Sarah Thomas is the only person in the world to have swum four ways non-stop across the English Channel. Her quadruple crossing in 2019, at the age of 37, was over 200km and took 54 hours. Even more incredibly, Sarah had undergone extensive treatment for breast cancer just one year earlier.

Sarah has achieved many other epic swims as well, including the world’s first double crossing of the North Channel and the first current-neutral swim over 100 miles. In this episode we also talk about her first 10km event, the allure of scary swims, her wild and “essential” crossing of the Cook Strait, the power of peanut M&Ms, whether she might return to NZ, and much more.

Visit Sarah's website sarahthomasswims.com

Follow Sarah on Instagram (@sarahswims04)

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Benoit (Ben) Lavigne is a Wellington swim coach. Through his company, Outpace Swimming, he offers private coaching, swim squads, video analysis, clinics, open water training, and swim camps. Ben is also the Head Coach at Tawa Swim Club and was selected as a coach for Swimming New Zealand's Under 19 Team at the 2026 Tri Series in Western Australia.

In this episode, Ben talks about his coaching method, offers technique advice, and shares his own swim journey – from a small child in France who was terrified of the water, to becoming a national-level swimmer and then a coach.

Ben has continued to learn, adapt, and innovate over his decades-long coaching career. His enjoyment and fascination with swimming remains strong, he is a caring and dedicated coach, and is a valued part of Wellington’s swim community.

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What: Ignite Freshwater Swim Fest

Where: Lake Pupuke / Pupukemoana, Auckland

When: February 13–14, 2027

Scott Rice is back on Swim Chats this month to talk about a brand-new swim event coming next summer: the Ignite Freshwater Swim Fest! It will be a fun weekend for the whole family in February, offering a range of swim distances to suit all abilities (250m to 10km), live music, food stalls, the first NZ Doggy Swim Champs (a 100m swim with your pawsome pal), a 4x500m relay, three national swim championships, and much more.

The event's charity partner is Live Ocean and the swim 'ambassadors' who will be attending include gold medallist Lewis Clareburt, ultramarathon swimmer Jono Ridler, Auramove's Laura Quilter, TVNZ's Wendy Petrie, and former All Black Ian Jones.

Scott is passionate about running safe, inclusive, and feel-good events that, as he puts it, are a "celebration of swimming". He founded the NZ Ocean Swim Series, and now runs the Z Manu World Champs and Ocean Swim Fiji.

Learn more about the swim festival and get your earlybird entries via the Ignite Freshwater Swim Fest website.

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Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠StokedNZ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for your towelies and get 15% off with the discount code SWIMCHATS

Enjoy the podcast? Buy me a coffee via ⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/swimchats⁠⁠

Become a Swim Buddy via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/SwimChats⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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