Dan Abel is a former competitive swimmer, an ultra-marathon swimmer (including the English Channel and Cook Strait), and the founder of swim company Fit & Abel, which offers pool and open water swim coaching, swim safety and accessibility advice, and 'RealSwim Adventures' in NZ's South Island.
With a lifelong history of swimming Dan brings a lot of passion and dedication to his role, with a strong belief in giving people not just technical swim skills but also "environmental confidence" – the ability to enjoy swimming outdoors in nature.
In this episode we talk about:
- Dan's career path including working in the RNZ Air Force, his association with SwimTrek, coaching in a London lido (an unheated outdoor pool), and founding Fit & Abel in 2011.
- The importance of encouragement, communication, and understanding people's reasons for wanting to swim (or why they might be afraid to swim).
- Giving people the ability to swim outdoors, connect with nature, form friendships, and have fun.
- Putting the focus on health and wellbeing – looking after ourselves and other people.
- Avoiding the 'what next?' swim checklist and enjoying the journey.
- The power of the language we use when it comes to swimming.
- Creating a more positive and consistent framework around safe swimming in NZ.
- Advocating for clean waterways.
The books mentioned by Dan: Lynne Cox’s 'Swimming to Antarctica', Terry Laughlin’s 'Total Immersion', 'Plastic Ocean' by Charles Moore, 'A History of Open-Water Marathon Swimming' by Timothy M Johnson, 'Swim Smooth' by Paul Newsome.
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