SWIMMING WITH THE POD

Ram Barkai is the founder of the International Ice Swimming Association - they are all about swimming in water less than 5 degrees Celcius. Ram has swum many of the world's toughest swims, including in Antarctica, and holds multiple world records. The IISA introduced the Ice Mile as its signature achievement; the Ice Mile is one mile in water of 5C or less. The swim must be unassisted and only a p...

Sally Catt is an ocean swimmer who this year is tackling the English Channel . She is raising money for Save The Box , a campaign to raise awareness and fundraising for gynaecological cancer research, as part of the Australia New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group (ANZGOG). I chatted to Sally about her journey to this point and what it takes to swim that far (>30 km) including long distance...

Andre Slade runs OceanFit , which is an open water swim school run at Bondi Beach. Andre has been involved in ocean swimming for a long time, and knows a thing or two about ocean swimming training, tactics and skills. He's also started a surf life saving magazine and written surf life saving policy. Songs in this episode - all licensed under a Creative Commons License Beach Buggy Ride - SIRPRICE A...

The Cooks River in Sydney has been variously described as  an open sewer , the  River of Death , and one of  Australia's most polluted rivers . Yet there are plans - possibly rather hopeful plans - to  bring swimming back  to the river. There are numerous such rivers in cities around the world, so how realistic is the idea that you could bring swimming back to polluted city rivers? Could ex-indust...

Beachwatch test the water quality of Sydney beaches to see if they are suitable for swimming. The program also partners with councils and wastewater managers for swimming sites along the NSW coast. Water samples are collected and tested for bacteria, which may suggest faecal pollution, and influence whether the beach is safe for swimming . The program started in 1989 due to sewage pollution washin...

It is estimated that ocean plastics will outweigh ocean fish by 2050, according to a study by the World Economic Forum . There are at least  5.25 trillion plastic  pieces  floating in the oceans right now . Dr. Jennifer Lavers is a Research Scientist at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania . She is a marine eco-toxicologist with expertise in tropical and tem...

Can you ocean swim on other planets? Perhaps! Water is far more common in the Universe than you might think, and there are many other oceans out there, even on our neighbours in our own solar system. Associate Professor Jonti Horner  is an astronomer and astrobiologist who works in the  Computational Engineering and Science Research Centre  at the  University of Southern Queensland . We caught up...

A Melbourne man recently emerged from the ocean with his legs covered in blood seeping from thousands of tiny wounds . Dr. Murray Thomson from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at The University of Sydney , thinks that Cirolana harfordi , a small crustacean that lives on the coast and in rivers, may have been to blame. These creatures have been known to take down sharks, have bitten di...