It's our final swim history episode of 2025! Featuring special guest, ultramarathon swimmer John Hancock who is back for his third episode to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Captain Matthew Webb's English Channel crossing. We talk about:

• Captain Webb's astonishing Channel swim in 1875, a feat that hadn't been achieved before and was not repeated by anyone else for more than 30 years.
• The life story of the Captain – his heroism, his daring escapades, and his tragic final swim.
• The English Channel's swimming legacy, with facts and figures (mostly cobbled together from Wikipedia and the LongSwims database) and high achievers – including Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the Channel in 1926, and Sarah Thomas, who achieved a quadruple crossing in 2019.
• How the English Channel compares with the Cook Strait (John has swum the Strait and was on the support boat for Wellington swimmer Rebecca Hollingsworth when she swam the Channel in 2024).
• Wellington coach Phil Rush's unbeaten records for his double and triple crossings of the Channel in 1987 (Phil also has his own Swim Chats episode).
• Captain Paul Boyton, who in 1875 achieved the first 'assisted' crossing of the Channel wearing an inflatable rubber suit of his own design, just a few months before Captain Webb's 'unassisted' swim.

Photo: Captain Matthew Webb in the 1870s.

A useful source and recommended further reading: Splash! 10,000 Years of Swimming by Howard Means (Allen & Unwin, 2020)

Shona will be speaking at theWild Swimming in Aotearoa: Author Panel event at Newtown Library on November 27.

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If you're an ocean swimmer, you've probably encountered jellyfish at some stage. Depending on the species these watery, tentacled, heartless/ brainless/spineless (literally) invertebrates can dish out a painful sting!

Earth Sciences NZ (formerly NIWA) marine scientist Dennis Gordon came on the podcast to answer my questions. In this episode, we talk about:

• What is the definition of a jellyfish?
• What are their life stages?
• How do they move around?
• How do they still sting people even after they've washed up on the beach?
• Common species such as moon jellyfish and lion's manes, bluebottles / Portuguese Man O'Wars and box jellyfish – how dangerous are they?
• What's the best way to treat a painful sting?
• What are salps and sea lice?

Here's a link to the 'Jiggling Jellyfish' PDF Dennis mentions, with lots of colour photos to learn more and identify the jellyfish we might see in NZ waters.

Have a look at some of Ernst Haeckel's beautiful illustrations from his Art Forms in Nature book (Kunstformen der Natur, 1904).

If you spot anything you can't identify on the beach, in rock pools or in the water, you can send a photo to Earth Sciences NZ and an expert can help to solve the mystery (this is a free service and they welcome new photos).

Lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea rosea) photo by Richard Robertson and supplied by Earth Sciences NZ. This species is the common New Zealand lion's mane (also found in SE Australia). The photo shows the characteristic warty appearance of the top of the bell.

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I watched JAWS as a kid and was subsequently scared to go in the water, just as the movie's tagline promised. Now I swim in the sea regularly and I know a bit more about sharks, but I wanted to talk to an expert.

Clinton Duffy grew up with a fascination of sharks after encountering a bronze whaler, and he has spent much of his life and career in the pursuit of knowledge about these sharp-toothed ocean predators (as well as other marine creatures, such as rays). He worked in marine science at DOC and is now a Curator of Marine Biology at Auckland Museum – and there's a very cool exhibition about sharks opening in December.

In this episode, we talk about:

• What to do (and not do) if you're swimming and meet a shark

• Where (and when) not to swim if you're actively trying to avoid sharks
• The many and varied species of sharks that live in NZ waters (most of them prefer deep water)
• The likelihood of being attacked by a shark (hint: it's not high)
• How shark populations have declined worldwide due to overfishing and habitat destruction
• Clinton's career as a marine scientist, including tagging and studying great whites (he explains how to tag a shark; definitely a job for the professionals)
• Clinton's favourite shark: it can walk!
• The fascinating sharks of the deep sea (here's a link to the Deep-Sea Podcast)
• How to respect stingrays in the shallows when entering and exiting the water, and how Clinton dealt with a stingray that sat on his head while he was diving.

The photo of Clinton holding a tagged school shark was taken by Brit Finucci, Earth Sciences NZ, in Dusky Sound this year. Clinton was assisting Dr Alice Rogers, Victoria University of Wellington, and Dr Finucci tagging broadnose sevengill sharks and school sharks.

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Outdoor Swimmer magazine is the world's only monthly, printed magazine about open water or wild swimming (as far as we know!). It was founded by Simon Griffiths in 2011 and October 2025 is the magazine's 100th issue, edited by Ella Foote who has been Outdoor Swimmer's editor since 2022.

Simon and Ella are (unsurprisingly!) very passionate about swimming. They have both written books and accomplished many impressive swims in all sorts of locations. Ella is also a swim coach and provides guided swim experiences through her company, Dip Advisor.

In this episode we discuss the highlights and challenges of publishing a swim magazine that celebrates the fun, joy and connections of swimming outdoors, from dipping to ultramarathons, and which includes safety tips and swim gear advice. We also talk about Simon and Ella's own swimming journeys and the importance of swim communities.

• Visit the Outdoor Swimmer website where you can subscribe to the magazine (they deliver the print version internationally and/or there's a digital option), sign up for their free weekly newsletter The Dip, and read feature articles, gear reviews, and swim tips.
• Simon's book is 'Swim Wild and Free: A Practical Guide to Swimming Outdoors 365 Days a Year.' (Bloomsbury Sport, 2022)
• Ella's book is 'How to Wild Swim: What to Know Before Taking the Plunge.' (DK, 2023)
• Ella's Instagram page
• Outdoor Swimmer's Instagram page

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  Support the podcast via ⁠Patreon.com/SwimChats⁠⁠

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  Hit 'Follow' so you don't miss an episode.

  Thanks for listening! :-)