Endurance Innovation

68 - Ali Meeks and Conquering Your Fear of Open Water

Triathlete, coach, and new author Ali Meeks joins us for a deep dive about the psychology of comfort in the water and her new book on the subject.

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2:15 meet swim and triathlon coach Ali Meeks
4:30 the motivation behind Ali’s new book: Conquer Your Fear of the Triathlon Swim
6:30 the fear of open water
10:30 the two aspects of swimming
- Safety
- Choreography
13:15 the ‘not seeing the bottom’ fear and the source of our own safety
15:30 the ‘friends in the water’ fear
17:45 the 5 circles: 1 - calm, 2 - nervous, 3 - afraid, 4 - terrified, 5 - panicked
- Awareness of mental state is first step, always trying to come back to that first circle
- Retain connection to the physical body through mindfulness practice
20:45 the ‘non-wetsuit’ fear
23:00 sinkers vs floaters
28:00 the discomfort of wetsuits
37:00 the role of intensity
- Warmup is key
39:00 the difference between nervousness and excitement is expectation of outcome
40:30 the Conquer Your Fear Process
- Agree not to push your limits in the water
- Follow the process as slowly as necessary to increase comfort while staying in that first circle
- Face in water > floating and feeling the buoyancy > propulsion added to floating > back float for safety > open water in the shallows > open water in deeper water with easy access to shallow water
- Allow natural curiosity to drive progression
47:15 the ‘other people’ factor
48:45 the psychological impact of a death in the water on other swimmers
53:00 self-aware risk acceptance

Learn more about Ali at Ready Set Sweat. More info on the book is here. Conquer Your Fear of the Triathlon Swim can be purchased on Amazon.