, I had things, and I just couldn't postpone it for another two, three weeks, even though I had a chance, but I didn't take it because I really understood that I wasn't prepared, yeah, I wasn't prepared mentally to take it on board, yeah. And because, you know, I had like, you know, yeah, I was, I had too many worries in my head, and yeah, I think I just shut myself down. Before even, I think, you know, before even I good that message from Phil saying, you know, well, we're not doing it, that's it. I think it happened earlier before that, so. And that was, there was sort of end of summer season, so there wasn't, yeah, it was 34th of March, yeah. So there was that pass point for a year, basically, aren't? Yeah, yeah, sort of, yeah, sort of that was the, yeah. So what happens after that, you like take a rest and you unwind and you stop swimming? I was really sick. Um, yeah, I had like, I was sick, like, yeah, I was sick. I had diarrhea, like for a month, my head, I was sick as well, like I had a sore throat for like two months. I didn't swim for half a year. Yeah, so it was really bad. And then, yeah, it was, it was quite an experience, but from that experience, I took a lot more than what I took. If it was everything, something like, other way around, or, you know, another side of it, because, you know, from that, I learned a lot, like what things needs to be done, how it prioritized, how you merge, who is coming, who is not coming, um, and being able to tell them, because be able to tell everyone around you that, well, uh, that's what I want. That's who I want. That's who is going to help me. And, but the only thing that I changed a lot after that's when, because for that first attempt, I tried to, um, like let everyone know that I'm swimming, good straight. So everybody can support me. That's the only thing that's the biggest thing I've changed since first attempt, is that I, after the first attempt, I didn't tell from that point onwards, I never told anyone about any adventures that I'm going to do. Yeah, yeah. Uh, so I'll just talk to a few people who I'm really, you know, sort of, you know, that I want to just keep the secret with and then also the people who can help me, you know, um, and I was like, you know, a few people. And yeah, I'm just quietly start training again. I start like, you know, start slowly again, building it up and, you know, had a few conversations like, what are the things we have to, uh, do to prepare myself a lot better for it. And then obviously, you know, I wrote myself a huge plan. Um, yeah, but I also had a stick. I had a year off. So I had a year off. I didn't have a month off. I had like 2024, I didn't swim anything big. Okay. So I was just, you know, sort of, well, having good time. Yeah, keeping, keeping, you know, the life and, you know, living the life and, you know, enjoying it and, you know, just swimming. Just come back to the basic. I always tried to come back to the basic, like, why is swimming? Because I love swimming, not because I do it for achievements. I do it because I enjoy doing it. It's like what I, uh, enjoy and, that's important, dude. Yeah. Without that, what's the point to I? Yeah. Yeah. And I'll tell you why it's important. I'll let it on in this conversation. Because yeah, it drove me in one of my swims the whole time. So, um, yeah. So, um, and then the second time, basically, when I wanted to start training for cook straight, um, yeah, basically 2024, uh, beginning of the year, start talking with Clive again. I said, Oh, you know, well, I'm, I'm going to give it another go because I've been living at that time for about 18 months. And I had a hole in me that something that's not, uh, um, completed in the past. Yeah. Yeah. Something is not as they unfinished business. Yeah. And it's holding me. And then, and I can't move forward. And then you think like that was the thing. And I was pulling me back. And I was like, you know, beginning of 2024 is like life, you know, yeah, I think I'm going to, you know, try it again. Well, I've changed a few things, obviously, you know, I tried to get all my experience and ask a few people around who can like, journal and then Brian, uh, ask them for advice like, you know, what should I do and everything and everything comes up to consistency. And then so from me onwards, I just wrote myself a plan, um, sort of planned a few swims before cook straight. And I thought that would be really good idea for me first of all. And I was all mental preparation, mental training, uh, swimming alone, um, without any swimming, swimming buddies who can sort of have given you that piece of mind. Uh, so I just swam alone from me onwards, trained alone pro, most of the time in winter, when swim alone, like five, 10, 15 K. And then when I think first thing, what I did, I, I did a swim at Samoa. So I'll probably illustrate. Yes. Um, and yeah. So that was my first swim because I wasn't sure about this temperature, but I wanted to do the distance. And the distance was between 20 to 30 K. So this is before your second attempt. Yeah. Yeah. It's part of your buildup. Yeah. Yeah. So my buildup. So it was mainly the distance. So nothing to do about a temperature, even though the temperature of, of apple industry, it was 28 degrees. Yeah. It was really warm. It was too warm that my face was like a balloon. That was like crazy. How far was that? Uh, I think in the straight line, it's 23 K. Yeah. I ended up swimming 24 and a half in the, in the most miserable conditions that people on the boat had. There was worse conditions, you know, my support, who was on, there was bad, like swell, three to four meters, wind 30 to 40 knots. Like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was raining and it was storm and everything as well. But so I, I did that swim. So there was July. Then I came back and then I went back straight into winter, swimming in Auckland. And then from 28 to 13, 14 degrees and, and then yeah. And then after that, I came back into my plane, look at what else. As I, and then I approached you. Yeah. Swimscape, Duncan. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sick with missions, sick with hands. Yeah. I want to see. So I approached Duncan and I said, well, I want to do Rangitoro circumventification because that would also, well, Duncan didn't know what I was training for, but I said, well, I just want to do Rangitoro in September. Well, in August, it was an initial plan, but something came up together. And then I was like, oh, it's a good good distance, like 20 K, good temperatures, like, well, you were quite specific about doing it in September. I think we did it in September, if I recall. Yeah. Yeah, September, 13. So cold, yeah, cold water. Yeah. Doesn't matter the conditions, whatever, whatever. Yeah, there was, yeah, I wanted something hard, like something hard, something that's, you said the record that day. Yes, I did. Yeah, man. Yeah. And then I, I was on till, was the lady Karina. Yes. Karina did the record by what's about. It wasn't that much. It was like, yeah, how's going to say 67 minutes. Yeah. But that's good. She's a, she's a, she's a, well, but she's, she's, you know, she's at another level. She's a, when I, when I was swimming, she was just swimming with Cook's Ray, you know, and then also, you're happy to lose a record to her. Yes. Well, the records are there to be beaten. Yeah. Otherwise, yeah, there's no point in records. I know. And yeah, so Rangitara was in September, September, and then, yeah, and I went back to swimming. But then, actually, that was before this, before December, things got really like not good in my health. So I had some health problems, and I had to do some surgeries that, like, no one knew about. And I guess after this podcast, we'll send people know. So I couldn't, I didn't swim in November, December, and half January. I didn't swim for two and a half months. And then, my Cook's straight window was on 5th, 5th of February. So before crazy, and then I had a wedding in December. Well, this, yeah, New Year, you, after New Year, I had a wedding, and that was in January. So I didn't swim because of health problems for two and a half months before we were straight. But I didn't put into there. I, because of my mental training and mental strength, because I prepared my body and prepared my head to deal with that negativity differently. So I was able to just move it away. But I didn't think, I didn't have anything negative thoughts in my head. It was just all moved on. And I just kind of said, well, it is what it is. You know, you put yourself into this position. So well, you're going to do with it. And then because I did it, I didn't tell anyone. I just kept going. Did your crew know? My wife knew about it, because she knows what I'm up to and everything. So she was with me the whole time. And then I, and basically after waiting, I went back to swimming straight away. And I just did 10k event, two and a half k. And there was an entire, I was doing some, what do you call the epic epic? Yes. So I did just 10k and two and a half k. It was less than 24 hours back when I returned from overseas. And then a time different six hours. I'm jet lagged. I went basically from airport home, take my stuff. And I went straight to the airport the next morning I swam 10k. I was super tired. But I was so surprised that even though I didn't swim for so long, and I didn't do any exercise at all. Like I just didn't do anything. I just couldn't. I I was not allowed. And I was like, yeah. And I was like, I kind of thought for a second, well, I'm in not in a really good position right now, because at that time, I already knew how hard it could straight is. And it's like in, yeah, and I just went full mode. I just swam. I just swam every day. Not a lot. But every day, I just swam. Every day, I swam. How long from from four weeks started turning again to cook. Full of weeks. So what you're saying to me, I need to interrupt, is the lessons that you learned the first time round. You just threw away and disregarded all of them. I didn't take any of the answer hard. Well, it's again. I talked to John O'Brien. They say consistency is key. So I just didn't listen. Yeah. Yeah. It's a good point. And I also thought about it a lot. You know, I thought about it a lot myself. Like, you know, well, I've done that much stuff. But because of some limits that I didn't put myself, but, you know, I couldn't, I couldn't physically swim. Like I wasn't allowed. Yes. Yeah. And then it's still not the not the cleverest thing in the world. It's not. But I thought, well, if not now, that never. That's why we've got him on the clever Dick's podcast. Yes. Yeah. That's why we're responsible. Yeah. So I was, yeah, I was just like, well, I was very positive. You know, I was just keep myself positive. Did you tell full about this after you had finished the things that the second attempt I didn't do with full? Ah, yeah. That's correct. Yeah. So the second attempt I did with another person, his name was Grant Orkut. Yes. Ketabetic. Ketabetic. So he was the person who helped me the second time. And he was quite negative too. If about a few things with me. I don't know if negative, negative, negative. He was more, he was very realistic. He was honest with me. Yes. And he was cautious. Yes. I mean, I think that's the day of the Cook's trade. Well, the day before Cook's trade, when we all went to his boat and we had a conversation. And he said, well, how long do you think it's going to take you? Yeah. I said, between six to eight hours. He said, he laughed. He said, oh, minimum eight. A minimum eight. It's based on conditions. Based on conditions. Yeah. Based on conditions, I guess. Yeah. Ended up swimming almost 11. So yeah, I got a little bit worried. Because of the distance, because at that time, I never swim eight hours in open water. Never. So at that time, my longest open water swim was six hours, six hours, six and a half hours. That's my longest. That's a believer. Yeah. Yeah. So and I thought and I talked to John about it. He said, I don't worry about it. We're going to be fine. You're going to be fine. So there's no problem. And then there's like, sure, I mean, at that time, I was prepared, like mentally, I was there. Like, it is one of those, you know, there's like that feeling when, well, you got a job. You got a job or that's it. Get out of here. 100% man. I often just say to myself, you know what, if African fell off a boat and the land was 28 ks away and I just laughed for a few days and I hadn't trained and I hadn't whatever, I'm going to swim 28 ks. So that's you got to put yourself into that situation, which is basically what you did. But the trade was amazing. You know, temperature, water temperature, didn't surprise me at all. I found it quite warm. And when I said it feels like it feels like summer, it feels like really warm because it was quite warm. We started 14 or 15 degrees, I think. And then patches were like 18, but mainly it was like six and 17, but there was mostly like patches. It still went down. But yeah, that was great one. Like I enjoyed it. It was great. And then the only time that grants the captain said to my crew that, oh, you know, tell I want to swim faster. Otherwise, he's going to end it up in Kaikura because the tides were pushing was the opposite what he predicted and what actually supposed to happen. Okay, because I couldn't get out from South Island. So I swam South to North. Yes, I couldn't get out from South Island for two, three hours because the tides were pushing me back. Okay. And then I couldn't get into North Island because the tides were pushing me out and and then sideways. That's why Grant made that comment to my crew that, you know, well, because I was coming to one point and it just went sideways. Yes. And and so were you able to raise the game and put it up? Yeah. So the last, the last two hours of my swim, I just sprinted. I sprinted for two hours straight and then living in the end, I can see how strong the tides is because I'm moving towards the land. I already can see some wheat and I'm just moving like this. At the end, I had to pull wheat and just pull myself through because the tide was like super strong. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, great. Like I, I saw dolphins, a few albatross came around, a few seals who were in the distance, but at the time, I didn't give a shit about this. You finished that night? I finished. No, I finished what time? Six, seven o'clock. So we started seven. Yeah. So yeah. So 11 hours. Yeah. Yeah. All in the daylight, all in daylight. Job done. Yeah. So yeah. Straight. What do you think about? What is one? Let's put it that way. That swim was later on, became too important and too personal. So I was thinking about someone, pretty much the whole swim and it's it. That's all I've been thinking about and that my swims normally have a name or that I, how you say it, that I, you know, sort of swim for someone or I name my swims under. Do you want to mention that someone or not? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Do you think in Russian or in English? I in both. Okay. Yeah. In both. Yeah. Okay. I still need to learn some Russian three ways from you, you know. Let me just make some notes here. So that sounds like an amazing swim. So you finished Cook's straight and now you can put your feet up and just chill out for a bit. Is that hard works with you? Well, he does that before this swim. That would have been the case only if I didn't plan another swim after Cook's straight. No one even knew about it. Only I knew about it and how I came up with the second swim is me and John have been in the sauna and I talked to John and I say, what do you think if I can do two swims one after another? So I'm basically talking about Cook's straight first and then Lake Tahoe for second. I said, well, I think it will be fun. John has said to me, oh, it will be fun. And that's it. That's how the idea came together and it's like, but then you know, if I say something, I have to deliver it. You know, it's like that, you know, that thing that in me that you, if I say something, then whatever, how hard, it doesn't matter how hard it is, I'm going to do it and it doesn't matter how what it takes, I'm going to do it. So that's what basically happened. I had some concerns and some, you know, thoughts about it, but again, I called John and I said, well, I'm not really sure because I was absolutely, well, fucked basically after Cook's straight because it was hard swim and everything. So I was not really sure about Tahoe point and I called John and I said, well, you know, I'm not sure about it. And then John kind of through conversation with me took me in the right path, like he just sort of like navigated me through those thoughts, negative thoughts and some sort of like, yeah, like just calm you down. Yeah, calm me down. And that's it. And then when I contacted Duncan again, and then and it's good that you need to start speaking to different people, leave John and Duncan and you see the thing is that there's two things. One thing is that you knew me before my swims. Yes. And then it helped a lot to talk to you about what I want to do because I knew you as well as a person, we have a bit of history. Yeah, we had a couple of really honest chats around what we were going to do and why and how. Yeah. And then yeah, and then Lake Tahoe Paul came into conversation in no one, I didn't talk to Duncan until I did the Cook's straight. So that was the point, make sure that Cook's straight is done. So focus on one thing at a time, there was the plan and then yeah, and then was if I complete the Cook's straights, I can do Tahoe Paul because that's the only way to do it. Otherwise, I wouldn't. And yeah, so I did Cook's straight and then what a week later after Cook's straight, I, well, met with you and we discussed, I'll say, well, this won't can do. It's too possible and I felt positive about it and certain and then what six, seven weeks later, I went back into all the swimming and that's where Lake Tahoe Paul and that the phrase about that I wanted to mention is that I did Tahoe Paul, I didn't have any reasons, I didn't have any motivation, I just went because I love swimming. Yes, I swim because that's all I was telling myself, I love swimming, that's it. I don't need to have a reason, I don't have to have anything. I headed for Cook's straight and only for everything else, I think it's at this stage, it's, yeah, Tahoe was just all about enjoying myself in the water and then, and yeah, just being with that, you know, that part because I wanted it. Were you more relaxed and was it a more enjoyable swamble? I think it was enjoyable till a moment when it started getting, I can see that the sun going down. I'm still swimming. What's going on? There was a long swim. That was a long swim. 40 cases a long way, yeah. But from from our perspective, John, I don't know if you can concur, but you were, you were super prepared, you know, the pre race or pre race, the pre swim brief with regards to your feeds and everything was chilled and relaxed. On the swim was was very relaxed. The test of the boat the day before the damn engine broke down, you were chilled, you relaxed. So it seemed like you were in a really good headspace. I wasn't, I wasn't. You know, I had a few moments as well. I had, yeah, I was not close to pull out. But then I thought, well, I brought all this people, you know, people like me. Yes. And if I'm going to just pull out, it's going to be, well, I think I wouldn't, I wouldn't, you know, sort of, I would regret it by a lot. Even, you know, yeah, I would regret it because, well, I've already decided it. Like, why would I pull out, you know, and that's the time I, I thought of a phrase like, well, that's what risk is cold. You know, you have to take a risk, you have to, you know, step, put that step forward and move yourself forward and that's it. And then, but the first three hours in the dark, because we started in the dark, or was the most horrible time I had in the whole swim. I think because of, yeah, because I had those a bit of, you know, battle in my head about things and, you know, you know, still have this thing, but then slowly, slowly, slowly, I go down to the rhythm, you know, sounds start showing up, slowly, and like, well, you know, there's not that bad. And then sort of, yeah, and I just, got lost in my thoughts for the rest of the swim. I think it was half the sun coming up and half the fact that your wife was able to join you as just about as the sun came up, the, the helped. Yeah, I think there was also a big part of being able to, yeah, for her to come up with me and experienced again, because every time she says, oh, next time I don't want to go because it's hard. Was she on the boat at Cook? Yeah. But Cook was different. She was, you know, always on the boat at Appalimma. Oh, yeah. So she's done Appalimma with you. She did when you started with you. All the big swamps, yeah. We slowly started. She started when I started, you know, swimming journey in 2020. She already started coming with me to smaller bands and then slowly, those small events, she stopped coming and then she started coming to the big ones and then so all the small events now, they just like, how far you're swimming? 3K? Don't even bother me. Whatever you do. Funny when you're serious. Yeah. Only the big ones. Only only big big events. She's very special, dude. You need to look after her. Absolutely. So one of the funny moments of that swim that springs to mind, you mentioned Brian Gray a couple of times. Yeah. And for whatever reason, Brian was was chunking down a whole bunch of water on that particular swim and he was standing up on the IRB and having a wee overboard, but he was facing you. And you stopped and you said a couple of F words in between. Brian, I don't want to see you every time I breathe. Let's stick in my memory until the day that I don't. That was saying, Brian is a special man. He's a character, that's for sure. Exactly. But I think overall experience in open war, it's amazing. It's community, it's support, the physical part of the swimming itself. I think there's just so many components in swimming that brings together positive people, great environment, always something big and common and then something special and common. I don't want to do some big events. People are interested and it's a team sport. Yeah, it's a team, oh, absolutely. Open water, marathon swimming, it's a team effort, it's a team achievement, it's not an individual sport. Yeah, that's for sure. That's one of the things. So just on that point, we've spoken a lot about your swimming, but you've done a lot of the support stuff as well. You've done it for Brian and other people. How do you find supporting somebody else trying to achieve some of their goals? Yeah, I think it's actually also very unique because I understand from a swimmer perspective how we choose your support crew because it's very important for for swimmer to have a really good support crew with you. And I think I always get owner to be part of the crew for a swimmer and also my friend and then I can help them achieve their goals. I think it works really well. And also it's another part and I can see both sides of the story. As a swimmer, you just swim and then you know, we just do as you told, but when you support crew, you do a lot of other things, you know, about feet, you monitoring the swimmer, you know, you chat to them, make sure they have a good head space and yeah, there's a lot of little details comes into that. Also, pre-swim planning, you know, talking about, you know, what you want to do, how you want to get dressed, you know, there's so many little things that can get very important in some crucial time of the swim. Yeah, I did a bit of crewing and then, you know, it was a real pleasure that people let me be on the crew. You know, I don't like what my first ever was, I supported Bryan Ray for his, like, top swim. And then, you know, I was when I was, that was about 2022, you know, even before in my swim, I was like, wow, how can he, I was like, how can he swim that far? And then for me, it was, it was like a, like hard, like supporting was hard and supporting his heart. It's a, it's a job that you cannot prepare for, because you're not doing it on daily basis. For swimming, for swimming, it's easy, because you know what to do. You need to swim, train, that's it. But for this kind of things, you can't, it just, that's just you, that's who you are, that you just have to deal with it in the moment, being flexible, able to take shit into your, into, up to your name and things like that, but yeah. Yes, because, because it's grumpy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it's good to, you know, see both sides of the store. Okay. So, I know you don't like sort of committing publicly to things, but do you think you're going to be doing more kind of big swims or what does swimming look like in the future? I'm not asking you to say what you're going to do. But yeah, you think you're going to do a couple of big ones? Yeah, I have, like some big plans to, in the future. So, yeah, like, you know, maybe attempt to do some, some of the swims from Ocean 7. Oh yeah. That can be, you know, one of the, you know, of the path that I can take. I might do swims that never been done before. So, design my own swims, design something that I can do as a first person and then something really hard. Yeah. But a lot of people have been asking me after I finished Tarpal is that, well, you know, that's sort of a logical that next room is going to be for the straight. You know, and I said, yeah, I mean, it is logical. It is logical to finish the museum triple crown. Yeah, but, you know, we'll see how that will go. Because that's, now I know, you know, those swims first, not easy. Second, they are not cheap. And be able to put a lot of time and effort into training that, you know, requires. And I understand how much it is. It's, you know, either do it 100% and don't even think about it. Otherwise, it doesn't work otherwise. You either do it or not. Like everything else. Yeah. But I also, because I am, you know, migraine to Tixeldeck, you know, life can get so some curve balls that you really have to manage that as well. So, you know, you know, if I didn't have to sort anything else, and then I would just swim, I would just swim every time. That's all I would do. I would just train, swim, and I'll just travel around the world, do big, small swims, whatever, meet a lot of people. Saturday night, Lotto is worth 23 million, so buy a ticket, Brad. Is your dad more happier with you now that you've become a man and you're doing a manly sport now? No. Well, the thing is that I think he didn't, he always supported me. You know, even if he didn't like it, he still supported. Yes. And then family always support me. Whatever I do, doesn't matter, you know, you know, what it is I do. You know, they will always support me. And then, you know, and because, you know, I do something that not a lot of people do in the world, you know, it could straight swim, maybe less than 250 people. And then it's like nothing compared to the whole population of this world. 8 billion people. Yeah. It's like, you know, 0.001 percent of people for swim books straight. That's nothing. Even even fewer Russians took. Yeah. There you go, right? Yeah. 10 people from Cooksland. And then 10 people, right? You are an absolute legend. When I met you, you, you were 19 and you were 20 kilograms less. You're still as much fun to be around and your energy is amazing. And I'm looking forward to watching you swim over the next 10, 20, 30 years later. And hopefully we can be involved with some of your adventures. And you're a legend. And it's been a pleasure joining you on your journey, bro. Awesome. Thank you, Danco. Thank you, Jim. It's been a pleasure. Hi, my name is Caitlyn O'Reilly. I'm the youngest person who have completed the Ocean 7 Challenge. And for this really cool podcast has helped you learn something new. Maybe it's introduced you to new swimmers, made you smile. Then please take the opportunity to subscribe to Duncan and Jim's channel. I'm sure they would absolutely appreciate all your support. Cheers. Thanks, Caitlyn. Well, as always, you can give us feedback on our Instagram account at ClevverDix or send us an email ClevverDixinz at gmail.com. We'd really appreciate hearing from you and cheers. We'll speak to you again soon.