What if your 60s are your prime? We sit down with Janet Carbin—a CBS Survivor Season 39 favorite, veteran swim coach, and one of the few female chief lifeguards in the country—to unpack the mindset, training habits, and nutrition choices that keep her strong in open water and in life. Janet brings a rare mix of humility and edge: she earns respect by doing the work, leads by example, and shows how authenticity can be a competitive advantage when the clock doesn’t lie. And Janet loves Masters Swimming!
Janet breaks down the mental models that carry her through discomfort, from framing tough days as “five 500s” to practicing hard skills until they feel simple. She takes us behind the scenes of her Survivor prep—learning to start fire without flint, drilling balance challenges, and building resilience for cold, rain, and social stress. We talk candidly about injuries, shoulder surgeries, and how to reinvent your relationship with sport at 60 by moving daily, adding variety, and redefining success beyond old personal bests.
We also dig into performance nutrition and why Janet calls sugar “poison” for long-term health and recovery. Expect practical guidance on when electrolytes actually matter, how to spot junk disguised as protein, and why real food supports consistent training. Leadership is the throughline: earn it, own it, and stay open enough to learn from the 17-year-olds on your team. If you’re navigating age, comeback goals, or a new chapter, this conversation offers a clear framework—be direct with yourself, move every day, fuel well, and practice the hard thing until it’s yours.
If this spoke to you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review. It truly helps. And don’t miss my new book, False Cure, now available at Amazon and Barnes Noble. www.False-cure.com
Email us at HELLO@ChampionsMojo.com. Opinions discussed are not medical advice, please seek a medical professional for your own health concerns.
Check out Kelly's Books at www.KellyPalace.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03 (00:01):
You're gonna walk out of here and do something
different in your life.
And I'm gonna start by sayingthat my first takeaway out of
interviewing you is truly beingauthentic and owning my age and
my limitations and myunlimitations, and just being
(00:25):
inspired to be authentic and goout and continue to add to my
repertoire and not look at whatI can't do anymore, but what I
can add.
Hello, friends.
This is Kelly Pallas, host ofChampions Mojo, your place for
better health, resilience, andmaster swimming.
(00:46):
I'm taking a short break fromrecording new episodes of
Champions Mojo for two excitingreasons.
First, I'm launching my latestbook, False Cure.
It's a whistleblowinginvestigative journalism book
about a denied health epidemic.
If you'd like more informationon that, it's in the show notes.
(01:06):
The second and most compellingreason I'm on a break is here at
Champions Mojo, we're preparingfor the January 2026 reboot of
powerful new weekly episodeswith expert guest interviews,
inspiring topics, and tips totake your mindset, health, and
(01:26):
personal performance to the nextlevel.
We will be announcing someexciting partnerships with show.
We will be announcing someexciting we will be announcing
some incredible partnershipswith the show, and I guarantee
(01:47):
what we have in store for youwill empower you and keep your
mojo strong in the new year.
While I'm prepping all thisgreat stuff, we've selected
while I'm preparing all thisgreat stuff, we've selected some
of our shows.
While I'm preparing some of thisgreat stuff, we've selected some
(02:09):
of our best shows ever for anencore series.
My hope is that if this is yoursecond time listening to this
episode, you'll take away evenmore insight and motivation.
Or if it's your first time,you'll love this episode as much
as everyone else did.
So settle in and enjoy thisEncore presentation in its
(02:30):
entirety.
We are going to be talking withmy favorite survivor from season
39.
She was the second to lastperson voted out of the show.
If it hadn't been for that damnidle nullifier, I think she
would have been the champion.
But she is with us today becauseshe's an amazing swimmer.
And as you know, we have a lotof swimmers that listen, but we
(02:52):
also have a lot of non-swimmers.
But we're going to be soinspired to hear from her on how
Survivor was, what she does withthese four times a week open
water swims.
She got my attention and theattention of the swimming
community because in the firstwater challenge of Survivor
Season 39, she kept up with on alet's say it was about a hundred
(03:14):
meter swim, maybe 50 meters, butit didn't matter, against
Olympic swimmer ElizabethBeisel.
She went stroke for stroke withElizabeth Beisel.
And everybody on their couchesjust was like, what?
But um she also has been alifelong coach.
She's coached many swimmers tothe Olympic trials level.
(03:37):
She swam herself in at TrentonState.
Both of her kids got Division Iswim scholarships, and she is
here with us today.
It's none other than JanetCarbon.
SPEAKER_00 (03:49):
Hello, thank you for having me.
We're so excited to have you,Janet.
Thank you for coming.
SPEAKER_03 (03:54):
Yes, and our theme for this show today is I'm I'm
just gonna call it breakingbarriers and defying age.
So Maria and I are for us.
I love it.
SPEAKER_04 (04:08):
I love it.
SPEAKER_03 (04:09):
You know, we're older gals here, and yet we're
still out there doing like Mariadid a 12-hour endurance road
race on her bike this weekend.
And, you know, I'm still doingmaster's meets, but you, Janet,
you really inspired me because Ifeel like there is ageism is out
(04:31):
there.
People look at us, and they, youknow, a lot of times people in
Survivor that they vote the oldpeople off first.
So, what are your thoughts onhow you're just out there still
kicking butt?
SPEAKER_00 (04:43):
Well, I've always felt like age is a number.
I'm very, very fortunate to havespent my entire life working
with young people, swimmers,students, lifeguards that I
continue to work with.
And that keeps me young.
And I'm a leader by example.
I'm not going to ask myswimmers, my athletes, my
(05:07):
lifeguards to do anything that Iam not willing to do myself.
It's a family, a swim family, abeach family, and uh there's a
level of respect that I givethem and they give me, and
that's what motivates me.
You know, when I have mylifeguards who are swimmers
going off to college and talkingabout, you know, Janet, I don't
(05:31):
know if I should get in the boatand row or do this or do that.
Should I compete at LifeguardNationals or this lifeguard
competition?
Because, you know, they're onscholarships for swimming.
And um I am a beach captain thatunderstands that whole life
since I was in it myself and acoach of it.
And uh, you know, it's just theykeep me young.
(05:53):
They're they're the awesomepeople in my life.
And then down here, I am soblessed with people my age that
we open water swim with.
And I just feel I I drive to theocean going, how lucky am I?
How blessed am I that I amdriving to the beach in February
(06:15):
and I'm meeting up with my swimpartners and we're going for an
ocean mile just to get it in.
How how lucky am I?
That's terrific.
SPEAKER_01 (06:25):
Well, we should say that you move recently, three
years ago, moved down from NewJersey where it wasn't so easy
to open water swim in February.
SPEAKER_00 (06:33):
It's true.
I have always said that ifyou're an athlete in cold areas,
you're a tough athlete becausenot only are you getting up at
four and five in the morningwhen it's dark, but it's cold.
Right.
And it but yeah, it's worth it.
So you're good at discomfort.
(06:53):
It's kind of, yeah, my jam, youknow, when you spend eight to
ten hours a day on a beach andyou know, getting up in the
morning and getting in coldwater and doing all that kind of
stuff, it's cool, it's just apart of life.
It always feels good afterward,like that first cup of coffee.
SPEAKER_03 (07:13):
Oh boy, isn't that the truth?
It is.
So, what things did you learn ortake from your swimming career
into being successful onSurvivor?
SPEAKER_00 (07:26):
Well, my swimming career enabled me, I I became
one of the first femalelifeguards back in 77.
I was the first one inManisquan, and I I don't know
how many were in the state ofNew Jersey at that point.
SPEAKER_01 (07:40):
You were the first female lifeguard on the beach.
SPEAKER_00 (07:43):
Wow, yeah.
So, and as a female chieflifeguard now, which I've been
I'm going into my 15th year inSpring Lake, I was always second
in command, and I got thisbreak.
And there's only one otherfemale chief lifeguard.
She just got the job in FortLauderdale, and she came from my
area and she swam with mydaughter, and I'm so proud of
(08:06):
her.
But there's only two of usprobably in the country.
Um, and I work in a man's worldand I'm and I respect the men I
work with and I've earned theirrespect.
I don't ever that's whatswimming brought, you know, to
survivor for me.
Don't give me accolades that Ididn't earn.
If I'm not up on that clock, ifI didn't swim that time and make
(08:29):
that cut, don't give me respectand accolades.
So when I went to the island,that's what I went with that
attitude.
That's why I started fire thefirst day.
SPEAKER_03 (08:38):
Yes, that's so beautiful.
Yeah, I forgot about that, butyes, you that was one of my
goals because you probably wouldhave been voted out early.
SPEAKER_00 (08:47):
Yep.
That is so good.
SPEAKER_01 (08:48):
So you're used to having to earn respect.
SPEAKER_00 (08:51):
Yes, and that's what swimming taught you.
Swimming totally taught me thatbecause you can't fake it in
swimming.
You know, you can't, the clockdoesn't lie, the laps don't lie,
the the effort doesn't lie.
And when you turn that over toopen water, that's what I do
with my rookies and my seniorguards.
(09:12):
We take I take them in by myselfand I teach them, you know, that
and I'll say to them, you're asix foot three 20-year-old, but
I can swim faster than you.
Think about that.
Why?
And then they start thinking,and then they start working, and
then I talk to them.
And the mental focus, which weknow is 90% swimming, is what I
(09:35):
and that's what I brought to theisland to me, is my mental
focus.
I knew I wasn't gonna have aproblem with the beach itself,
but I wanted to break thebarrier for women, older women,
and I knew my best way to do itwas to start fire without flint.
So I practiced, and my husband,he helped me, and I learned what
(09:56):
bamboo to use and how to do it.
And he was a he was a greatcoach.
He had the backyard set up withbalance beams and and boards and
giant slingshots, and yeah, itwas great.
SPEAKER_03 (10:08):
Oh my gosh, that is so that's so great.
So the you practiced, and howwould you say like you could
equate that to if you're givingsomeone advice and they're going
into something really difficult,what would your advice with your
mindset?
So you said your your mindsetwas there.
(10:28):
What what like did you ever doyou ever talk negatively to
yourself?
SPEAKER_00 (10:33):
I mean I try not to.
SPEAKER_03 (10:35):
So what is your mindset?
SPEAKER_00 (10:36):
My mindset is is I can get through anything.
And the funny thing is, and I'vetaught my daughters this, who
were both swimmers, and I'll sayit to my swimmer lifeguards.
When we were on the island, I'vebeen thinking, you know, and
it's cold and rainy, and I knowin three days I might be able to
get a food reward.
I used to go in my head, okay,this is like doing five five
(10:59):
hundreds.
Just put your head down.
Let's get the first five hundreddone.
Let's get the next 500 done.
And by the second day, I wouldequate it to the next set of
whatever I was swimming, youknow, and and it's true.
And I would tell my daughtersthat, you know, my one
daughter's in labor.
I have two granddaughters fromher, and I'm like, okay, we're
(11:19):
doing it, we're doing a thedouble workout today.
You know, just like think aboutthat.
And she'll she's been verysuccessful in business also, and
attributes that to her swimming.
SPEAKER_01 (11:30):
So the the the the mindset of the athlete, I've
done this before, I've done thishard thing, I can do whatever
this next thing is.
What would you say to somebodywho maybe isn't necessarily an
athlete?
What how would you say, whatwould you say to reach for when
you're trying to do somethingtough?
SPEAKER_00 (11:46):
I tell people, and this is something that I really
strongly believe in.
There's that inner voice insideof you.
And as women, I believe ourculture doesn't cultivate that.
And that's what I really that'sbeen my mission, and that's my
mission today, is to cultivatethat inner voice.
(12:09):
You know, I say, listen to yourgut.
Everybody has it.
Listen to it, and that's why Itold Elizabeth Weisel at one
point when we were together.
I said, What is your gut tellingyou?
She's like, You're right.
And it's it's so true.
It is never, ever, I'm 60 yearsold.
It has never ever failed me.
SPEAKER_01 (12:30):
And listen to your gut.
SPEAKER_00 (12:31):
Listen to your gut, listen to that little pit of
your stomach.
And if you're gonna give up,what is that little pit of your
stomach saying?
Is it okay with that?
Because it might be.
Some situations you might needto step back.
Listen to it, you know.
But if it doesn't sit right,then you gotta figure out a new
(12:53):
way.
As I as I t I would tell myathletes and my girls, you know,
we know we want to get to here,you know, and this was our goal
and our path, a straight line,but bumps come in the road, and
you just gotta go around them,you can still get there.
And uh, and both of them did.
I remember sitting, I sit all myswimmers down at some point.
(13:16):
I just had another talk withanother one this past summer,
but I sit them all down.
And I with my girls when theywere 12 and 13, I sat them down
and I said, What do you want outof swimming?
Do you want to enjoy it?
Because it's an awesome sport.
Do you want it to pay forcollege?
Do you want to go to they hadthe ability to be Olympians?
And we sat and made decisions aswhere we were gonna gear their
(13:40):
swimming towards.
And I did that.
I had one of my girls that wentto South Carolina, and uh she's
graduated and we went toLifeguard Nationals, and she's
like, I'm having a hard time.
And I said, You need to developa new relationship with swimming
periodically from year to year.
(14:02):
Andreas Rostenberg, he's a coachin New Jersey, he swam for
Texas.
You know, at one point he had,you know, when the Olympics fell
out of focus for him, you know,he was like, I don't know where
to go with my swimming.
Every swimmer, every singleswimmer I know has to develop
new relationships.
It's like a toddler that growsup, a swimmer that grows up.
(14:25):
Where does your swimming change?
And for me, my swimming haschanged.
I still pool swim probably twoor three times a week.
You know, in the summer I'll doa little bit more because the
master's swimming that I run isright there at my office.
So how can I not when it's rightthere?
But I do a lot more open waterswimming now.
(14:46):
That's my new relationship.
SPEAKER_03 (14:48):
So, what really inspired you to get way out of
your comfort zone and doSurvivor?
SPEAKER_00 (14:54):
I wanted to do Survivor since the first season.
I it was like I used tophysically be in pain when I'd
watch the show and I'd be like,oh, I want to be there so bad.
And I applied four times over a20-year period, and they were
really funny, funny and fun todo.
(15:17):
The last one that actually flatthey noticed, Survivor noticed,
was a rain day with mylifeguards.
We were all bored, and I said,let's make a video.
And we had the best time makingthis video, and it was so funny,
and sent it in, and um, theirony was I probably should have
(15:37):
been on the edge of extinction,but when they called me, the
time was too close to make ithappen.
So I actually thought mysurvivor dream was over, and I
finally accepted that it wasn'tgonna happen.
And then August, I got an emailand a phone call.
I'm leaving for LifeguardNationals, my boat's hooked up,
(16:00):
and I got, hey, would you liketo audition again?
And it started from there.
SPEAKER_03 (16:09):
So when I look at Survivor, I love watching it.
I've watched every season atleast, at least once or twice.
And I see bug bites and starvingand freezing and uncomfortable,
and I just say, Oh, I wouldnever do Survivor.
So, what attracted you to it?
Like, what was the what was theattraction?
SPEAKER_00 (16:27):
I knew living on a beach was gonna be okay.
I knew swimming was gonna beokay.
I knew open water swimming,since I'm a chief lifeguard and
I've spent my life on the ocean,was gonna be okay.
Why not?
You know, I'm I love adventure.
You know, at this point I need anew adventure.
SPEAKER_01 (16:46):
And you like to suffer.
SPEAKER_00 (16:48):
I guess, you know, you know, it was funny.
At one point on the show, when Ifell from grace, is what I call
it.
I dug a hole, because that'swhat we do on the beach when we
have bad weather.
And I slept in the hole two orthree nights.
By the second or third night, Iloved it.
I was like so much happierthere, and but I needed to get
(17:09):
back into the game, so I had toenmesh myself back in with the
with the tribe.
But yeah, I mean that was themost wonderful nights when I
slept by myself in the hole thatI dug.
SPEAKER_03 (17:23):
What was the hardest thing in Survivor?
Like, what was the hardest?
SPEAKER_00 (17:27):
The two hardest things were it was very, very
cold at night and it rained.
I can tell you day 26 and day 34were brutal.
Brutal.
It rained for 17 hours, one ofthem.
And you were freezing, you werecold, you dreaded the rain.
Um, the other thing was thepsychological game was much
(17:48):
harder than the physical, muchharder.
I did not expect it to be asintense as it was.
SPEAKER_01 (17:57):
Um that's my question.
You seem like a real straightshooter.
I am, and so how do you go on toa show like Survivor and do as
well as you did being a straightshooter?
SPEAKER_00 (18:10):
You know, prior to going on, I didn't know because
I had four goals going on breakthe glass ceiling for older
women.
That was my first goal, andstart fire without Flint, find
an idol, and win the show.
I oh, and spear a fish, which Idid.
That was like awesome.
(18:31):
Um, I was going to go in with agame plan lying about my age,
you know, because I thought thatwould have but you know what?
48-year-old woman, it wasn'tgonna be any better than my uh
actual age.
So I've right before I went onto the show, I said, you know
what?
I could probably lie for aboutthree days and then it would all
(18:54):
fall apart.
So I'm just gonna go be me.
And I did have a people thinkthat even my survivor friends
think that I can't be devious.
I absolutely want 100.
I tempered my it was said to me,oh, there's the chief lifeguard.
There were some couple momentsthat I you saw the boss come out
because I have 150 lifeguardsthat I manage and was a swim
(19:18):
coach for you know what I mean.
It's that's there.
But I tempered that.
I didn't want them to see, Iwanted them to see the person
they thought that couldn't bedevious.
There was a lot of stuff thatyou didn't see on the show that
was behind the scenes.
So you were deliberate in yourinteractions.
SPEAKER_01 (19:36):
Yes.
SPEAKER_03 (19:37):
I I love the two, like you just hit two gems for
me.
One, you had goals, you haddefined goals going in there.
Like I'm gonna do this, I'mgonna do that, I'm gonna do
this.
That's from swimming.
Yeah, and that's beautiful.
And then you were clear that youwere gonna be authentic.
You could have gone in there andsaid, Hey, I'm 48.
And but you were gonna beauthentic.
(19:58):
So I I love that.
SPEAKER_01 (20:00):
And also, yeah, you know two sides of yourself.
There's the there's the leadermanager side, and then there's
the side that can be nice andand be more interactive,
relational, I guess.
SPEAKER_00 (20:12):
I didn't want to be the leader coming off.
I was trying very hard not tobe.
But in my job, and as a teacher,a swim coach, and a lifeguard
chief, my I observed people.
So there was a lot of observingthat I that was going on.
And when I saw the crackshappen, I used them.
SPEAKER_03 (20:30):
Janna, what is your biggest obstacle that you've
overcome in your life?
SPEAKER_00 (20:36):
My biggest obstacle?
Probably creating the position,it's it's probably creating the
position that I'm in now as achief lifeguard in a man's
world, and I don't know that Iwould view it as an obstacle as
much as a challenge, andestablish myself rightfully so,
(21:01):
not because I'm the token woman.
You know, I there's another manthat I we run the County
Lifeguard Associate ChiefsAssociation, you know, I earned
it, and I'm proud of that, youknow.
But any mother can say thebiggest obstacle is making sure
your kids come out okay, youknow.
(21:21):
My older son is challenged, anduh he's a wonderful human being.
He's 34 years old, and you know,I could say that was a biggest
obstacle.
Um, they're just challenges, youknow, a failed marriage.
Uh, I was a single mom with twokids before I met my current
(21:42):
husband who took the kids on,and we had a child together
also.
We had to explain to them thatthey weren't biological.
They all think that John's theirdad anyway.
SPEAKER_03 (21:53):
Any health challenges?
Have you ever had any healthchallenges?
Your shoulders?
SPEAKER_00 (21:57):
Oh, yeah.
Well, that's kind of just I havea full replacement in my left
shoulder, and I'm trying to holdoff replacing my right shoulder,
and I've had five shouldersurgeries.
You know, it's the old swimmer,you know, I was a butterfly,
which I can't swim butterflyanymore.
I mean, I used to swim butterflywhile everybody was doing
(22:17):
freestyle, you know, and uh Ijust I can barely do a lap of
butterfly without dying.
SPEAKER_03 (22:27):
Well, this is a great time to tell you and
launch some a little bit of alittle bit of coaching.
I have had diagnosed MRI uhshoulder impingement and a torn
rotator cuff.
Couldn't raise my arm here, usedto do butterfly, can barely do
butterfly anymore.
And I have recently found abook, and I'm gonna put it in
(22:50):
the show notes because but it'scalled Hanging to Cure Your
Shoulder Problems.
Really?
And it is amazing.
You hang from a a pull-up barstraight down and you hang, you
need to look it up, but you hangfor on and off, you start slow,
like three times 30 seconds, butyou work up to hanging for a
(23:11):
total of 15 minutes, and itremodels your shoulder.
I could believe that.
And it totally like even the thestats, this just you know,
double blind, placebocontrolled, they had a hundred
people, 50 of them had tornrotator cuffs and shoulder
impingements, and it healed atorn rotator cuff.
So without surgery, so you maywant to try hanging.
SPEAKER_00 (23:35):
I will absolutely try it because after each of my
surgeries, it's it's prettyfunny that you say that because
I used to hold on to theflagpole and just while I was
coaching and just hang on to theflagpole and just try and
stretch my shoulder, and itwould feel so much better.
SPEAKER_04 (23:53):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (23:54):
Well we'll put that in the show notes, but I while
we had everybody's you knowattention in the bad moment.
So your obstacles, what what I'mhearing is you've had a lot of
big obstacles that are typicaland and not typical, but that
are pretty bad.
And yet you don't even like whenwe ask you that question, you
can't even find the obstacle.
SPEAKER_01 (24:13):
They're just challenging.
They're in the past.
Yeah, I'm past.
I like that.
You know what I'm reallyimpressed with, and I I want to
hear you talk about this.
Your self-talk is so positive.
And I think, you know, I don'twant this to be a sexist thing,
but I think sometimes we womencan be hard on each other, hard
on ourselves, in our heads.
So did you that's something youdeveloped?
SPEAKER_00 (24:34):
It's funny, yes.
I would have to say I developedit because I grew up in a very
crazy household, so there wasn'ta lot of that going on with my
husband John.
He actually taught me this.
He used to say, get more directin your thinking.
I and I used to go, that'sthinking like men.
So I'd sit back and I'd watchthe other chiefs interact and
(24:59):
different men at differentpoints interact, and I'd watch
the way they interact, and noneof men don't put themselves
down.
And I started developing, and Iwould call it my male way of
thinking.
If I could teach more women todo that, which I have, you know,
(25:19):
I think talk to us, give us thethree things be much more
direct.
SPEAKER_03 (25:26):
What does that mean?
SPEAKER_00 (25:27):
Be direct, like women don't hint.
Yeah, women, yeah, be much moredirect.
Women talk flowerly until theyget to the point they want to
get to.
It might take in five minutes,the last 30 seconds is what they
really wanted to say.
Men start with the first 30seconds, the that last 30
(25:47):
seconds.
So I started doing that.
Be direct, that's one thing.
Be direct, be honest, as hard asit might be, be honest, and then
own it.
Whether somebody agrees with itor not, own it.
And if you'll notice, men dothat.
And that's why I think theirrelationships, and I watch them,
(26:10):
and I started to do that withmyself.
So your thoughts are the same.
You try to be direct and honestand own it.
And own it.
Owning it's really importantbecause I think a lot of people,
and I hate to say it, butprobably more women than men,
are afraid to own it because itmight not be the popular or the
(26:33):
maternal or the feminine way ofthinking that they might be
thinking, but it's okay.
Own it.
SPEAKER_03 (26:40):
Well, look, can I can you can coach me for a
second, coach?
Okay.
So if I'm you know, I'm freakingout a little bit about a
birthday I have coming up, sameone you have coming up, and I
tend to find myself talkingabout age.
So what what do I say?
SPEAKER_00 (27:01):
Okay, what I do, because I turned 60 in June,
what I do is prior to that, Istarted referring to myself as
60.
What is 60?
I'm 60, so what does that mean?
So what can I do at 60 that Icouldn't do at 59, 58, you know,
50.
And then then I started toembrace it by saying it, saying
(27:23):
it out loud.
I started to embrace it, andthen now I'm like, dog, I'm 60,
let's go.
And that's that's owning it forme.
And it's a lot of self-talk, andit's a lot of saying, you know,
it's okay.
SPEAKER_03 (27:42):
But you're saying things that you can do now that
you couldn't do, and I'm findingas I turn 60, there's so many
things that I can't do that Iused to do.
SPEAKER_00 (27:50):
Then find something else, find something new that I
can do.
I started trail riding on a bikea month ago.
SPEAKER_03 (27:56):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (27:57):
Met a whole bunch of women that have now come to me,
my age and maybe probablyyounger, but that are meeting up
with the trail ride.
Met a bunch of women that areplaying pickleball up at Wickham
Park every week.
SPEAKER_03 (28:11):
I do that.
SPEAKER_00 (28:12):
Find something new.
SPEAKER_03 (28:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (28:14):
And do it.
And keep doing what you'redoing, but develop a new
relationship.
SPEAKER_03 (28:19):
I love that.
SPEAKER_01 (28:20):
I do too.
I like that.
I like the idea of becoming anew person at 60.
SPEAKER_03 (28:24):
Yeah, and Maria, you and I were talking about this
this morning over coffee.
That, you know, you and I havewon about every title you can
win in endurance cycling andmaster swimming.
SPEAKER_00 (28:34):
Find something new.
SPEAKER_03 (28:34):
And those are not gonna keep easily.
SPEAKER_00 (28:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (28:38):
You know, so we need to find something new.
SPEAKER_00 (28:40):
You need to keep doing that, but have a new
relationship with it and say,you know what?
I did that.
And I can still do that, and itcan still be a part of my life
because it's part of my life,but in a different way.
It's like it's like a arelationship that you have with
your children or your partner.
It has to keep changing in orderfor it to get developed and
(29:03):
grow.
Well, same thing with you.
Develop that relationship withyourself.
You know, that's where us aswomen sometimes worry about
everybody else.
But they're gonna be better ifwe're better, right?
SPEAKER_01 (29:16):
That's so great.
I love this concept ofdeveloping a relationship that
changes with your sport, withyour family, and with yourself.
I just think that's really,really smart.
SPEAKER_03 (29:27):
Yeah, and how about I think what we women do really
well, and I think people do itin general, is we do as I say,
not as I do, or you know, I cancoach others to tons of success,
but when it comes to my own selftalk, like I can coach people
all day long about what theyneed to say.
What do you how do you respondto that?
SPEAKER_00 (29:50):
Um, my response is it's very important to me to
lead by example.
And I may not be able to get inand swim an 8,000 or Or do you
know whatever that the kids aredoing, but you know what?
I'm gonna get in and swim.
And I'm gonna show you what Ican do.
And I've never I've alwaysgotten respect for it.
(30:12):
You know, um, and then when youtry something new, like I
started rowing several yearsago, so I got that's my goal on
my beach is to get all my girlsrowing, plus my boys, you know,
my boys are just as important tome.
And without my boys and my girlsrespecting each other, which
they do, you can't grow.
(30:34):
And they do, and that'simportant.
And if if I'm going to bevulnerable, you know, I may have
been a champion at one point inmy life in butterfly.
It's okay not to be right now,but you know what?
You're you're gonna see what Ican do, and that's my
vulnerability.
If you let people see thatyou're vulnerable, they're gonna
(30:55):
respect you.
If you're gonna do somethingnew, you may not do it the way
you used to.
Oh well, but you're still doingit.
Lori Kruger, who is a a cyclist,triathlet, and one of my open
water swimming friends, said tome one day, she she we were we
were swimming, and I said toher, I said, we're not unique.
(31:19):
And she looked at me and shesays, Well, we are.
She's 59.
She said, We are unique to a lotof people our age.
I said, Yeah, but we're reallynot.
There's still a lot of peopleout there that are don't believe
you're unique.
That's another key thing for me.
There's so many people out therethat can do what I can do, and
then some that I can learn fromand enjoy.
(31:43):
And I think that's reallyimportant, is to not believe
that I'm and I think we do thata lot as human beings as we get
older, men and women.
Just because you get older, youthink you're better, or you have
to live to a certain standard,or you have to do something, you
don't.
You're not unique.
Do the what you can do, andpeople will respect you for it.
(32:06):
For trying, for just puttingyourself out there.
I mean, I have 16, 17-year-oldkids that I learn from.
And I think too many olderpeople think that they should
they they can't do that.
That they'll be less than, orthey should just because they're
older, they deserve the respect.
(32:28):
No, no, no, no, no, no.
I've never believed that.
And it's worked for me.
SPEAKER_01 (32:35):
I love that.
I love that combination ofearning it and also humility.
Yeah.
That's what you're talkingabout.
It's like, hey, we're notunique.
There's there's people outthere, but but but you're
obviously confident in who youare and what you've done.
SPEAKER_00 (32:48):
I think because I believe I'm not unique, I think
that gives the confidencebecause I don't have to set a
standard to somebody else.
SPEAKER_03 (32:56):
Yeah, I've always felt that way that I'm nothing
special.
I think that's what makes me beable to do champions mojo and be
a podcaster.
It's like I'm I'm just averagelittle girl with seven and a
half size feet, and you know,anybody can do what I've done,
and you know, we can all do it.
SPEAKER_00 (33:13):
We can definitely all do that special thing in our
lives just because we're who weare.
And you know, you're notspecial, you just gotta be open,
be vulnerable, be humble, and bewilling to listen.
SPEAKER_03 (33:27):
And be willing.
Yeah, when when you're older,you think, Oh, I need to lead
the way, I know, you know, butyou know, you might have a great
21-year-old that's gonna showyou something that you never
even thought possible.
SPEAKER_00 (33:39):
I learn so much from the young people I work with all
the time.
And I and I tell them, Wow,thanks.
Yeah, and they look at me likeyou're open.
SPEAKER_03 (33:52):
Yeah, I love that.
I love that.
So, what would you say?
You're obviously a champion.
We talk a lot about champions'traits, which which we'll get
to.
Um, how about your routines andrituals?
Uh for like a day or a week.
Yeah, like a day or a week, orsomething that you know.
You're a champion.
SPEAKER_01 (34:10):
What do champions do?
SPEAKER_03 (34:11):
Yeah, what like a lot of people talk about they
have morning routines or theyhave exercise routines, or what
things do you do that make youget into a space of success?
SPEAKER_00 (34:20):
Well, probably six mornings a week, I do something
by six o'clock in the morning, 530, 6, whether it's like today I
went spinning and I had bootcamp, and then I probably, if I
wasn't here, I would have takenmy kayak down to the beach and
did some kayaking, riding wavesand stuff like that.
But you know, there has to bepeople always say, Oh, you just
(34:43):
love, you know, working out.
Well, no, not really.
Not really, but you know what?
I like what it does for me, youknow, and um it's important.
Like Tuesday morning, tomorrowmorning, uh, every Tuesday, I'm
gonna meet my swim partner up inCocoa Beach, and we do our ocean
mile and and who and otherpeople that come.
And Wednesday morning isspinning and at 5 30 and
(35:09):
something else in the afternoon.
Sometimes I'll take off fromthat.
And that could be just thestraight beach day where I body
surf or something.
Depends on the waves.
Thursday morning is swimming inthe pool, Friday morning
swimming in the pool, and thenswim open water at night,
Saturday morning is poolswimming, Sunday mor I mean
ocean swimming, and then Sundaymorning is ocean swimming also.
(35:33):
So six days a week you exercisein the morning.
Yeah, I try and take a day off,but sometimes it if I if I wait
till eight o'clock, that feelslike a vacation.
So I just think you have to dosomething, you have to move.
And then then I add in the funthings.
The Wednesday, if it's cold out,I'm gonna go meet these women
(35:55):
that have invited me to playpickleball.
I got two women at my gym nowthat call me up to go trail
riding behind my house on thebike that I have, my little
green bike.
You know, so I just think everyday you need to move.
You need to.
A friend of mine that I used torun at 4:30 in the morning at
the track in Jackson, NewJersey.
(36:17):
It'd be ice and snow, but we metevery morning before school and
ran around this track.
You gotta break a sweat.
Every day.
Somehow do something.
Other rituals for doingsomething is my ritual.
Okay.
You know, any mindset rituals ofuh meditation or I yes, I do do
(36:41):
um I will intersperse yoga inthere, and it will be yoga where
I'm I'm really becomingintrospective.
And I started doing somemeditation, breathing.
It's hard for me because I'm avery hyper person, so that's a
real challenge for me.
I'd rather go swim three milesthan sit down and have to be
calm, and I try.
(37:01):
So that's that's my afternoon.
SPEAKER_01 (37:03):
What about nutrition?
Do you have a particularnutrition ritual or I do?
SPEAKER_00 (37:09):
I've always been conscious of nutrition, and I
speak a lot to my athletes aboutthat because it's it's an issue
with swimmers and especiallyfemale swimmers, eating
disorders and poor nutrition andthings of that nature.
It's a real issue, and uh I havevery strong feelings about it.
(37:30):
But uh for before Survivor, Iwas probably a vegetarian for
about 15 years, and then knowingI was going on Survivor, I
started introducing meat in mydiet because I didn't want to be
physically ill on the island incase I want it and a reward, and
I'd need it.
And now I'm back into that.
(37:50):
But I have nothing againstpeople that eat meat at all.
It's just a personal choice fora lot of reasons for me.
You just have to eat healthy.
Sugar is poison.
Poison.
Um, and I mean that.
It's an addiction.
It I believe it causes 90% ofpeople's health issues later on
in life.
(38:11):
And I think that there's I knowI probably sound like a wacko,
but I'm sure there's a lot ofthings.
No, I completely agree with you.
You are preaching to the choir.
SPEAKER_01 (38:18):
I totally agree.
I'm a reformed, well, not evenreformed, but I'm an addict
today.
SPEAKER_00 (38:23):
I have to say no to sugar.
It's it's it I it changes yourpersonality.
I think there's links to cancerwith it.
I really do.
I know it sounds crazy, but Ireally I don't know how because
inflammation and proliferationof cells.
SPEAKER_03 (38:36):
I mean, that's been proven cancer grows more in
sugar.
SPEAKER_00 (38:39):
And I think sugar is probably the number one, and and
everybody cracks up around mebecause you know we'll be having
our morning meetings with thelifeguards, and I got broccoli
out there.
You know, and I don't have timeframes with food.
You know, I will have I make myown tuna, I make all my own
(39:01):
stuff, and I'm a uh foodie, Iguess you would say.
I it's that on my bucket list atsome point.
I'd love to publish a cookbook,a vegan vegetarian cookbook.
I have a file folder with amillion recipes, and I'm always
in my kitchen experimenting.
But um, my guac and my redsauce, you can't beat it.
(39:23):
Um, you know, I think nutritionis is a big, big factor to a lot
of people and how they areliving later in life.
I think it's a huge I think ifyou didn't exercise and you
fixed your diet, and I mean takesugar out of it, and I'm not
saying completely, I'm justsaying not the way it's in
(39:45):
people have no idea how muchstuff is in all this marketing.
You know, what are the theprotein bars, half of them are
useless junk.
I probably shouldn't be sayingthat, but no, it's that's true.
SPEAKER_03 (40:00):
They're full of trees, like full of chemicals
and sugar and but they'remarketing as an athlete.
SPEAKER_00 (40:07):
This is gonna help you be a better athlete.
You know, Gatorade, Gatorade,things like that that that have
good balances.
They do balance the blood withelectrolytes and things like
that, but that's after twohours, not after a half hour or
an hour or an hour and a half,it's after two hours of severe,
(40:27):
intense workouts, workouts.
You know, and people think, youknow, you see them walking into
the gym with their Gatoradebottles, and I just like go, oh,
you're killing it.
unknown (40:39):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (40:39):
I like that.
I like that message about sugarbecause it's it's addictive, as
you said.
It is a lot of people don'tunderstand how much uh sugar
they get in their diet.
SPEAKER_03 (40:48):
I love that.
SPEAKER_00 (40:49):
My uh oldest daughter, a little joke in our
house, because my mother liveswith us, she's lived with us for
24 years, and uh my oldestdaughter, when she comes to
visit, she'll bring in likedonuts or cookies or she goes,
because I know mom's neglectingyou because there's nothing in
the house.
SPEAKER_03 (41:08):
Yeah, that sounds like a very familiar story, I'm
sure, to a lot of people.
So, what traits do you thinkchampions share?
SPEAKER_00 (41:17):
I believe champions share the belief in themselves.
I believe the determination tonever give up.
Um, that little inner voice thatsays they that it it's okay.
Because there are champions thatshouldn't be champions.
If you looked at all the umthings in their life, they
(41:38):
shouldn't be a champion.
I believe that in my life, I amI did have a very successful
swimming career, hands down, butI believe that the challenges in
my life made me a fantasticcoach.
And I don't want to say thatthat sounds very braggy.
I don't want to say that I meana fantastic coach because I
(42:01):
understood the kid, you know,and I think that being open to
listening to others, it it's sofrustrating as a coach to see
this kid with incredible talent,but they won't trust you or
listen to you, and it goes outthe window.
So I believe that champions havea belief in themselves, a trust,
(42:26):
a willingness to listen, awillingness to change.
And I believe they're they'rekey elements to anybody that's
gonna be a champion.
SPEAKER_01 (42:37):
That's great.
I think you have been soinspirational.
SPEAKER_03 (42:41):
And then, Janet, if you can come up with something
that because of thisconversation, you're gonna walk
out of here and do somethingdifferent in your life.
And I'm gonna start by sayingthat my first takeaway out of
interviewing you is truly beingauthentic and owning my age and
(43:04):
my limitations and myunlimitations, and just being
inspired to be authentic and goout and continue to add to my
repertoire and not look at whatI can't do anymore, but what I
can add.
SPEAKER_01 (43:21):
That's great.
My takeaway.
SPEAKER_03 (43:25):
You're gonna have to do two.
Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01 (43:27):
Well, one of my takeaways then, this just blows
me away, is our converseconversation around self-talk.
I I just think you have nailedit, this concept of being of
owning, owning your beingdirect, being honest, owning it,
and and doing that in our headstoo, not just with other people,
but the way we talk toourselves, listen to your
(43:47):
thoughts and and make that yourefer to it as more like a man,
but make make it positive andmake it own your thoughts and
make them positive, and that youcan change the way you talk to
yourself.
I loved your story about workingon it.
It's beautiful.
SPEAKER_03 (44:04):
And your life may look like it's been easy, but
when I'm listening to the prep,prep, prep, here you go on
Survivor.
You build the fire with noflint, which is not easy.
But then to hear the backstory,you practiced, your backyard was
set up, you knew the differencebetween coconut husk and bamboo.
(44:24):
And so I think just reallywhatever you want to succeed at,
you have to prep.
You gotta work, you gotta put inthe laps, you gotta put in the
the the work.
So you're a hard worker,obviously.
So that that for me is atakeaway of your success has
come at being prepared slashworking really hard.
SPEAKER_01 (44:47):
Yeah, I like that.
And you don't even you don'teven know you do it.
I mean, we tell you, you know,we ask you about it, and you
know, yeah, I did this and I didthat and I did that.
But so I I I love that.
That's really true.
And my my other amazingtakeaway, I think it's so
important for all of us, older,you know, I'm getting up there
too.
(45:07):
And and just this concept thatwe need to be learning from
everyone.
You're I love that you said Ilearn from my kids.
And I'm starting starting toexperience that first.
I'm going from a changingrelationship, as you said, with
my own kids who are now adults.
Now I'm not teaching themreally, they're teaching me.
And I think being open to thatand the what you talk about,
you're just your humility insaying, I what can I learn from
(45:30):
the people in my lives?
That's such a great take-homefor me.
SPEAKER_00 (45:33):
I'm really happy for you.
Uh, just a little hint on yourkids.
My daughters are my bestfriends.
Yeah.
Um, and we actually, my oldestdaughter, who is 33 now, 32.
Um, we probably call each otherevery day.
Um, my younger daughter, who's26, we have over the years, it
(45:58):
was a little harder with herbecause my older daughter and I
were so tight.
She's like, I just felt so we'vealways talked about it when she
was 13 and 17 and 20.
And now we have a greatrelationship because I said to
her, I said, Jen, I'm a I'm ahuman.
Let's be adults with each othernow.
(46:19):
And now we have a little signalwith each other.
And it's like, I'm not, we'renot doing the mother-child
thing, we're doing the adultadult thing.
Nice.
And the two of us, and she'slike, Yeah, and we have a blast
when we do that.
And it's hard, it's worksometimes, but man, how awesome
is it to have like arelationship with your kids that
(46:43):
you can call them your friend.
SPEAKER_03 (46:44):
Yeah, that's beautiful.
So, Janet, you're up.
What are you coming out of herewith?
SPEAKER_00 (46:50):
My takeaway is my new adventure of this speaking
program that I'm nervous about,that I I get overwhelmed, just
talking to you two just helps methink I'm I'm still going in the
right track and to believe init.
Believe in it.
Oh, absolutely.
You're gonna be amazing.
You are a pop star.
SPEAKER_01 (47:11):
You are, you're absolutely amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (47:13):
I'm scared of it, you know.
You've been doing it for anhour.
You're great.
So, and I also feel like I'vemet new people that maybe we can
hang out and do some swims anddo some stuff.
SPEAKER_03 (47:27):
Well, you're inspiring the inspirers.
That's right.
SPEAKER_00 (47:30):
So that's that's that's exactly right.
Well, you guys are awesome.
SPEAKER_03 (47:34):
Thanks.
Well, we're under an hour justby the skin of our teeth, which
is our goal.
So thank you so much for beingwatching you and cheering for
you.
And we're, you know, we're stillfans and and yet we're shoulder
to shoulder as strong women.
SPEAKER_00 (47:47):
That's awesome.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_03 (47:50):
Thanks.
Thanks so much for listening tothis Champions Mojo Encore
episode.
If it inspired you, pleasefollow the show, share it with a
friend, and consider leaving aquick review.
It truly helps.
And don't forget, my new book,False Cure, is available at
Amazon and Barnes Noble.
I'll be back in January 2026with all new episodes to help
(48:14):
you live well, swim well, andkeep your mojo going.
You're gonna walk out of here and do something
different in your life.
And I'm gonna start by sayingthat my first takeaway out of
interviewing you is truly beingauthentic and owning my age and
my limitations and myunlimitations, and just being
(00:25):
inspired to be authentic and goout and continue to add to my
repertoire and not look at whatI can't do anymore, but what I
can add.
Hello, friends.
This is Kelly Pallas, host ofChampions Mojo, your place for
better health, resilience, andmaster swimming.
(00:46):
I'm taking a short break fromrecording new episodes of
Champions Mojo for two excitingreasons.
First, I'm launching my latestbook, False Cure.
It's a whistleblowinginvestigative journalism book
about a denied health epidemic.
If you'd like more informationon that, it's in the show notes.
(01:06):
The second and most compellingreason I'm on a break is here at
Champions Mojo, we're preparingfor the January 2026 reboot of
powerful new weekly episodeswith expert guest interviews,
inspiring topics, and tips totake your mindset, health, and
(01:26):
personal performance to the nextlevel.
We will be announcing someexciting partnerships with show.
We will be announcing someexciting we will be announcing
some incredible partnershipswith the show, and I guarantee
(01:47):
what we have in store for youwill empower you and keep your
mojo strong in the new year.
While I'm prepping all thisgreat stuff, we've selected
while I'm preparing all thisgreat stuff, we've selected some
of our shows.
While I'm preparing some of thisgreat stuff, we've selected some
(02:09):
of our best shows ever for anencore series.
My hope is that if this is yoursecond time listening to this
episode, you'll take away evenmore insight and motivation.
Or if it's your first time,you'll love this episode as much
as everyone else did.
So settle in and enjoy thisEncore presentation in its
(02:30):
entirety.
We are going to be talking withmy favorite survivor from season
39.
She was the second to lastperson voted out of the show.
If it hadn't been for that damnidle nullifier, I think she
would have been the champion.
But she is with us today becauseshe's an amazing swimmer.
And as you know, we have a lotof swimmers that listen, but we
(02:52):
also have a lot of non-swimmers.
But we're going to be soinspired to hear from her on how
Survivor was, what she does withthese four times a week open
water swims.
She got my attention and theattention of the swimming
community because in the firstwater challenge of Survivor
Season 39, she kept up with on alet's say it was about a hundred
(03:14):
meter swim, maybe 50 meters, butit didn't matter, against
Olympic swimmer ElizabethBeisel.
She went stroke for stroke withElizabeth Beisel.
And everybody on their couchesjust was like, what?
But um she also has been alifelong coach.
She's coached many swimmers tothe Olympic trials level.
(03:37):
She swam herself in at TrentonState.
Both of her kids got Division Iswim scholarships, and she is
here with us today.
It's none other than JanetCarbon.
SPEAKER_00 (03:49):
Hello, thank you for having me.
We're so excited to have you,Janet.
Thank you for coming.
SPEAKER_03 (03:54):
Yes, and our theme for this show today is I'm I'm
just gonna call it breakingbarriers and defying age.
So Maria and I are for us.
I love it.
SPEAKER_04 (04:08):
I love it.
SPEAKER_03 (04:09):
You know, we're older gals here, and yet we're
still out there doing like Mariadid a 12-hour endurance road
race on her bike this weekend.
And, you know, I'm still doingmaster's meets, but you, Janet,
you really inspired me because Ifeel like there is ageism is out
(04:31):
there.
People look at us, and they, youknow, a lot of times people in
Survivor that they vote the oldpeople off first.
So, what are your thoughts onhow you're just out there still
kicking butt?
SPEAKER_00 (04:43):
Well, I've always felt like age is a number.
I'm very, very fortunate to havespent my entire life working
with young people, swimmers,students, lifeguards that I
continue to work with.
And that keeps me young.
And I'm a leader by example.
I'm not going to ask myswimmers, my athletes, my
(05:07):
lifeguards to do anything that Iam not willing to do myself.
It's a family, a swim family, abeach family, and uh there's a
level of respect that I givethem and they give me, and
that's what motivates me.
You know, when I have mylifeguards who are swimmers
going off to college and talkingabout, you know, Janet, I don't
(05:31):
know if I should get in the boatand row or do this or do that.
Should I compete at LifeguardNationals or this lifeguard
competition?
Because, you know, they're onscholarships for swimming.
And um I am a beach captain thatunderstands that whole life
since I was in it myself and acoach of it.
And uh, you know, it's just theykeep me young.
(05:53):
They're they're the awesomepeople in my life.
And then down here, I am soblessed with people my age that
we open water swim with.
And I just feel I I drive to theocean going, how lucky am I?
How blessed am I that I amdriving to the beach in February
(06:15):
and I'm meeting up with my swimpartners and we're going for an
ocean mile just to get it in.
How how lucky am I?
That's terrific.
SPEAKER_01 (06:25):
Well, we should say that you move recently, three
years ago, moved down from NewJersey where it wasn't so easy
to open water swim in February.
SPEAKER_00 (06:33):
It's true.
I have always said that ifyou're an athlete in cold areas,
you're a tough athlete becausenot only are you getting up at
four and five in the morningwhen it's dark, but it's cold.
Right.
And it but yeah, it's worth it.
So you're good at discomfort.
(06:53):
It's kind of, yeah, my jam, youknow, when you spend eight to
ten hours a day on a beach andyou know, getting up in the
morning and getting in coldwater and doing all that kind of
stuff, it's cool, it's just apart of life.
It always feels good afterward,like that first cup of coffee.
SPEAKER_03 (07:13):
Oh boy, isn't that the truth?
It is.
So, what things did you learn ortake from your swimming career
into being successful onSurvivor?
SPEAKER_00 (07:26):
Well, my swimming career enabled me, I I became
one of the first femalelifeguards back in 77.
I was the first one inManisquan, and I I don't know
how many were in the state ofNew Jersey at that point.
SPEAKER_01 (07:40):
You were the first female lifeguard on the beach.
SPEAKER_00 (07:43):
Wow, yeah.
So, and as a female chieflifeguard now, which I've been
I'm going into my 15th year inSpring Lake, I was always second
in command, and I got thisbreak.
And there's only one otherfemale chief lifeguard.
She just got the job in FortLauderdale, and she came from my
area and she swam with mydaughter, and I'm so proud of
(08:06):
her.
But there's only two of usprobably in the country.
Um, and I work in a man's worldand I'm and I respect the men I
work with and I've earned theirrespect.
I don't ever that's whatswimming brought, you know, to
survivor for me.
Don't give me accolades that Ididn't earn.
If I'm not up on that clock, ifI didn't swim that time and make
(08:29):
that cut, don't give me respectand accolades.
So when I went to the island,that's what I went with that
attitude.
That's why I started fire thefirst day.
SPEAKER_03 (08:38):
Yes, that's so beautiful.
Yeah, I forgot about that, butyes, you that was one of my
goals because you probably wouldhave been voted out early.
SPEAKER_00 (08:47):
Yep.
That is so good.
SPEAKER_01 (08:48):
So you're used to having to earn respect.
SPEAKER_00 (08:51):
Yes, and that's what swimming taught you.
Swimming totally taught me thatbecause you can't fake it in
swimming.
You know, you can't, the clockdoesn't lie, the laps don't lie,
the the effort doesn't lie.
And when you turn that over toopen water, that's what I do
with my rookies and my seniorguards.
(09:12):
We take I take them in by myselfand I teach them, you know, that
and I'll say to them, you're asix foot three 20-year-old, but
I can swim faster than you.
Think about that.
Why?
And then they start thinking,and then they start working, and
then I talk to them.
And the mental focus, which weknow is 90% swimming, is what I
(09:35):
and that's what I brought to theisland to me, is my mental
focus.
I knew I wasn't gonna have aproblem with the beach itself,
but I wanted to break thebarrier for women, older women,
and I knew my best way to do itwas to start fire without flint.
So I practiced, and my husband,he helped me, and I learned what
(09:56):
bamboo to use and how to do it.
And he was a he was a greatcoach.
He had the backyard set up withbalance beams and and boards and
giant slingshots, and yeah, itwas great.
SPEAKER_03 (10:08):
Oh my gosh, that is so that's so great.
So the you practiced, and howwould you say like you could
equate that to if you're givingsomeone advice and they're going
into something really difficult,what would your advice with your
mindset?
So you said your your mindsetwas there.
(10:28):
What what like did you ever doyou ever talk negatively to
yourself?
SPEAKER_00 (10:33):
I mean I try not to.
SPEAKER_03 (10:35):
So what is your mindset?
SPEAKER_00 (10:36):
My mindset is is I can get through anything.
And the funny thing is, and I'vetaught my daughters this, who
were both swimmers, and I'll sayit to my swimmer lifeguards.
When we were on the island, I'vebeen thinking, you know, and
it's cold and rainy, and I knowin three days I might be able to
get a food reward.
I used to go in my head, okay,this is like doing five five
(10:59):
hundreds.
Just put your head down.
Let's get the first five hundreddone.
Let's get the next 500 done.
And by the second day, I wouldequate it to the next set of
whatever I was swimming, youknow, and and it's true.
And I would tell my daughtersthat, you know, my one
daughter's in labor.
I have two granddaughters fromher, and I'm like, okay, we're
(11:19):
doing it, we're doing a thedouble workout today.
You know, just like think aboutthat.
And she'll she's been verysuccessful in business also, and
attributes that to her swimming.
SPEAKER_01 (11:30):
So the the the the mindset of the athlete, I've
done this before, I've done thishard thing, I can do whatever
this next thing is.
What would you say to somebodywho maybe isn't necessarily an
athlete?
What how would you say, whatwould you say to reach for when
you're trying to do somethingtough?
SPEAKER_00 (11:46):
I tell people, and this is something that I really
strongly believe in.
There's that inner voice insideof you.
And as women, I believe ourculture doesn't cultivate that.
And that's what I really that'sbeen my mission, and that's my
mission today, is to cultivatethat inner voice.
(12:09):
You know, I say, listen to yourgut.
Everybody has it.
Listen to it, and that's why Itold Elizabeth Weisel at one
point when we were together.
I said, What is your gut tellingyou?
She's like, You're right.
And it's it's so true.
It is never, ever, I'm 60 yearsold.
It has never ever failed me.
SPEAKER_01 (12:30):
And listen to your gut.
SPEAKER_00 (12:31):
Listen to your gut, listen to that little pit of
your stomach.
And if you're gonna give up,what is that little pit of your
stomach saying?
Is it okay with that?
Because it might be.
Some situations you might needto step back.
Listen to it, you know.
But if it doesn't sit right,then you gotta figure out a new
(12:53):
way.
As I as I t I would tell myathletes and my girls, you know,
we know we want to get to here,you know, and this was our goal
and our path, a straight line,but bumps come in the road, and
you just gotta go around them,you can still get there.
And uh, and both of them did.
I remember sitting, I sit all myswimmers down at some point.
(13:16):
I just had another talk withanother one this past summer,
but I sit them all down.
And I with my girls when theywere 12 and 13, I sat them down
and I said, What do you want outof swimming?
Do you want to enjoy it?
Because it's an awesome sport.
Do you want it to pay forcollege?
Do you want to go to they hadthe ability to be Olympians?
And we sat and made decisions aswhere we were gonna gear their
(13:40):
swimming towards.
And I did that.
I had one of my girls that wentto South Carolina, and uh she's
graduated and we went toLifeguard Nationals, and she's
like, I'm having a hard time.
And I said, You need to developa new relationship with swimming
periodically from year to year.
(14:02):
Andreas Rostenberg, he's a coachin New Jersey, he swam for
Texas.
You know, at one point he had,you know, when the Olympics fell
out of focus for him, you know,he was like, I don't know where
to go with my swimming.
Every swimmer, every singleswimmer I know has to develop
new relationships.
It's like a toddler that growsup, a swimmer that grows up.
(14:25):
Where does your swimming change?
And for me, my swimming haschanged.
I still pool swim probably twoor three times a week.
You know, in the summer I'll doa little bit more because the
master's swimming that I run isright there at my office.
So how can I not when it's rightthere?
But I do a lot more open waterswimming now.
(14:46):
That's my new relationship.
SPEAKER_03 (14:48):
So, what really inspired you to get way out of
your comfort zone and doSurvivor?
SPEAKER_00 (14:54):
I wanted to do Survivor since the first season.
I it was like I used tophysically be in pain when I'd
watch the show and I'd be like,oh, I want to be there so bad.
And I applied four times over a20-year period, and they were
really funny, funny and fun todo.
(15:17):
The last one that actually flatthey noticed, Survivor noticed,
was a rain day with mylifeguards.
We were all bored, and I said,let's make a video.
And we had the best time makingthis video, and it was so funny,
and sent it in, and um, theirony was I probably should have
(15:37):
been on the edge of extinction,but when they called me, the
time was too close to make ithappen.
So I actually thought mysurvivor dream was over, and I
finally accepted that it wasn'tgonna happen.
And then August, I got an emailand a phone call.
I'm leaving for LifeguardNationals, my boat's hooked up,
(16:00):
and I got, hey, would you liketo audition again?
And it started from there.
SPEAKER_03 (16:09):
So when I look at Survivor, I love watching it.
I've watched every season atleast, at least once or twice.
And I see bug bites and starvingand freezing and uncomfortable,
and I just say, Oh, I wouldnever do Survivor.
So, what attracted you to it?
Like, what was the what was theattraction?
SPEAKER_00 (16:27):
I knew living on a beach was gonna be okay.
I knew swimming was gonna beokay.
I knew open water swimming,since I'm a chief lifeguard and
I've spent my life on the ocean,was gonna be okay.
Why not?
You know, I'm I love adventure.
You know, at this point I need anew adventure.
SPEAKER_01 (16:46):
And you like to suffer.
SPEAKER_00 (16:48):
I guess, you know, you know, it was funny.
At one point on the show, when Ifell from grace, is what I call
it.
I dug a hole, because that'swhat we do on the beach when we
have bad weather.
And I slept in the hole two orthree nights.
By the second or third night, Iloved it.
I was like so much happierthere, and but I needed to get
(17:09):
back into the game, so I had toenmesh myself back in with the
with the tribe.
But yeah, I mean that was themost wonderful nights when I
slept by myself in the hole thatI dug.
SPEAKER_03 (17:23):
What was the hardest thing in Survivor?
Like, what was the hardest?
SPEAKER_00 (17:27):
The two hardest things were it was very, very
cold at night and it rained.
I can tell you day 26 and day 34were brutal.
Brutal.
It rained for 17 hours, one ofthem.
And you were freezing, you werecold, you dreaded the rain.
Um, the other thing was thepsychological game was much
(17:48):
harder than the physical, muchharder.
I did not expect it to be asintense as it was.
SPEAKER_01 (17:57):
Um that's my question.
You seem like a real straightshooter.
I am, and so how do you go on toa show like Survivor and do as
well as you did being a straightshooter?
SPEAKER_00 (18:10):
You know, prior to going on, I didn't know because
I had four goals going on breakthe glass ceiling for older
women.
That was my first goal, andstart fire without Flint, find
an idol, and win the show.
I oh, and spear a fish, which Idid.
That was like awesome.
(18:31):
Um, I was going to go in with agame plan lying about my age,
you know, because I thought thatwould have but you know what?
48-year-old woman, it wasn'tgonna be any better than my uh
actual age.
So I've right before I went onto the show, I said, you know
what?
I could probably lie for aboutthree days and then it would all
(18:54):
fall apart.
So I'm just gonna go be me.
And I did have a people thinkthat even my survivor friends
think that I can't be devious.
I absolutely want 100.
I tempered my it was said to me,oh, there's the chief lifeguard.
There were some couple momentsthat I you saw the boss come out
because I have 150 lifeguardsthat I manage and was a swim
(19:18):
coach for you know what I mean.
It's that's there.
But I tempered that.
I didn't want them to see, Iwanted them to see the person
they thought that couldn't bedevious.
There was a lot of stuff thatyou didn't see on the show that
was behind the scenes.
So you were deliberate in yourinteractions.
SPEAKER_01 (19:36):
Yes.
SPEAKER_03 (19:37):
I I love the two, like you just hit two gems for
me.
One, you had goals, you haddefined goals going in there.
Like I'm gonna do this, I'mgonna do that, I'm gonna do
this.
That's from swimming.
Yeah, and that's beautiful.
And then you were clear that youwere gonna be authentic.
You could have gone in there andsaid, Hey, I'm 48.
And but you were gonna beauthentic.
(19:58):
So I I love that.
SPEAKER_01 (20:00):
And also, yeah, you know two sides of yourself.
There's the there's the leadermanager side, and then there's
the side that can be nice andand be more interactive,
relational, I guess.
SPEAKER_00 (20:12):
I didn't want to be the leader coming off.
I was trying very hard not tobe.
But in my job, and as a teacher,a swim coach, and a lifeguard
chief, my I observed people.
So there was a lot of observingthat I that was going on.
And when I saw the crackshappen, I used them.
SPEAKER_03 (20:30):
Janna, what is your biggest obstacle that you've
overcome in your life?
SPEAKER_00 (20:36):
My biggest obstacle?
Probably creating the position,it's it's probably creating the
position that I'm in now as achief lifeguard in a man's
world, and I don't know that Iwould view it as an obstacle as
much as a challenge, andestablish myself rightfully so,
(21:01):
not because I'm the token woman.
You know, I there's another manthat I we run the County
Lifeguard Associate ChiefsAssociation, you know, I earned
it, and I'm proud of that, youknow.
But any mother can say thebiggest obstacle is making sure
your kids come out okay, youknow.
(21:21):
My older son is challenged, anduh he's a wonderful human being.
He's 34 years old, and you know,I could say that was a biggest
obstacle.
Um, they're just challenges, youknow, a failed marriage.
Uh, I was a single mom with twokids before I met my current
(21:42):
husband who took the kids on,and we had a child together
also.
We had to explain to them thatthey weren't biological.
They all think that John's theirdad anyway.
SPEAKER_03 (21:53):
Any health challenges?
Have you ever had any healthchallenges?
Your shoulders?
SPEAKER_00 (21:57):
Oh, yeah.
Well, that's kind of just I havea full replacement in my left
shoulder, and I'm trying to holdoff replacing my right shoulder,
and I've had five shouldersurgeries.
You know, it's the old swimmer,you know, I was a butterfly,
which I can't swim butterflyanymore.
I mean, I used to swim butterflywhile everybody was doing
(22:17):
freestyle, you know, and uh Ijust I can barely do a lap of
butterfly without dying.
SPEAKER_03 (22:27):
Well, this is a great time to tell you and
launch some a little bit of alittle bit of coaching.
I have had diagnosed MRI uhshoulder impingement and a torn
rotator cuff.
Couldn't raise my arm here, usedto do butterfly, can barely do
butterfly anymore.
And I have recently found abook, and I'm gonna put it in
(22:50):
the show notes because but it'scalled Hanging to Cure Your
Shoulder Problems.
Really?
And it is amazing.
You hang from a a pull-up barstraight down and you hang, you
need to look it up, but you hangfor on and off, you start slow,
like three times 30 seconds, butyou work up to hanging for a
(23:11):
total of 15 minutes, and itremodels your shoulder.
I could believe that.
And it totally like even the thestats, this just you know,
double blind, placebocontrolled, they had a hundred
people, 50 of them had tornrotator cuffs and shoulder
impingements, and it healed atorn rotator cuff.
So without surgery, so you maywant to try hanging.
SPEAKER_00 (23:35):
I will absolutely try it because after each of my
surgeries, it's it's prettyfunny that you say that because
I used to hold on to theflagpole and just while I was
coaching and just hang on to theflagpole and just try and
stretch my shoulder, and itwould feel so much better.
SPEAKER_04 (23:53):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (23:54):
Well we'll put that in the show notes, but I while
we had everybody's you knowattention in the bad moment.
So your obstacles, what what I'mhearing is you've had a lot of
big obstacles that are typicaland and not typical, but that
are pretty bad.
And yet you don't even like whenwe ask you that question, you
can't even find the obstacle.
SPEAKER_01 (24:13):
They're just challenging.
They're in the past.
Yeah, I'm past.
I like that.
You know what I'm reallyimpressed with, and I I want to
hear you talk about this.
Your self-talk is so positive.
And I think, you know, I don'twant this to be a sexist thing,
but I think sometimes we womencan be hard on each other, hard
on ourselves, in our heads.
So did you that's something youdeveloped?
SPEAKER_00 (24:34):
It's funny, yes.
I would have to say I developedit because I grew up in a very
crazy household, so there wasn'ta lot of that going on with my
husband John.
He actually taught me this.
He used to say, get more directin your thinking.
I and I used to go, that'sthinking like men.
So I'd sit back and I'd watchthe other chiefs interact and
(24:59):
different men at differentpoints interact, and I'd watch
the way they interact, and noneof men don't put themselves
down.
And I started developing, and Iwould call it my male way of
thinking.
If I could teach more women todo that, which I have, you know,
(25:19):
I think talk to us, give us thethree things be much more
direct.
SPEAKER_03 (25:26):
What does that mean?
SPEAKER_00 (25:27):
Be direct, like women don't hint.
Yeah, women, yeah, be much moredirect.
Women talk flowerly until theyget to the point they want to
get to.
It might take in five minutes,the last 30 seconds is what they
really wanted to say.
Men start with the first 30seconds, the that last 30
(25:47):
seconds.
So I started doing that.
Be direct, that's one thing.
Be direct, be honest, as hard asit might be, be honest, and then
own it.
Whether somebody agrees with itor not, own it.
And if you'll notice, men dothat.
And that's why I think theirrelationships, and I watch them,
(26:10):
and I started to do that withmyself.
So your thoughts are the same.
You try to be direct and honestand own it.
And own it.
Owning it's really importantbecause I think a lot of people,
and I hate to say it, butprobably more women than men,
are afraid to own it because itmight not be the popular or the
(26:33):
maternal or the feminine way ofthinking that they might be
thinking, but it's okay.
Own it.
SPEAKER_03 (26:40):
Well, look, can I can you can coach me for a
second, coach?
Okay.
So if I'm you know, I'm freakingout a little bit about a
birthday I have coming up, sameone you have coming up, and I
tend to find myself talkingabout age.
So what what do I say?
SPEAKER_00 (27:01):
Okay, what I do, because I turned 60 in June,
what I do is prior to that, Istarted referring to myself as
60.
What is 60?
I'm 60, so what does that mean?
So what can I do at 60 that Icouldn't do at 59, 58, you know,
50.
And then then I started toembrace it by saying it, saying
(27:23):
it out loud.
I started to embrace it, andthen now I'm like, dog, I'm 60,
let's go.
And that's that's owning it forme.
And it's a lot of self-talk, andit's a lot of saying, you know,
it's okay.
SPEAKER_03 (27:42):
But you're saying things that you can do now that
you couldn't do, and I'm findingas I turn 60, there's so many
things that I can't do that Iused to do.
SPEAKER_00 (27:50):
Then find something else, find something new that I
can do.
I started trail riding on a bikea month ago.
SPEAKER_03 (27:56):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (27:57):
Met a whole bunch of women that have now come to me,
my age and maybe probablyyounger, but that are meeting up
with the trail ride.
Met a bunch of women that areplaying pickleball up at Wickham
Park every week.
SPEAKER_03 (28:11):
I do that.
SPEAKER_00 (28:12):
Find something new.
SPEAKER_03 (28:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (28:14):
And do it.
And keep doing what you'redoing, but develop a new
relationship.
SPEAKER_03 (28:19):
I love that.
SPEAKER_01 (28:20):
I do too.
I like that.
I like the idea of becoming anew person at 60.
SPEAKER_03 (28:24):
Yeah, and Maria, you and I were talking about this
this morning over coffee.
That, you know, you and I havewon about every title you can
win in endurance cycling andmaster swimming.
SPEAKER_00 (28:34):
Find something new.
SPEAKER_03 (28:34):
And those are not gonna keep easily.
SPEAKER_00 (28:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (28:38):
You know, so we need to find something new.
SPEAKER_00 (28:40):
You need to keep doing that, but have a new
relationship with it and say,you know what?
I did that.
And I can still do that, and itcan still be a part of my life
because it's part of my life,but in a different way.
It's like it's like a arelationship that you have with
your children or your partner.
It has to keep changing in orderfor it to get developed and
(29:03):
grow.
Well, same thing with you.
Develop that relationship withyourself.
You know, that's where us aswomen sometimes worry about
everybody else.
But they're gonna be better ifwe're better, right?
SPEAKER_01 (29:16):
That's so great.
I love this concept ofdeveloping a relationship that
changes with your sport, withyour family, and with yourself.
I just think that's really,really smart.
SPEAKER_03 (29:27):
Yeah, and how about I think what we women do really
well, and I think people do itin general, is we do as I say,
not as I do, or you know, I cancoach others to tons of success,
but when it comes to my own selftalk, like I can coach people
all day long about what theyneed to say.
What do you how do you respondto that?
SPEAKER_00 (29:50):
Um, my response is it's very important to me to
lead by example.
And I may not be able to get inand swim an 8,000 or Or do you
know whatever that the kids aredoing, but you know what?
I'm gonna get in and swim.
And I'm gonna show you what Ican do.
And I've never I've alwaysgotten respect for it.
(30:12):
You know, um, and then when youtry something new, like I
started rowing several yearsago, so I got that's my goal on
my beach is to get all my girlsrowing, plus my boys, you know,
my boys are just as important tome.
And without my boys and my girlsrespecting each other, which
they do, you can't grow.
(30:34):
And they do, and that'simportant.
And if if I'm going to bevulnerable, you know, I may have
been a champion at one point inmy life in butterfly.
It's okay not to be right now,but you know what?
You're you're gonna see what Ican do, and that's my
vulnerability.
If you let people see thatyou're vulnerable, they're gonna
(30:55):
respect you.
If you're gonna do somethingnew, you may not do it the way
you used to.
Oh well, but you're still doingit.
Lori Kruger, who is a a cyclist,triathlet, and one of my open
water swimming friends, said tome one day, she she we were we
were swimming, and I said toher, I said, we're not unique.
(31:19):
And she looked at me and shesays, Well, we are.
She's 59.
She said, We are unique to a lotof people our age.
I said, Yeah, but we're reallynot.
There's still a lot of peopleout there that are don't believe
you're unique.
That's another key thing for me.
There's so many people out therethat can do what I can do, and
then some that I can learn fromand enjoy.
(31:43):
And I think that's reallyimportant, is to not believe
that I'm and I think we do thata lot as human beings as we get
older, men and women.
Just because you get older, youthink you're better, or you have
to live to a certain standard,or you have to do something, you
don't.
You're not unique.
Do the what you can do, andpeople will respect you for it.
(32:06):
For trying, for just puttingyourself out there.
I mean, I have 16, 17-year-oldkids that I learn from.
And I think too many olderpeople think that they should
they they can't do that.
That they'll be less than, orthey should just because they're
older, they deserve the respect.
(32:28):
No, no, no, no, no, no.
I've never believed that.
And it's worked for me.
SPEAKER_01 (32:35):
I love that.
I love that combination ofearning it and also humility.
Yeah.
That's what you're talkingabout.
It's like, hey, we're notunique.
There's there's people outthere, but but but you're
obviously confident in who youare and what you've done.
SPEAKER_00 (32:48):
I think because I believe I'm not unique, I think
that gives the confidencebecause I don't have to set a
standard to somebody else.
SPEAKER_03 (32:56):
Yeah, I've always felt that way that I'm nothing
special.
I think that's what makes me beable to do champions mojo and be
a podcaster.
It's like I'm I'm just averagelittle girl with seven and a
half size feet, and you know,anybody can do what I've done,
and you know, we can all do it.
SPEAKER_00 (33:13):
We can definitely all do that special thing in our
lives just because we're who weare.
And you know, you're notspecial, you just gotta be open,
be vulnerable, be humble, and bewilling to listen.
SPEAKER_03 (33:27):
And be willing.
Yeah, when when you're older,you think, Oh, I need to lead
the way, I know, you know, butyou know, you might have a great
21-year-old that's gonna showyou something that you never
even thought possible.
SPEAKER_00 (33:39):
I learn so much from the young people I work with all
the time.
And I and I tell them, Wow,thanks.
Yeah, and they look at me likeyou're open.
SPEAKER_03 (33:52):
Yeah, I love that.
I love that.
So, what would you say?
You're obviously a champion.
We talk a lot about champions'traits, which which we'll get
to.
Um, how about your routines andrituals?
Uh for like a day or a week.
Yeah, like a day or a week, orsomething that you know.
You're a champion.
SPEAKER_01 (34:10):
What do champions do?
SPEAKER_03 (34:11):
Yeah, what like a lot of people talk about they
have morning routines or theyhave exercise routines, or what
things do you do that make youget into a space of success?
SPEAKER_00 (34:20):
Well, probably six mornings a week, I do something
by six o'clock in the morning, 530, 6, whether it's like today I
went spinning and I had bootcamp, and then I probably, if I
wasn't here, I would have takenmy kayak down to the beach and
did some kayaking, riding wavesand stuff like that.
But you know, there has to bepeople always say, Oh, you just
(34:43):
love, you know, working out.
Well, no, not really.
Not really, but you know what?
I like what it does for me, youknow, and um it's important.
Like Tuesday morning, tomorrowmorning, uh, every Tuesday, I'm
gonna meet my swim partner up inCocoa Beach, and we do our ocean
mile and and who and otherpeople that come.
And Wednesday morning isspinning and at 5 30 and
(35:09):
something else in the afternoon.
Sometimes I'll take off fromthat.
And that could be just thestraight beach day where I body
surf or something.
Depends on the waves.
Thursday morning is swimming inthe pool, Friday morning
swimming in the pool, and thenswim open water at night,
Saturday morning is poolswimming, Sunday mor I mean
ocean swimming, and then Sundaymorning is ocean swimming also.
(35:33):
So six days a week you exercisein the morning.
Yeah, I try and take a day off,but sometimes it if I if I wait
till eight o'clock, that feelslike a vacation.
So I just think you have to dosomething, you have to move.
And then then I add in the funthings.
The Wednesday, if it's cold out,I'm gonna go meet these women
(35:55):
that have invited me to playpickleball.
I got two women at my gym nowthat call me up to go trail
riding behind my house on thebike that I have, my little
green bike.
You know, so I just think everyday you need to move.
You need to.
A friend of mine that I used torun at 4:30 in the morning at
the track in Jackson, NewJersey.
(36:17):
It'd be ice and snow, but we metevery morning before school and
ran around this track.
You gotta break a sweat.
Every day.
Somehow do something.
Other rituals for doingsomething is my ritual.
Okay.
You know, any mindset rituals ofuh meditation or I yes, I do do
(36:41):
um I will intersperse yoga inthere, and it will be yoga where
I'm I'm really becomingintrospective.
And I started doing somemeditation, breathing.
It's hard for me because I'm avery hyper person, so that's a
real challenge for me.
I'd rather go swim three milesthan sit down and have to be
calm, and I try.
(37:01):
So that's that's my afternoon.
SPEAKER_01 (37:03):
What about nutrition?
Do you have a particularnutrition ritual or I do?
SPEAKER_00 (37:09):
I've always been conscious of nutrition, and I
speak a lot to my athletes aboutthat because it's it's an issue
with swimmers and especiallyfemale swimmers, eating
disorders and poor nutrition andthings of that nature.
It's a real issue, and uh I havevery strong feelings about it.
(37:30):
But uh for before Survivor, Iwas probably a vegetarian for
about 15 years, and then knowingI was going on Survivor, I
started introducing meat in mydiet because I didn't want to be
physically ill on the island incase I want it and a reward, and
I'd need it.
And now I'm back into that.
(37:50):
But I have nothing againstpeople that eat meat at all.
It's just a personal choice fora lot of reasons for me.
You just have to eat healthy.
Sugar is poison.
Poison.
Um, and I mean that.
It's an addiction.
It I believe it causes 90% ofpeople's health issues later on
in life.
(38:11):
And I think that there's I knowI probably sound like a wacko,
but I'm sure there's a lot ofthings.
No, I completely agree with you.
You are preaching to the choir.
SPEAKER_01 (38:18):
I totally agree.
I'm a reformed, well, not evenreformed, but I'm an addict
today.
SPEAKER_00 (38:23):
I have to say no to sugar.
It's it's it I it changes yourpersonality.
I think there's links to cancerwith it.
I really do.
I know it sounds crazy, but Ireally I don't know how because
inflammation and proliferationof cells.
SPEAKER_03 (38:36):
I mean, that's been proven cancer grows more in
sugar.
SPEAKER_00 (38:39):
And I think sugar is probably the number one, and and
everybody cracks up around mebecause you know we'll be having
our morning meetings with thelifeguards, and I got broccoli
out there.
You know, and I don't have timeframes with food.
You know, I will have I make myown tuna, I make all my own
(39:01):
stuff, and I'm a uh foodie, Iguess you would say.
I it's that on my bucket list atsome point.
I'd love to publish a cookbook,a vegan vegetarian cookbook.
I have a file folder with amillion recipes, and I'm always
in my kitchen experimenting.
But um, my guac and my redsauce, you can't beat it.
(39:23):
Um, you know, I think nutritionis is a big, big factor to a lot
of people and how they areliving later in life.
I think it's a huge I think ifyou didn't exercise and you
fixed your diet, and I mean takesugar out of it, and I'm not
saying completely, I'm justsaying not the way it's in
(39:45):
people have no idea how muchstuff is in all this marketing.
You know, what are the theprotein bars, half of them are
useless junk.
I probably shouldn't be sayingthat, but no, it's that's true.
SPEAKER_03 (40:00):
They're full of trees, like full of chemicals
and sugar and but they'remarketing as an athlete.
SPEAKER_00 (40:07):
This is gonna help you be a better athlete.
You know, Gatorade, Gatorade,things like that that that have
good balances.
They do balance the blood withelectrolytes and things like
that, but that's after twohours, not after a half hour or
an hour or an hour and a half,it's after two hours of severe,
(40:27):
intense workouts, workouts.
You know, and people think, youknow, you see them walking into
the gym with their Gatoradebottles, and I just like go, oh,
you're killing it.
unknown (40:39):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (40:39):
I like that.
I like that message about sugarbecause it's it's addictive, as
you said.
It is a lot of people don'tunderstand how much uh sugar
they get in their diet.
SPEAKER_03 (40:48):
I love that.
SPEAKER_00 (40:49):
My uh oldest daughter, a little joke in our
house, because my mother liveswith us, she's lived with us for
24 years, and uh my oldestdaughter, when she comes to
visit, she'll bring in likedonuts or cookies or she goes,
because I know mom's neglectingyou because there's nothing in
the house.
SPEAKER_03 (41:08):
Yeah, that sounds like a very familiar story, I'm
sure, to a lot of people.
So, what traits do you thinkchampions share?
SPEAKER_00 (41:17):
I believe champions share the belief in themselves.
I believe the determination tonever give up.
Um, that little inner voice thatsays they that it it's okay.
Because there are champions thatshouldn't be champions.
If you looked at all the umthings in their life, they
(41:38):
shouldn't be a champion.
I believe that in my life, I amI did have a very successful
swimming career, hands down, butI believe that the challenges in
my life made me a fantasticcoach.
And I don't want to say thatthat sounds very braggy.
I don't want to say that I meana fantastic coach because I
(42:01):
understood the kid, you know,and I think that being open to
listening to others, it it's sofrustrating as a coach to see
this kid with incredible talent,but they won't trust you or
listen to you, and it goes outthe window.
So I believe that champions havea belief in themselves, a trust,
(42:26):
a willingness to listen, awillingness to change.
And I believe they're they'rekey elements to anybody that's
gonna be a champion.
SPEAKER_01 (42:37):
That's great.
I think you have been soinspirational.
SPEAKER_03 (42:41):
And then, Janet, if you can come up with something
that because of thisconversation, you're gonna walk
out of here and do somethingdifferent in your life.
And I'm gonna start by sayingthat my first takeaway out of
interviewing you is truly beingauthentic and owning my age and
(43:04):
my limitations and myunlimitations, and just being
inspired to be authentic and goout and continue to add to my
repertoire and not look at whatI can't do anymore, but what I
can add.
SPEAKER_01 (43:21):
That's great.
My takeaway.
SPEAKER_03 (43:25):
You're gonna have to do two.
Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01 (43:27):
Well, one of my takeaways then, this just blows
me away, is our converseconversation around self-talk.
I I just think you have nailedit, this concept of being of
owning, owning your beingdirect, being honest, owning it,
and and doing that in our headstoo, not just with other people,
but the way we talk toourselves, listen to your
(43:47):
thoughts and and make that yourefer to it as more like a man,
but make make it positive andmake it own your thoughts and
make them positive, and that youcan change the way you talk to
yourself.
I loved your story about workingon it.
It's beautiful.
SPEAKER_03 (44:04):
And your life may look like it's been easy, but
when I'm listening to the prep,prep, prep, here you go on
Survivor.
You build the fire with noflint, which is not easy.
But then to hear the backstory,you practiced, your backyard was
set up, you knew the differencebetween coconut husk and bamboo.
(44:24):
And so I think just reallywhatever you want to succeed at,
you have to prep.
You gotta work, you gotta put inthe laps, you gotta put in the
the the work.
So you're a hard worker,obviously.
So that that for me is atakeaway of your success has
come at being prepared slashworking really hard.
SPEAKER_01 (44:47):
Yeah, I like that.
And you don't even you don'teven know you do it.
I mean, we tell you, you know,we ask you about it, and you
know, yeah, I did this and I didthat and I did that.
But so I I I love that.
That's really true.
And my my other amazingtakeaway, I think it's so
important for all of us, older,you know, I'm getting up there
too.
(45:07):
And and just this concept thatwe need to be learning from
everyone.
You're I love that you said Ilearn from my kids.
And I'm starting starting toexperience that first.
I'm going from a changingrelationship, as you said, with
my own kids who are now adults.
Now I'm not teaching themreally, they're teaching me.
And I think being open to thatand the what you talk about,
you're just your humility insaying, I what can I learn from
(45:30):
the people in my lives?
That's such a great take-homefor me.
SPEAKER_00 (45:33):
I'm really happy for you.
Uh, just a little hint on yourkids.
My daughters are my bestfriends.
Yeah.
Um, and we actually, my oldestdaughter, who is 33 now, 32.
Um, we probably call each otherevery day.
Um, my younger daughter, who's26, we have over the years, it
(45:58):
was a little harder with herbecause my older daughter and I
were so tight.
She's like, I just felt so we'vealways talked about it when she
was 13 and 17 and 20.
And now we have a greatrelationship because I said to
her, I said, Jen, I'm a I'm ahuman.
Let's be adults with each othernow.
(46:19):
And now we have a little signalwith each other.
And it's like, I'm not, we'renot doing the mother-child
thing, we're doing the adultadult thing.
Nice.
And the two of us, and she'slike, Yeah, and we have a blast
when we do that.
And it's hard, it's worksometimes, but man, how awesome
is it to have like arelationship with your kids that
(46:43):
you can call them your friend.
SPEAKER_03 (46:44):
Yeah, that's beautiful.
So, Janet, you're up.
What are you coming out of herewith?
SPEAKER_00 (46:50):
My takeaway is my new adventure of this speaking
program that I'm nervous about,that I I get overwhelmed, just
talking to you two just helps methink I'm I'm still going in the
right track and to believe init.
Believe in it.
Oh, absolutely.
You're gonna be amazing.
You are a pop star.
SPEAKER_01 (47:11):
You are, you're absolutely amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (47:13):
I'm scared of it, you know.
You've been doing it for anhour.
You're great.
So, and I also feel like I'vemet new people that maybe we can
hang out and do some swims anddo some stuff.
SPEAKER_03 (47:27):
Well, you're inspiring the inspirers.
That's right.
SPEAKER_00 (47:30):
So that's that's that's exactly right.
Well, you guys are awesome.
SPEAKER_03 (47:34):
Thanks.
Well, we're under an hour justby the skin of our teeth, which
is our goal.
So thank you so much for beingwatching you and cheering for
you.
And we're, you know, we're stillfans and and yet we're shoulder
to shoulder as strong women.
SPEAKER_00 (47:47):
That's awesome.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_03 (47:50):
Thanks.
Thanks so much for listening tothis Champions Mojo Encore
episode.
If it inspired you, pleasefollow the show, share it with a
friend, and consider leaving aquick review.
It truly helps.
And don't forget, my new book,False Cure, is available at
Amazon and Barnes Noble.
I'll be back in January 2026with all new episodes to help
(48:14):
you live well, swim well, andkeep your mojo going.
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