On this episode of Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast New Zealand's own Laura Quilter joins us to share her journey from the 2014 Commonwealth Games to becoming a masters swimmer and ice swimming enthusiast. Laura started masters in 2023, and discovered how she found joy and freedom from racing again.
Get ready to enhance your own swimming technique and learn from Laura, as she breaks down the art of breath control and the unique training routines that have propelled her success. Recently at the age of 31, she posted a lifetime best 50m freestyle swim and shared with us her thoughts about why she was able to accomplish that. Learn the secrets behind 25-meter underwater swims and the critical importance of exhaling fully for peak performance. Laura discusses the balance of squad training versus self-directed workouts, offering insights on how joining both a master's club and a competitive swimming club can provide the motivation and flexibility needed to stay at the top of your game.
Laura’s intriguing foray into ice swimming will leave you in awe. She recounts the physical and psychological hurdles of swimming in water temperatures below five degrees Celsius, from her initial 100-meter goal to conquering a grueling 1000-meter swim. Laura’s journey includes detailed discussions on strength and conditioning, fitness motivation, and pre-race rituals that keep her at her best. Tune in to hear a dedicated athlete's perspective on pushing boundaries and embracing the thrill of the sport at every stage of life.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Danielle Spurling (00:09):
Hello swimmers and welcome to another
episode of Torpedo Swimt alkPodcast.
I'm your host, DanielleSpurling, and each week, we chat
to a master swimmer from aroundthe world about their swimming
journey.
On today's podcast, we chat toNew Zealander, Laura Quilter,
who, in her elite career, was anational champion freestyler and
(00:30):
a 2014 Commonwealth Gamesrepresentative, and now she's
turned her hand to mastersracing and ice swimming, which I
am really intrigued to find outabout.
At 31, laura recently swam alifetime PB for her 50 freestyle
by coaching herself and, havingchanged everything she was
doing in her elite career, let'sfind out now how she did it.
(00:55):
Hi, Laura, welcome to thepodcast and thanks for joining
me.
Yeah, stoked to be here.
Thanks for asking.
Yeah, it's great to have you on.
Where are you based in NewZealand?
Laura Quliter (01:10):
I'm in Auckland at the moment.
I've been here for over 10years, up from my little
hometown in Gisborne.
Danielle Spurling (01:17):
Oh, very nice , Did you start your swimming in
Gisborne?
Laura Quliter (01:21):
Yeah, I was thrown in as a little one.
But it's kind of funny nowbecause I enjoy surfing and it's
ironic that it had some of thebest surf breaks.
But I was obsessed with thepool from day dot, so great surf
breaks I didn't really play inthem often.
Danielle Spurling (01:35):
So your surf lifesaving that you did wasn't
centered around Gisborne at all.
Laura Quliter (01:40):
Yes, it was a mix of here and Auckland, but I did
the version of Surf Lifesavingthat's done actually in a racing
pool.
It's really popular in Europeas well, because they don't have
as great beaches as we do often.
So the Surf Lifesaving scenefor me was quite different.
I rescued orange fakemannequins in the pool and then
absolutely blundered my waythrough the beach events.
Danielle Spurling (02:03):
Absolutely blundered my way through the
beach events.
Okay, because in Australia wecall that royal life-saving for
the pool and then surflife-saving for the ocean.
So yeah, I know exactly whatyou mean.
The club that I grew up at theyused to be big into royal
life-saving.
So yeah, it's a big scene, Ithink.
Laura Quliter (02:21):
Yeah, I've just learnt something I didn't
realise.
It was called royal inAustralia.
Danielle Spurling (02:29):
Yeah, I think , just to be different from the
two, because surf life saving ishuge here.
Yeah, yeah, similar in.
Laura Quliter (02:32):
New.
Danielle Spurling (02:33):
Zealand yeah, because you've got such great
beaches as well.
Yeah, well, we've got so muchto cover today, from your time
representing New Zealand at theCommonwealth Games to your
master swimming and coaching,and now your new passion, which
is ice swimming.
But let's start with yourmaster's.
What motivated you totransition from your elite
swimming career to master's, andhow much of a gap did you have
(02:56):
in between the two?
Laura Quliter (02:58):
So there was no kind of intention to transition,
I suppose, like into theMasters.
It was actually just a desireto swim in a brand new pool that
they'd built.
So Hawke's Bay had, yeah, builta brand new 50 meter and I have
to admit, I was a bit jealous.
I never got to swim in it.
And then the 2023 Masters wasannounced in Hawke's Bay and I
(03:19):
just rustled up a few friendsand it was more of a social trip
, and I just rustled up a fewfriends and it was more of a
social trip.
So we took our bikes down, wedid a whole bunch of cycling and
that event was how's my maths?
2016 was my last likeinternational event, so that's
seven wait.
Danielle Spurling (03:39):
How many years is that?
Laura Quliter (03:41):
Seven years, yeah , seven, yeah, because it's now
10 years since the CommonwealthGames.
So in that gap of seven yearsI've kept myself relatively
active, like I do enjoy the gymand things and my swimming.
I was really enjoying thetriathlon squad, so I had a good
social network there and thoseare the people I went to the
Masters with and it was such afun event like it was.
(04:03):
You know, I didn't have the,the volume like the number of
people that I had been used to,but the, the vibe of it and how
much fun I had, was it got me,um, got me a bit hooked.
Danielle Spurling (04:15):
It got you hooked on it, so you've been
back at it for just around abouta year.
Laura Quliter (04:20):
Yeah.
So that Masters sparked alittle light in me and I've kind
of over the last year I'vedabbled both in masters and back
into elite swimming, so it'sbeen quite quite a unique
experience.
But I think what masters gaveme was this opportunity to race
free, like there was absolutelynothing that I had to, I suppose
(04:41):
, achieve at that, and even liketo make that even more apparent
, the only reason I swam at thatMasters is they gave people an
opportunity to compete withoutbeing attached to a club, and at
this point I had no intentionof ever competitively swimming
again, and when I read that youcould just pay an extra fee and
compete unattached, that got meinto the event, and I've since
(05:03):
joined a club and met a wholebunch of new people it is a
great community once you, youknow, are exposed to it and you
start sort of um, you knowswimming, swimming in it.
Danielle Spurling (05:14):
How did you find swimming in um races where
you're against guys and andgirls and they're all different
ages and it's just on the time,did you find that aspect fun?
Laura Quliter (05:25):
yes.
I did, it was it actually tooka little bit of getting used to
because I know that you're alonein your lane.
But you know it is still a bitof a mind game because you have
got that peripheral vision andyou kind of have an idea of
where people are and I did enjoyit.
But I have to admit it was abit intimidating to start.
Danielle Spurling (05:42):
Yeah, of, of course, of course.
Now I didn't realize.
You just mentioned that you'vedabbled your sort of toes back
into elite swimming as well.
Tell us a little bit about that.
Laura Quliter (05:53):
Yeah.
So that Masters kind of sparkedme in terms of wondering what I
could do now that I'm in my 30sand do, I suppose, manage my
own training and see what Icould do with a different
approach.
So I raced at the Nationals forthe first time in eight years
this April and again it was thatmaster's mindset where I just
had so much freedom.
(06:14):
And what was quite funny is Idid notice at the start of this
year my mindset.
I was putting all thisarbitrary pressure on myself and
I was getting really inside myhead and it was quite this awful
um, what do you call it whenyou get that sense of deja vu?
And I remember I've got diaryentries from back in 2016 about
(06:35):
feeling like I was wasn't goodenough at that point and I was
like, oh, I can't be botheredwith this, like I've got to go
to work, you know, and it was.
It was quite funny.
So I think the the master'smindset of is this ability to
just race a bit freer.
And even though in January Iactually did battle with those
kind of self-expectationsbecause I had thought there was,
(06:57):
um, and very unlikely, but asmall chance that I could make
the Olympic Games team this year.
So I was 0.5 of a second off ata 50, which is actually quite a
large margin in a sprint, butthat is almost closer than I was
back when I was training fulltime.
Wow, so it's been quite aninteresting journey and that has
(07:19):
actually got me swimming evenmore.
I'm going to swim at the NewZealand Short Course Nationals
next month and then Mastersagain when the next event comes
that's fabulous.
Danielle Spurling (07:30):
Now I read that you had done a PB in your
53 at 31.
That's a lifetime PB.
What, what was?
What was the?
Um the time that you swam?
Laura Quliter (07:41):
I swam 25.31 this year and previous to that.
My best ever is 25.8 wow.
Danielle Spurling (07:48):
So what do you put that down to?
Obviously, your mindset'sdifferent.
You you've sort of been able toput it in perspective, but what
physically have you been ableto do?
Like?
What change have you made fromthe training you used to do to
what you do now?
Laura Quliter (08:02):
yeah, I have to to.
I have to look at it fairly.
In 2016 I was I'd moved up anevent, so I was targeting the
200 freestyle in that seasonbecause it was a more likely
chance of making the Olympicteam.
So, comparing apples withapples, I was targeting, you
know, an event that was fourtimes longer.
I have, or had always been, asprinter, so it's not like I was
(08:26):
always swimming that 200.
But, in terms of the maindifferences, my volume in the
pool is so much less and that'sbecause of a few factors A.
I don't recover as fast as Iused to.
As much as I wish, I'll getinto bed and feel like I weigh
twice twice my normal weightbecause I'm just so fatigued, so
(08:48):
the volume's down, um, and thenbecause I'm, I don't have as
much time as I did when I was afull-time swimmer.
I'm much more focused ongetting the best out of every
session and I've noticed thatI'm a much more, I suppose,
aware of like how I move my body, and I've done a personal
training certificate and I'm anurse now.
So my understanding of biology,physiology, the musculature, is
(09:11):
actually a lot better than itwas when I was swimming, and
that's given me this entirelynew approach of understanding
the smaller muscles to engage,and the biggest one, actually, I
think, is understandingrespiration properly and how we
oxygenate the muscles.
And the biggest one, actually,I think, is understanding
respiration properly and how weoxygenate the muscles and the
ability to use the diaphragmwhen we're in this environment.
That actually slightlycompresses the thorax, making it
(09:34):
harder to breathe, and also anykind of panic or unease means
that we tend to breathe moreshallow and we use the accessory
muscles up through the neck,and that actually probably used
to cause a bit of my.
My neck pain, in terms of theprevalence of breathing
disorders, is actually reallycommon, and I noticed that,
(09:55):
probably because of swimming, Iused to breathe through my mouth
and so even when I'm at work,I've been really aware of trying
to focus on breathing throughthe nose and using my diaphragm
and I think, in a small way,that has transferred to my
swimming.
Danielle Spurling (10:08):
That's so interesting.
Yeah, I love that that's.
I think that's something thatpeople you know would get a lot
from thinking about, because Ifeel like I do that same thing,
yeah, in terms of what I thoughtabout breathing eight years ago
.
Laura Quliter (10:24):
I used to think about the frequency and the
position, so I would think mybreathing pattern is every two
or it's every four and I want tomake sure that I'm rolling with
the body.
And that's where it ended,whereas now I am thinking about
those aspects, but I'm alsothinking about the depth of my
breath and how I hold it, ifthat makes sense.
I'm really trying not to be tootense and, like I'm quite a
(10:49):
visual person, I'm trying tothink of how that oxygen is
really spreading through my bodyand getting it out as well.
So playing around withdifferent exhale techniques.
I know that when we're taughtto swim it's often that trickle
of exhale and I think that'simportant because that's to
develop a sense of comfort inthe water.
But I kind of prefer this likenasal exhale as my face comes
(11:13):
into the water, and then aslight hold and a big burst
before I breathe.
But then it's interestingwatching the international
swimmers because there's also adifferent range of how they
exhale some hold, some trickle,some burst it's.
Danielle Spurling (11:27):
Yeah, I've got a whole different way of
seeing swimming yeah, I meanthat that's really a fantastic
perspective, and I think so,looking at your 50 freestyle
what?
What did you used to breathe inthat and what do you breathe in
that now?
Do you take a?
Laura Quliter (11:46):
breath.
That was really fun because Idecided to trial no breathing
because that's what the um worldrecord holder she, she doesn't
breathe.
So I was like, well, I'm not aworld record holder, but let's
see how close.
You know, let's close the gap,and that's what I say to people
when I'm coaching it doesn'tmatter if you're new to swimming
closing the gap on where youwant to be.
And that gap may never getclose, but there's something to
(12:10):
aim at.
So I decided to play aroundwith that and I got more and
more comfortable racing nobreathing.
But I found I couldn't sustainmy stroke rate.
So my times were coming down.
I PB'd without breathing, but atthe trials I actually started.
I made the decision that Iwould take one breath at about
the 35 meter mark, and that waskind of a to get a bit of that
(12:33):
oxygen in, but also as a reset.
I would see that little t atthe 35 meter mark and it was
this like you know, let's up thecadence of the kick, make sure
that the head position's correct, because I often dig my head in
with the.
You know, when you're tryingreally hard, you get a little
bit more bound up in the muscles.
So at 35 meters.
(12:53):
It was bang, get that oxygen,and then what else is there?
Obviously, it's not that reallylong thought out process.
That was happening in mytraining when I went to race.
It was just this execution ofskills and trusting that
everything in the backgroundwould come through in those you
know 25 seconds.
Danielle Spurling (13:12):
So, in terms of your training for that race
training for 50, do you practicethat kind of breath control in
training or is it just somethingyou're doing in a race?
Laura Quliter (13:22):
Definitely in training.
So that was something that Ihad to get used to in some awful
training sets, because I reallydon't enjoy that hypoxic style.
I don't know if anyone elsefeels that when you do restrict
the breathing and when youbreathe again and the muscles
kind of tighten and you mightget a little bit lightheaded.
So it's always best toobviously do hypoxic work with A
(13:45):
somebody being aware of youdoing it or with a training
partner, um, because there arereal risks to it.
But I did notice my tolerancestarted to get better and one of
the sets that I did quitefrequently was a 25 meter
underwater max.
I would come up and it would.
The rest would be five breaths.
So it wasn't a timed rest, itwas I would allow myself five
(14:06):
breaths and then it was a 25 max, no breathing and then long
rest.
So underwater control, thebreathing for five and the idea
of that again Really getting mybody used to using the diaphragm
and controlling you know thehead as well, because if you
come up and you just take fivequick breaths, then you got to
go again.
You just tie up and it's verychallenging.
(14:27):
Um, the first few times I didthat I had to wear fins I
couldn't make it without.
Then I kind of graduatedtowards slow underwater without
fins.
Um until you know repetitivelyI built up to be able to do it
without fins at a hard fast pace.
Danielle Spurling (14:46):
That's fantastic.
I, when I think about my breathcontrol, when I'm in training,
I find it harder to get the airout so that I have enough room
to take more in.
Yeah, I am the exact same.
Yeah, it's a funny feeling andI think, um, like I breathe 4242
in my hundreds and 200s, but ifI go into a 50 and I probably
(15:10):
need to do this more in trainingI don't breathe as often and
that's when I get a bit stumped.
Laura Quliter (15:15):
So something like you've just described is really
good practice for that kind ofthing yeah, and I mixed it up a
lot with 25, so I do one lap ofreally um, well thought, thought
out dps, so like no breathing,long and slow, and then a 25 max
, no breathing.
So I kind of went from thislike relaxed, hypoxic state to
(15:35):
you know, max effort withoutbreathing yeah, oh, fabulous.
Danielle Spurling (15:39):
And so, in terms of your training, you
mentioned you've joined amaster's club.
Are you training with a coachor are you doing all your own
sort of workouts, riding themyourself?
Laura Quliter (15:52):
I've been a solo battler this entire year.
Wow, yeah, I've joined a club,but it's quite a cool club
because you can, you know, popinto the Sunday sessions or the
weekday ones or you don't haveto.
They're very accommodating.
And I've also joined a club forcompetitive swimming.
So I'm kind of, as I said, inthese two worlds.
(16:16):
So last year, at the end of lastyear, what was really good to
kind of kick my butt a bit andget in was to train with a squad
, and that I found reallychallenging.
The sessions were awesome but,holy moly, they were hard and I
was only training for the 50 atthat point.
So, you know, doing, doing lotsof volume, I was kind of.
I still love swimming, but I'vedone my dash with the really
big mileage and, um, you know,actually it wasn't even big
(16:37):
mileage in that squat, it wasjust hard graft that I would
need for 100 and 200 andprobably would have helped the
50.
So that was a great way to dipthe toes back in.
But it's been quite a I don'tknow how to describe it.
It's been a really uniqueexperience training myself this
year.
Um, you know, through the dipsof like low motivation and
(17:00):
having to reach out to a fewpeople and it's been really fun.
I've been more free to joinother people and have others to
train with, so it's been thisamazing fluid experience.
And still being able to join inwith my club as well is awesome
because there's such a coolgroup of people yeah, that
sounds really good.
Danielle Spurling (17:18):
I mean, it's good that you've you've got that
flexibility.
Obviously you're working andyou're doing all these other
things and so training byyourself, you can fit it in
whenever you want to.
But how?
How often are you training eachweek?
Like what's a typical weeklyschedule for you?
Laura Quliter (17:32):
uh, for the 50 this year for my pb, I was
probably only swimming threetimes a week, um, but those
three sessions you know I wouldturn up, I would be mentally
there for the whole session, ifthat makes sense.
I wasn't letting my mind wanderand it was all purposeful, um,
but I was in the gym probablyfour to five times a week and I
did supplement my gym with spinclasses a lot actually.
(17:56):
So in my thought process,behind the spin classes was I
needed A, an increase in powerin my legs, but also an increase
in cadence for the kicking andwhen you're on those spin bikes
going really fast, your hipflexors and things are going and
it's a really tough, reallyreally hard cardiovascular
workout which, if I was beinghonest with myself, you know
(18:17):
those are the steps that I foundreally hard to do by myself.
I could do the short sprintsbut to do the like, more VO2 max
and the threshold sets, theywere actually really challenging
for me to do and I'd be wantingto pull out early and all this
kind of stuff.
So my naughty way around thatwas to try and do on a spin bike
, um, in a class with like loudmusic and lights, and for the 50
(18:40):
it worked, um, you know, andwhat was quite cool is my times
came down sequentially everysingle race.
So I don't think I'm quite done.
I think I might have one morenationals in me because I didn't
reach the plateau, but whetheror not that training approach is
the best moving forward, Ithink swimming is such a unique
sport where we have to work inthis environment that's got so
(19:02):
much more resistance and youneed to be just so technically
excellent that I have started toincrease my focus in the pool
as much as I miss my gym.
I'm doing 100 freestyle at theshort course national.
So for the 50 I was swimmingthree times a week, um, and now
I'm swimming trying to go five,six, if I can right, wow, that
(19:25):
is a big step up.
Danielle Spurling (19:27):
So almost double the k's that you're
probably doing each week indoing so yeah, yeah, the k's
still aren't big if you considermy background.
Laura Quliter (19:36):
They're big in terms of the recent training
cycle.
But what I really want my bodyto get used to particularly is
the underwater kicking, becausethat's something that's never
been a strength but forunderwater.
So the New Zealand A standardfor the world champs this year
is a 53.7.
And you've got to be prettyfast underwater to swim that
(19:57):
quick.
So my best ever is a 54.00.
So if I can drop 0.3 it'd bepretty cool to be back on the
national team.
But you know that's that's justa cherry on the top kind of
thing.
I just want to have another goat racing in the short course
season.
Danielle Spurling (20:11):
Yes, yes, absolutely.
Look, tell us a little bitabout your Commonwealth Games
experience in 2014.
So you're off to Glasgow.
What did you represent NewZealand in what events?
Laura Quliter (20:22):
So I was selected on the 4x1 women's freestyle
relay team and also the 50butterfly, so that was the
greatest experience of myswimming career.
I didn't manage to kind of stepup after that, so it's just
this one amazing memory.
But I think what I'm almostmost proud of is that I did do
personal bests in every eventover there.
(20:42):
So I took, you know, I thinkit's quite a tough thing to be
able to step up on aninternational stage and I'm
quite an excitable person.
I think if you've got thiscapacity to take that energy and
excitement but funnel it intoan effective swim, that's quite
good, because it can go bothways.
I think there's almost thislike arousal bell curve of like
(21:03):
being too hyped up and too tenseand also being too low, like if
you at the end of the career orit's an event you're not
interested in and you just don'twant to swim.
That's also too low.
So managing my I suppose,excitement levels and minimizing
anxiety was quite challenging.
But the one like there were tworeally cool moments, like I
(21:27):
remember, in the marshallingrooms.
They were underneath the pooland so when people were like
jumping in the stands, I kind of, in a weird, weird way, I felt
like I was a gladiator right,like you're about to walk out
onto stage, but all you can hearare these people like screaming
.
You don't know what's going on.
I don't know if there were TVsor not, but it was just this
(21:47):
noise and then this like sweetsmell of chlorine and sweat,
because there's all these women,because obviously it's the
relay, so there's lots of peoplesweating because they're
probably nervous and they'rewarmed up, and then obviously
chlorine because it's swimmingand it was such a visceral kind
of I've still got that memory inmy head and walking out, you
know, holding that girl's handsand getting to represent the
(22:10):
country, that was such a coolexperience.
And then actually AustraliaAustralia broke the world record
in that event, so like that wasalso amazing.
Danielle Spurling (22:20):
Yeah, yeah, I mean that 4x100 Australian
women's relay is prettyphenomenal, aren't they?
Laura Quliter (22:27):
Oh, I'm so excited for the Olympics.
The Australian team isabsolutely swimming out of their
skin at the moment and we'vegot a few New Zealanders that
are looking like our team'sexciting this year.
Danielle Spurling (22:38):
Yeah, I agree .
I mean Erica Fairweather andEve Thomas.
I mean you've got some greatsort of females on the team and
obviously Lewis Claiborne.
Laura Quliter (22:47):
Yeah, I can't wait.
It's going to be awesome.
Danielle Spurling (22:49):
I know, yeah, I was going to ask you.
That's one of my questionslater.
Laura Quliter (23:02):
Which one of my questions later what, uh, which
New Zealanders you want youthought we should look out for?
Oh, you've named them.
Yeah, erica.
Erica and Lewis, absolutely,but I wouldn't discount Eve
either.
She's just like going strengthto strength and and stepping up
on those international levels.
You know she performed so wellat the world champs earlier this
year.
So was it this year?
I think so yeah, yeah, februaryyeah, covid's confusing, I know
Too many pinnacles in a year.
Danielle Spurling (23:20):
I know Well she has such a strong background
.
Obviously her mum was SarahHardcastle and, you know, raced
for England and she's obviouslytraining in Australia with Dean
Boxall.
So she's got the best of bothworlds.
Laura Quliter (23:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
Danielle Spurling (23:38):
And yeah, absolutely, and she's so tough
like, yeah, is she awesome, yeah, yeah, yeah, it'll be
interesting to see how she goesum up against our arnie, so
it'll be very interesting.
Oh, what I was going to alsoask you was a little bit, um,
when you mentioned the come offgames and that sort of sense of
you remember things because ofthe smell of the chlorine and
the sweat and what was happening.
(23:59):
But when you walked out ontothe pool deck for that four by
one relay to get yourself intothat zone, do you have any
techniques that you use to sortof calm yourself down so that
you're in that sort of optimallevel of the arousal inverted
you?
Laura Quliter (24:14):
yeah.
So I think, um, brief workhelps me a lot, like kind of an
extended exhale, because I tendto be more on the nervous side,
so for me it's important to notbe, not be too tense.
Um, and then visualizing thechangeover was probably the more
important part.
So I was the second swimmer and, um, I don't know how many
(24:35):
other people are terrified of abreak, but that was mine.
I was like you know what, if Ican see it in my head before I
do it, then the rest, as I said,it takes care of itself.
You've benched the training andwe did our pre-cab in Mallorca
in Spain, and that was thefastest I've ever swum before.
So I kind of had that in theback of my head, being like you
(24:55):
know, if I can replicate whatI've trained to do, then you
know, just trust that it's inthere.
I think I used to get in my waya lot in terms of overthinking
and I hadn't realized, until Iprobably quit, that I had a big
fear of failure too, and I thinkfocusing on what could go wrong
(25:16):
is definitely not the bestmindset, and that's something
that has been really fun to comeback to, because you know, as I
said, that, those thatarbitrary pressure creeping in
earlier this year and then, youknow, having a bit of a reality
check, just to say it's mychoice to be doing this.
I'm paying for everything.
Now like it's quite a differentexperience.
Danielle Spurling (25:36):
Yeah, I think that's a great perspective.
Absolutely, we'll be back withLaura after this short break.
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Now back to Laura, and yourecently got a little bit into
ice swimming.
Can you tell us a little bitabout ice swimming, what are the
sort of the rules andregulations around it for those
people who don't know much aboutit that are listening and a
little bit about the competitionthat you recently did.
Laura Quliter (26:47):
Yeah.
So I just found this sport onInstagram.
It like popped up on a reel sixmonths ago and I thought, well,
that'd be a heck of a challenge.
Like I hate the cold, let's goswim in some five degrees.
Like let's just see whathappens.
You know, um, but in terms ofwhat the sport is, it started in
2009, uh, and involves swimmerscompeting in water that's less
(27:10):
than five degrees celsius, injust a standard swimsuit and cap
, so you can't wear yourwetsuits or your neoprene caps.
Um, I raced in a like standardissue racing suits, like a
speedo suit and some of theother nuances of the sport.
For safety is all athletes startin the water, so it's a push
start.
You have to surface by fivemeters, so you've got.
(27:33):
You don't have the underwatersand it's also touch turns.
So you know, that was all, um,something to get used to,
particularly when I'msimultaneously training for
short course, which is, you know, working on underwaters.
Um, but that's all part of thejourney.
And then the last part, forsafety as well as you, you
compete with a belt around yourmiddle and that's in case you
(27:54):
pass out.
They can drag you, drag you out.
Oh, okay, I actually got intotrouble because, you know, being
that racing mindset, I did oneup as tight as I could to reduce
drag.
And then we had like a safetymeeting saying, hey, they
actually need to be a little bitlooser because otherwise the
rescuer who's got these biggloves on can't actually get
under the belt.
(28:16):
So I loosened it the next day,um.
But I suppose my motivation forgetting into this wild sport
which I now would absolutelyrecommend um was just a
psychological challenge.
You know, swimming 100 metersis nothing to me anymore because
it's something I've done for somany years.
But doing that in like lessthan five degrees seemed pretty
(28:36):
radical.
So I also my original intentwas to do the 100 meter
freestyle and that was thelongest event.
As my training developed Istarted to wonder what could be
possible and I was nudged alittle bit by a friend and I
signed up to the 500 and thatwas so hard, like that was one
of the hardest things I've everdone.
But when I finished I was kindof like well, could I do the
(29:00):
thousand like um.
So I entered the thousandactually at the event, um, and
that was amazing.
I actually had somebody ask youknow, is it, does it have any
health benefits?
And I don't know, because thatwas a pretty wild ride.
It took me about two hours tocompletely recover after the
thousand meters, um and my.
(29:22):
My splits for perspective wentfrom a 34 to a 51 per 50, yeah,
but the, the whole journey wasactually awesome because it, it,
just it made me like thissounds really weird, like more
in my body.
So I was like less affected bythe elements.
You know like having to juststrip off and get into my togs
(29:43):
and swim at the beach when it'showling with wind and rain and
dive into the lake sorry, feetfirst, don't dive into cold
water, into the lake and, um,just get, get it done was really
fun.
And there's something quiteexciting about like leaving your
nursing shift, getting likechanged in your big hoodie thing
and getting into the water andbeing like I've gone from you
(30:04):
know, like caring for thesepeople, to just like being out
in the wild in the middle ofwinter and I definitely felt
that rush and I understand whypeople get into it.
But what I would say was reallyinteresting for me is I've got
a certain level of exposurewhich I really enjoy and above
that it's really not pleasant.
So I enjoy about 20 minutes atthe moment.
(30:25):
More than that, the recoverytime's really long for me and I
just I don't really enjoy it.
But I do think you know, withmore training that would
increase in time.
But that was interesting onreflection.
It's like cold swimming wasawesome, but everyone's got
different capacities and for me20 minutes is awesome, but more
than that not so much fun yes, Ican imagine, like I saw on your
(30:50):
Instagram, you were doing yourrecovery and it looked um a
little bitous.
Danielle Spurling (30:55):
So can you talk us through how you
recovered from that swim?
Laura Quliter (30:59):
Yeah.
So before I did the 1,000, oneof the ladies, a really
impressive swimmer, she's donethe ice mile and she told me
before my race that she got astress fracture in her spine
from all the shivering and I waslike what am I getting myself
into?
And you know, I want tochallenge, I don't want to push
myself too far.
So I always had the mindset oflike, if it gets too crazy, just
(31:22):
pull pin.
And I have to admit, like 10laps to go.
What was really interesting,I'll get to the recovery.
But I had to change my stroke.
Like in swimming you don't wantto rotate too far side to side.
I say to people it's likerunning.
You know, if you run and youtwist your body 90, 90, it's not
very efficient.
It's the same with swimming.
But I had to do that at the endof that swim because my
(31:44):
shoulders were so cold that Ifelt like I was dragging my
hands as they were comingforward.
So what I did notice is like Ihad to just roll my trunk, like
really accentuate that movementjust to finish.
So when I did finish, I neededassistance into the medical room
.
So I wasn't actually able tostand up and I felt like I was
(32:06):
100% aware the whole time.
But there were a few peopleafterwards that were saying, you
know, I remember this or that,and I thought, holy moly, like I
think I was a little bit morein space land than I realized,
um, but it's all very methodical.
So the recovery basically,there's a huge medical team and
they will look at the athletesand, depending on your state in
(32:26):
the event like when you'reswimming, how you're looking,
how your pace is dropping andalso how you exit the water will
dictate how you're cared for.
So I was taken immediately tothe medical room because I was
unable to stand unassisted.
Um, I did need a wheelchair,which was good.
Um, managed to walk withsupport, um, but they they
(32:47):
needed to dress me.
So I got stripped out of my suit, um, and patted dry.
So when an athlete is reallycold, they can't tell you if
you're ripping their skinbecause they can't, like I
couldn't really feel what'sgoing on.
So they pat you dry and thenit's really important that you
start to layer smartly.
So the first layer was merino,because that helps to wick
(33:09):
moisture but also warm at thesame time.
So pat dry and then get a wholebunch of layers on and then
it's all about kind of this um,slow heating.
So I was laid on a bed underlike I know a couple of sleeping
bags and then all these hotwater bottles kind of patted
around me and from that point,like I had my eyes closed most
(33:29):
of the time because I was sonauseous, and it was, I think,
the reason it was such anamazing experience.
I just had to accept what mybody was doing, because the the
shaking like I had experiencedthat in my training, but only to
a mild level because a lot ofmy training was done by myself
so I couldn't really push it toofar um, but it was so violent
(33:51):
like I just you know, fullshaking, and then you kind of
come out a little bit, have achat with someone, and then it
would just hit you again.
And I'm so glad the personbefore the event told me that
the recovery was harder than theswim, because it was so right.
Like the swim was reallyamazing because you're in
control you know I'm going tofinish this or you're still okay
(34:13):
but in the recovery phase yourbody's just like taking over.
It was quite, quite a weirdsensation.
But everyone also reactsdifferently.
You know, my friend was like herecovered in half the time and
he went to the changing roomfirst and yeah, okay, oh, so
it's quite different obviouslyyeah, there's actually.
Yeah, there was an amazingathlete from Australia actually
(34:35):
and she shocked me because shewas so chill, like like just no
shaking, was having a bit ofchocolate or something
afterwards, and I was looking ather like how.
Danielle Spurling (34:47):
How did you prepare, prepare with your
training for it?
Were you just training in acold water pool and getting a
little bit more each time, ordid you stay with your normal
training?
Laura Quliter (34:58):
um.
So it took me a long time tobuild up the confidence to
actually swim cold.
So, like most of my training,because my my mindset going in
was specificity, so I was like I, the water I'm going to swim in
is less than five degrees, sothe beach is up at like 14, the
lake's probably the same.
So I thought I really need tounderstand what it feels like to
(35:22):
be in the cold water.
So most of my sessions wereactually done in an ice bath and
what I did was I just wanted towork on simple exposure to
start with.
So how long can I just sit inhere?
And once I could do about fiveminutes, then I went into the
submersion.
And I tell you what the firsttime I put my face in that ice
bath, the pain was such a uniqueexperience because like I could
(35:46):
put my face in.
But when I started blowingbubbles to practice and those
bubbles were hitting me in theforehead, it was like getting
little punches.
It was so weird.
So that took quite a lot.
But on reflection, doing the icebath submersions, like going
underwater and practicing likebubble bubbles and rolls, just
you know, sat in this little tub.
I think that worked really well, because when I got into that
(36:09):
water my friend had beentraining in the rivers down
south.
They got colder so he wastraining in about seven degrees
but he was like, holy moly, likethat water we raced at two
degrees, by the way.
So the nationals was like my Kwas done at 2.1 degrees, which
is pretty wild.
So, yeah, most of it was done inan ice bath and then I did
(36:30):
start to go more into like theocean and the lakes.
I probably should have done abit more of that.
But, as I said, like that wasfor me the biggest psychological
challenge and what I foundreally interesting was like how
my mindset was going into like acold water, either an ice bath
or a swim.
The mindset mattered so muchbecause my tolerance for the
(36:52):
cold was so much dictated on howI felt, which is not so much in
swimming.
Like I feel like it was justexaggerated or exacerbated by
the cold.
Danielle Spurling (37:03):
Yeah, absolutely, will you do it again
?
Laura Quliter (37:05):
Yeah well, I you know, pending my ability to
fundraise, I think I might go tothe World Champs in.
Danielle Spurling (37:10):
January oh fantastic.
Where are they being held?
They're in.
Laura Quliter (37:14):
Molvino, which is a Italian city or town with
1000 people.
Danielle Spurling (37:20):
Oh, wow, and they're going to hold the World
Championships.
Laura Quliter (37:24):
Yeah.
So the people I met down at theice nationals, they were
awesome, so I've kind of got allexcited about that.
But you know, as I said, it'skind of it's uh hopeful but not
a definite at this stage.
Danielle Spurling (37:33):
And are they?
Are they running those in alake or are they doing it in a
pool?
Laura Quliter (37:37):
I think it's both because the the most coveted.
So if you look at ice swimming,if you google it, there's warm,
cool and ice, I think, or warm,cold, ice.
Warm means that you've, like,signed up to ice swimming.
I think I should fact checkthis.
Cold means that you've done,warm means you've competed, cold
means you've done a thousandand ice means you've done the
(38:00):
ice mile.
And there's also, like theextreme ice mile, which is 1.6
kilometers and sub two degrees,which I don't know how humans
actually do that, but that'samazing.
So I think I'm a cold swimmernow, which is exciting.
I've graduated from warm um, sothe world champs.
To my knowledge there's.
There's definitely pool races,because that's what I'm going
(38:21):
for, um, but I'm guessingthere's.
There's lake stuff as well,because it's on a beautiful lake
, but I'm actually not sure.
Danielle Spurling (38:27):
I've seen sort of Instagram of a guy that
I actually had on the podcast.
He's an ice swimmer, peterPlavik.
I don't know whether you followhim, but he oh yes.
Laura Quliter (38:37):
He's awesome.
Yeah, I follow him.
Danielle Spurling (38:44):
Some of his footage is in.
Laura Quliter (38:46):
It looks like in a lake, but they've put sort of
they've put ends into it, soit's sort of like a pool in a
lake, if that makes sense.
Oh, interesting, yeah, I wonderif it will be.
Yeah, some of some of thephotos online are pretty wild
where, yeah, there's like snowcoming through and I think I
read somewhere that they put ledor not like led, but they put a
light down.
You know if it, if it's underthe lake, because for me, you
know if you're sprinting, it'slike sprinting blind, like I
(39:09):
think we put the light there soyou can follow the black line,
basically.
Danielle Spurling (39:14):
Oh, that's a good idea.
I didn't know about that.
Yeah, fantastic.
I just wanted to circle back tosomething you said before,
where, when you were trainingfor that 50, you did sort of
four to five sessions ofstrength work, and I know you're
a personal trainer as well andyou're obviously in charge of
your own strength training.
What are your sort ofphilosophies behind training
(39:37):
strength for a swimmer?
Laura Quliter (39:39):
I think it needs to be well structured and have
like a long lead in time.
So hypertrophy is kind of thisword that freaks a lot of people
out because they assume thatit's going to make you like the
body builders up on stage.
But the the truth of buildingmuscle like that level of
conditioning takes years andyears of like optimal nutrition
(40:03):
and lifting like specifically.
So I think for me I finally gotrid of this fear that I was
going to get really, reallybulky.
When I was swimming younger Ididn't want to lift heavy
because I was afraid of likewhat I might look like.
I'm definitely a lot physicallystronger, but my philosophy is
that you want a base ofhypertrophy, so that's getting
(40:26):
the body used to lifting withgood technique at a somewhat
higher rep range, so that it'dbe, like you know, 12 to 15 reps
and you can even start onmachines to get the body.
I think machines are awesomebecause they take away a lot of
um mistakes.
You know you move in a smoothplane of motion and you can
(40:47):
build a lot of strength beforeyou start to use the barbells
and kettlebells and dumbbells.
So I think a base ofhypertrophy and the goal behind
that is to both build strengthbut also technique.
From there you want to buildstrength, and so that's a lower,
lower rep range a little bitfaster, and from there those two
(41:08):
kind of blocks will allow youto go into the more explosive
power, plyometric, the kind offun stuff which I really enjoyed
and, ironically, one of thebest things that happened to me
is I had to rehab a back injurylast year and so the physio
actually advised a heavystrength program, which I
absolutely hated.
(41:29):
I persisted with it because Iwas terrified that my back would
be injured long term.
I'm very tall, so you knowlooking after my spine is quite
important.
So, as much as I hated it, Ipersisted with this and, weirdly
, at like three months ofdragging myself to the gym and,
you know, doing like deadliftsand squats and stuff, I just
(41:50):
suddenly started enjoying thegym and I think it's because I
could see the gains and at thatpoint there was nothing about
performance, it was just likeget your body strong, um.
But yeah, in terms of thephilosophy, I think I don't
actually think that swimming, um, specific stuff needs to be
(42:11):
incorporated.
Like my gym conditioning isabout like strengthening the
body with a bias towards themusculature that's used in
swimming, but also with balance,because we're very anterior, so
we use a lot of the front ofthe body.
So incorporating back stuff isimportant for maintaining
posture and also just well-beingof the entire person, rather
(42:32):
than just making themridiculously strong.
And just a set number ofmovements um, rotational and
anti-rotational movements, Ithink can like just completely
transform people's ability toswim, because it emphasizes that
cross-body connection and youknow that hip drive.
So a lot of that connection canbe challenging for newer
(42:53):
swimmers, but when you feel itit just allows you to generate
so much more speed.
And the way I explain it topeople is if you've ever done
boxing and you stand there andyou just like punch a bag,
versus if you get that like youknow that hip drive and you come
through the amount of powerthat you generate through that
punch when you use the hips,versus if you're just standing
(43:14):
there punching.
That's the same with swimmingif you can learn to coordinate
the core, so be able to, youknow, use the shoulders and the
hips, um, in unison.
I think that's just one of thebest things.
So I don't have a beautifulphilosophy to kind of just like,
you know, just one line bangerbut yeah basically it needs to
(43:35):
be um, it's a kind of a longprocess, but it's one that's
well worth doing, and especiallyfor master swimmers.
You know, when we get older,unfortunately, as great as
swimming is, for so many things,it's a non-weight-bearing
activity.
So if it's your primary sourceof movement, incorporating
strength training as we age isso important because you're not
(43:56):
getting that like, um, thatstimulus to build bone density
which we're at risk of,especially women as well, as we
age.
Danielle Spurling (44:05):
So, yeah, passion, like definitely a
passion point strength andconditioning yeah, yeah, I've
really got into it in the lastfew years.
I was, I just, you know, sortof played around with it but
I've really made a sort of acommitment to I go definitely
twice a week to do it, but I tryto do three, but you know.
(44:25):
But I'm trying to get in swimsand spin and pilates and that's
hard to get it fitted all inyeah, absolutely.
Laura Quliter (44:33):
What made you decide to focus on it?
Danielle Spurling (44:36):
a few injuries.
I had bursitis in my shoulderand I think that you know I was
definitely sort of relying moreon those upper.
I wasn't tracking my shoulderscorrectly and I wasn't using the
lats.
So I really was trying to, youknow, strengthen that and get a
(44:56):
little bit more balance in mybody.
I felt like it was uneven onboth sides and my legs were weak
, even though I'm a good kicker.
My legs were quite weak and I'ma good kicker.
My legs were quite weak and Iwanted to work on that as well
and I'm I'm just now starting tosee a little bit of an
improvement just a tiny bit, butI can feel.
I can feel it.
But as you get older, once youhave one or two weeks off, you
(45:18):
start to sort of you can tell ityeah, you know, feel it, go
back.
I can feel it in the water, goback as well.
So it is something that youknow it needs to be ongoing.
Laura Quliter (45:28):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think I saw something onmy social media and just a reel
and it said it was like the 10minute rule and I loved it.
It just said you know, on thedays that you can't be bothered,
even if it's like at homeputting on like a strength thing
on YouTube and just doing 10minutes and from there if you're
still not feeling it, you canleave it.
But often, getting past thatthreshold of 10 minutes, you
(45:49):
walk into the gym and you startyour program for 10 minutes and
from there you're allowed toleave if you want to.
But I just thought that wassuch a cool idea.
Obviously, like if you needrest, then then prioritize it,
but if it's just a lull and thatkind of motivational discipline
, that 10 minute rule is quite acool little idea.
Danielle Spurling (46:10):
I like that idea because I think sometimes
the hardest part is actuallygetting to the gym.
It's not what you're doing atthe gym.
Laura Quliter (46:17):
I so agree and honestly, I've got the most
insane um, like hurdles that Isorry, yeah, like strategies to
hurdle over those barriers.
So like I'll often blast someterrible music that I would
never listen to.
Like I'm talking like kind ofscreamo stuff, like I don't
listen to that at all and juststart getting ready and then
leave and somehow that likeblaring music like gets me
(46:41):
really pumped and it might notbe the best nutritional.
I mean, I also use energydrinks.
You know, on those low daysthey're such a treat for me
because I actually really likethem.
I wish I didn't, but I do so ifI can't be bothered, but I know
it's an important day, I'lloften treat myself with like an
energy drink and then often Ihave like a great session
(47:02):
because I'm like, oh, I got tolike have my beta alanine today,
world championships for iceswimming and trying out for
short course.
Danielle Spurling (47:11):
New Zealand nationals, are you considering
world masters championships inSingapore next year?
I?
Laura Quliter (47:18):
would love to.
It all depends on funding, yeah, yeah, I mean I'm like in a
very awesome position where I'min my new home my partner and I
purchased in November, um, butthat comes with, obviously, a
lot of restriction in terms ofwhat I can and can't do, um.
But you know, I've startedonline coaching and things and
that has been my way ofhopefully being able to to
(47:41):
follow this um newfound passionfor master swimming, because I I
didn't even realize when I wasswimming that they follow the
world champs.
So you know and it's, I've meta few people online, um, that
are into that master swimming,that go to all the big meets,
and it's something I definitelywant to be involved in.
So would love to be there, butlet's see how it goes yes, yes.
Danielle Spurling (48:03):
Well, we'll definitely also put a link to
your website, your coachingplatform, in the show notes so
people can follow that up withyou and have a look at that as
well oh, awesome, thank you yeah, now everyone that comes on the
podcast, I ask them the deepdive five, which is five
favorites um in the questionsthat I ask you.
So just give me the first thingthat pops into your mind
(48:24):
Favorite pool that you've everswum in.
Laura Quliter (48:27):
Oh my gosh, the first one there's so many.
Weirdly, the one in Aucklandthat's 60 meters long.
It was a sunny day and I can'tremember the name of it and it's
terrible.
Oh my gosh, there's one inAuckland that's 60 meters long.
Danielle Spurling (48:41):
Sorry, okay, that's right.
There's one in Auckland that's60 metres long.
Sorry, okay, that's right.
We'll look it up and we can putthat in.
The 60 metre pool is theParnell Baths.
What's your favourite freestyledrill?
Laura Quliter (48:53):
Penguin kick.
It's not technically afreestyle.
Well, yeah, it's a freestylekick drill yeah.
Danielle Spurling (48:57):
Yeah, and what do you do with your arms
when you do that?
Laura Quliter (48:59):
Do you have them at the side, just at the side,
just at the side and that hasbeen probably the drill that's
helped my body position the most.
So how often would you breatheevery?
How many kicks?
Um, none, if I'm using asnorkel, or I tend to like the
goal for me.
So this is more on that sprinttechnique.
I would be thinking aboutkeeping my hips pointed at the
bottom, so kicking hard, butgetting my shoulders dry.
(49:22):
So it's almost like twistingyour body, um, but keeping the
core tight.
So I'd like twist about threeor four times and then I would
breathe.
And when you breathe you've gotto keep that kick cadence up,
because if you like pause, youknow you just sink.
So yeah, I'd often do it with asnorkel or breathing every
(49:42):
three or four twists.
Danielle Spurling (49:44):
Yeah, okay, that's a good one.
Laura Quliter (49:50):
How about your favorite main set for 100-meter
freestyle fitness.
Really good set.
That's actually from my likecompetitive years.
It was 100 all out, 275s allout, 350s, trying to hit 100
pace and 425s and it was justawful so it just made you want
to vomit and you'd have to dothat.
(50:11):
I think it was three times inthe early season and then it
would drop to two and one intaper.
So 100 max, 275, max, 350s,trying to hold 100 pace and 425s
with whatever you you had leftand how much rest interval did
they give you in those?
it was quite a lot.
I think it was possibly doingthe 100s on two minutes, 30, and
(50:33):
then I can't remember the 75s,but we would have had at least a
minute.
Then the 50s were on less rest,so they were on 110, and then
the 25s were on about 45 secondswell, that's a tough one, yeah
lactate through the roof?
Danielle Spurling (50:49):
yeah, of course.
And what's your uh favoritepre-race snack?
A musashi energy drink, okaythat's okay.
Laura Quliter (50:59):
That's the.
That's the naughty answer, butthat's that is definitely my
favorite.
Um, otherwise, I just lovepeanut butter and jam on toast.
It's like the safe option thatI really enjoy and it doesn't
leave me bloated.
Danielle Spurling (51:12):
That's a nice one and last question how about
swimmer you most admire and why?
Laura Quliter (51:17):
Lauren Boyle um, she's a close yeah, close friend
now, um, but the way that shethinks about swimming, how much
she's influenced my swimming, um, you know a from the way that
she conceptualizes it and andthinks about it, but also just
swimming alongside her andwatching what she does under the
(51:38):
water like she's a phenomenalswimmer and a phenomenal person.
Danielle Spurling (51:41):
So it's yeah, it's an easy one yes, yeah,
she's got a bit of a sad story,hasn't she?
Because did she get a worldrecord that wasn't then counted
because they didn't do thesurvey of the pool?
Laura Quliter (51:54):
I thought it was acknowledged.
Danielle Spurling (51:56):
Oh, it was maybe I think, because she's
saying that was the 1500 metershort course in wellington.
Yeah, I'm actually not sureyeah, I thought that that was
one of the stories, but I couldbe off base there.
I was going to check that outyeah, that'd be awesome.
I just saw the time, I justthought it was a little bit cool
, but I don't know whether itwas ratified yeah, yeah, because
(52:18):
sometimes if they don't do thesurvey of the pool or it's not
an official survey, then theythey won't recognize it, which
is crushing, isn't it?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, laura, thank you so muchfor joining us on the podcast
today.
It's been delightful talking toyou and hearing about your
swimming journey and telling usall about your ice swimming as
well.
And best of luck with all ofthose championships coming up.
(52:40):
I'm sure you're going to doreally well.
Thank you, with all of thosechampionships coming up, I'm
sure you're going to do reallywell.
Thank you, it was so awesome tochat.
Yeah, same, okay, then Bye, seeya.
Thanks for listening in totoday's episode.
I hope you enjoyed my chat withLaura.
Don't forget to check outLaura's website at auramoveNZcom
(53:01):
to connect with Laura and findout more about what she offers.
I wanted to welcome some newsubscribers to the Swim Talkers
Fold.
Welcome to Dee, teddy, emma,sarah and Kelvin.
I hope you enjoy being on theinner sanctum of Torpedo Swim
Talk Till next time.
(53:21):
Happy swimming and bye for now.
Hello swimmers and welcome to another
episode of Torpedo Swimt alkPodcast.
I'm your host, DanielleSpurling, and each week, we chat
to a master swimmer from aroundthe world about their swimming
journey.
On today's podcast, we chat toNew Zealander, Laura Quilter,
who, in her elite career, was anational champion freestyler and
(00:30):
a 2014 Commonwealth Gamesrepresentative, and now she's
turned her hand to mastersracing and ice swimming, which I
am really intrigued to find outabout.
At 31, laura recently swam alifetime PB for her 50 freestyle
by coaching herself and, havingchanged everything she was
doing in her elite career, let'sfind out now how she did it.
(00:55):
Hi, Laura, welcome to thepodcast and thanks for joining
me.
Yeah, stoked to be here.
Thanks for asking.
Yeah, it's great to have you on.
Where are you based in NewZealand?
Laura Quliter (01:10):
I'm in Auckland at the moment.
I've been here for over 10years, up from my little
hometown in Gisborne.
Danielle Spurling (01:17):
Oh, very nice , Did you start your swimming in
Gisborne?
Laura Quliter (01:21):
Yeah, I was thrown in as a little one.
But it's kind of funny nowbecause I enjoy surfing and it's
ironic that it had some of thebest surf breaks.
But I was obsessed with thepool from day dot, so great surf
breaks I didn't really play inthem often.
Danielle Spurling (01:35):
So your surf lifesaving that you did wasn't
centered around Gisborne at all.
Laura Quliter (01:40):
Yes, it was a mix of here and Auckland, but I did
the version of Surf Lifesavingthat's done actually in a racing
pool.
It's really popular in Europeas well, because they don't have
as great beaches as we do often.
So the Surf Lifesaving scenefor me was quite different.
I rescued orange fakemannequins in the pool and then
absolutely blundered my waythrough the beach events.
Danielle Spurling (02:03):
Absolutely blundered my way through the
beach events.
Okay, because in Australia wecall that royal life-saving for
the pool and then surflife-saving for the ocean.
So yeah, I know exactly whatyou mean.
The club that I grew up at theyused to be big into royal
life-saving.
So yeah, it's a big scene, Ithink.
Laura Quliter (02:21):
Yeah, I've just learnt something I didn't
realise.
It was called royal inAustralia.
Danielle Spurling (02:29):
Yeah, I think , just to be different from the
two, because surf life saving ishuge here.
Yeah, yeah, similar in.
Laura Quliter (02:32):
New.
Danielle Spurling (02:33):
Zealand yeah, because you've got such great
beaches as well.
Yeah, well, we've got so muchto cover today, from your time
representing New Zealand at theCommonwealth Games to your
master swimming and coaching,and now your new passion, which
is ice swimming.
But let's start with yourmaster's.
What motivated you totransition from your elite
swimming career to master's, andhow much of a gap did you have
(02:56):
in between the two?
Laura Quliter (02:58):
So there was no kind of intention to transition,
I suppose, like into theMasters.
It was actually just a desireto swim in a brand new pool that
they'd built.
So Hawke's Bay had, yeah, builta brand new 50 meter and I have
to admit, I was a bit jealous.
I never got to swim in it.
And then the 2023 Masters wasannounced in Hawke's Bay and I
(03:19):
just rustled up a few friendsand it was more of a social trip
, and I just rustled up a fewfriends and it was more of a
social trip.
So we took our bikes down, wedid a whole bunch of cycling and
that event was how's my maths?
2016 was my last likeinternational event, so that's
seven wait.
Danielle Spurling (03:39):
How many years is that?
Laura Quliter (03:41):
Seven years, yeah , seven, yeah, because it's now
10 years since the CommonwealthGames.
So in that gap of seven yearsI've kept myself relatively
active, like I do enjoy the gymand things and my swimming.
I was really enjoying thetriathlon squad, so I had a good
social network there and thoseare the people I went to the
Masters with and it was such afun event like it was.
(04:03):
You know, I didn't have the,the volume like the number of
people that I had been used to,but the, the vibe of it and how
much fun I had, was it got me,um, got me a bit hooked.
Danielle Spurling (04:15):
It got you hooked on it, so you've been
back at it for just around abouta year.
Laura Quliter (04:20):
Yeah.
So that Masters sparked alittle light in me and I've kind
of over the last year I'vedabbled both in masters and back
into elite swimming, so it'sbeen quite quite a unique
experience.
But I think what masters gaveme was this opportunity to race
free, like there was absolutelynothing that I had to, I suppose
(04:41):
, achieve at that, and even liketo make that even more apparent
, the only reason I swam at thatMasters is they gave people an
opportunity to compete withoutbeing attached to a club, and at
this point I had no intentionof ever competitively swimming
again, and when I read that youcould just pay an extra fee and
compete unattached, that got meinto the event, and I've since
(05:03):
joined a club and met a wholebunch of new people it is a
great community once you, youknow, are exposed to it and you
start sort of um, you knowswimming, swimming in it.
Danielle Spurling (05:14):
How did you find swimming in um races where
you're against guys and andgirls and they're all different
ages and it's just on the time,did you find that aspect fun?
Laura Quliter (05:25):
yes.
I did, it was it actually tooka little bit of getting used to
because I know that you're alonein your lane.
But you know it is still a bitof a mind game because you have
got that peripheral vision andyou kind of have an idea of
where people are and I did enjoyit.
But I have to admit it was abit intimidating to start.
Danielle Spurling (05:42):
Yeah, of, of course, of course.
Now I didn't realize.
You just mentioned that you'vedabbled your sort of toes back
into elite swimming as well.
Tell us a little bit about that.
Laura Quliter (05:53):
Yeah.
So that Masters kind of sparkedme in terms of wondering what I
could do now that I'm in my 30sand do, I suppose, manage my
own training and see what Icould do with a different
approach.
So I raced at the Nationals forthe first time in eight years
this April and again it was thatmaster's mindset where I just
had so much freedom.
(06:14):
And what was quite funny is Idid notice at the start of this
year my mindset.
I was putting all thisarbitrary pressure on myself and
I was getting really inside myhead and it was quite this awful
um, what do you call it whenyou get that sense of deja vu?
And I remember I've got diaryentries from back in 2016 about
(06:35):
feeling like I was wasn't goodenough at that point and I was
like, oh, I can't be botheredwith this, like I've got to go
to work, you know, and it was.
It was quite funny.
So I think the the master'smindset of is this ability to
just race a bit freer.
And even though in January Iactually did battle with those
kind of self-expectationsbecause I had thought there was,
(06:57):
um, and very unlikely, but asmall chance that I could make
the Olympic Games team this year.
So I was 0.5 of a second off ata 50, which is actually quite a
large margin in a sprint, butthat is almost closer than I was
back when I was training fulltime.
Wow, so it's been quite aninteresting journey and that has
(07:19):
actually got me swimming evenmore.
I'm going to swim at the NewZealand Short Course Nationals
next month and then Mastersagain when the next event comes
that's fabulous.
Danielle Spurling (07:30):
Now I read that you had done a PB in your
53 at 31.
That's a lifetime PB.
What, what was?
What was the?
Um the time that you swam?
Laura Quliter (07:41):
I swam 25.31 this year and previous to that.
My best ever is 25.8 wow.
Danielle Spurling (07:48):
So what do you put that down to?
Obviously, your mindset'sdifferent.
You you've sort of been able toput it in perspective, but what
physically have you been ableto do?
Like?
What change have you made fromthe training you used to do to
what you do now?
Laura Quliter (08:02):
yeah, I have to to.
I have to look at it fairly.
In 2016 I was I'd moved up anevent, so I was targeting the
200 freestyle in that seasonbecause it was a more likely
chance of making the Olympicteam.
So, comparing apples withapples, I was targeting, you
know, an event that was fourtimes longer.
I have, or had always been, asprinter, so it's not like I was
(08:26):
always swimming that 200.
But, in terms of the maindifferences, my volume in the
pool is so much less and that'sbecause of a few factors A.
I don't recover as fast as Iused to.
As much as I wish, I'll getinto bed and feel like I weigh
twice twice my normal weightbecause I'm just so fatigued, so
(08:48):
the volume's down, um, and thenbecause I'm, I don't have as
much time as I did when I was afull-time swimmer.
I'm much more focused ongetting the best out of every
session and I've noticed thatI'm a much more, I suppose,
aware of like how I move my body, and I've done a personal
training certificate and I'm anurse now.
So my understanding of biology,physiology, the musculature, is
(09:11):
actually a lot better than itwas when I was swimming, and
that's given me this entirelynew approach of understanding
the smaller muscles to engage,and the biggest one, actually, I
think, is understandingrespiration properly and how we
oxygenate the muscles.
And the biggest one, actually,I think, is understanding
respiration properly and how weoxygenate the muscles and the
ability to use the diaphragmwhen we're in this environment.
That actually slightlycompresses the thorax, making it
(09:34):
harder to breathe, and also anykind of panic or unease means
that we tend to breathe moreshallow and we use the accessory
muscles up through the neck,and that actually probably used
to cause a bit of my.
My neck pain, in terms of theprevalence of breathing
disorders, is actually reallycommon, and I noticed that,
(09:55):
probably because of swimming, Iused to breathe through my mouth
and so even when I'm at work,I've been really aware of trying
to focus on breathing throughthe nose and using my diaphragm
and I think, in a small way,that has transferred to my
swimming.
Danielle Spurling (10:08):
That's so interesting.
Yeah, I love that that's.
I think that's something thatpeople you know would get a lot
from thinking about, because Ifeel like I do that same thing,
yeah, in terms of what I thoughtabout breathing eight years ago
.
Laura Quliter (10:24):
I used to think about the frequency and the
position, so I would think mybreathing pattern is every two
or it's every four and I want tomake sure that I'm rolling with
the body.
And that's where it ended,whereas now I am thinking about
those aspects, but I'm alsothinking about the depth of my
breath and how I hold it, ifthat makes sense.
I'm really trying not to be tootense and, like I'm quite a
(10:49):
visual person, I'm trying tothink of how that oxygen is
really spreading through my bodyand getting it out as well.
So playing around withdifferent exhale techniques.
I know that when we're taughtto swim it's often that trickle
of exhale and I think that'simportant because that's to
develop a sense of comfort inthe water.
But I kind of prefer this likenasal exhale as my face comes
(11:13):
into the water, and then aslight hold and a big burst
before I breathe.
But then it's interestingwatching the international
swimmers because there's also adifferent range of how they
exhale some hold, some trickle,some burst it's.
Danielle Spurling (11:27):
Yeah, I've got a whole different way of
seeing swimming yeah, I meanthat that's really a fantastic
perspective, and I think so,looking at your 50 freestyle
what?
What did you used to breathe inthat and what do you breathe in
that now?
Do you take a?
Laura Quliter (11:46):
breath.
That was really fun because Idecided to trial no breathing
because that's what the um worldrecord holder she, she doesn't
breathe.
So I was like, well, I'm not aworld record holder, but let's
see how close.
You know, let's close the gap,and that's what I say to people
when I'm coaching it doesn'tmatter if you're new to swimming
closing the gap on where youwant to be.
And that gap may never getclose, but there's something to
(12:10):
aim at.
So I decided to play aroundwith that and I got more and
more comfortable racing nobreathing.
But I found I couldn't sustainmy stroke rate.
So my times were coming down.
I PB'd without breathing, but atthe trials I actually started.
I made the decision that Iwould take one breath at about
the 35 meter mark, and that waskind of a to get a bit of that
(12:33):
oxygen in, but also as a reset.
I would see that little t atthe 35 meter mark and it was
this like you know, let's up thecadence of the kick, make sure
that the head position's correct, because I often dig my head in
with the.
You know, when you're tryingreally hard, you get a little
bit more bound up in the muscles.
So at 35 meters.
(12:53):
It was bang, get that oxygen,and then what else is there?
Obviously, it's not that reallylong thought out process.
That was happening in mytraining when I went to race.
It was just this execution ofskills and trusting that
everything in the backgroundwould come through in those you
know 25 seconds.
Danielle Spurling (13:12):
So, in terms of your training for that race
training for 50, do you practicethat kind of breath control in
training or is it just somethingyou're doing in a race?
Laura Quliter (13:22):
Definitely in training.
So that was something that Ihad to get used to in some awful
training sets, because I reallydon't enjoy that hypoxic style.
I don't know if anyone elsefeels that when you do restrict
the breathing and when youbreathe again and the muscles
kind of tighten and you mightget a little bit lightheaded.
So it's always best toobviously do hypoxic work with A
(13:45):
somebody being aware of youdoing it or with a training
partner, um, because there arereal risks to it.
But I did notice my tolerancestarted to get better and one of
the sets that I did quitefrequently was a 25 meter
underwater max.
I would come up and it would.
The rest would be five breaths.
So it wasn't a timed rest, itwas I would allow myself five
(14:06):
breaths and then it was a 25 max, no breathing and then long
rest.
So underwater control, thebreathing for five and the idea
of that again Really getting mybody used to using the diaphragm
and controlling you know thehead as well, because if you
come up and you just take fivequick breaths, then you got to
go again.
You just tie up and it's verychallenging.
(14:27):
Um, the first few times I didthat I had to wear fins I
couldn't make it without.
Then I kind of graduatedtowards slow underwater without
fins.
Um until you know repetitivelyI built up to be able to do it
without fins at a hard fast pace.
Danielle Spurling (14:46):
That's fantastic.
I, when I think about my breathcontrol, when I'm in training,
I find it harder to get the airout so that I have enough room
to take more in.
Yeah, I am the exact same.
Yeah, it's a funny feeling andI think, um, like I breathe 4242
in my hundreds and 200s, but ifI go into a 50 and I probably
(15:10):
need to do this more in trainingI don't breathe as often and
that's when I get a bit stumped.
Laura Quliter (15:15):
So something like you've just described is really
good practice for that kind ofthing yeah, and I mixed it up a
lot with 25, so I do one lap ofreally um, well thought, thought
out dps, so like no breathing,long and slow, and then a 25 max
, no breathing.
So I kind of went from thislike relaxed, hypoxic state to
(15:35):
you know, max effort withoutbreathing yeah, oh, fabulous.
Danielle Spurling (15:39):
And so, in terms of your training, you
mentioned you've joined amaster's club.
Are you training with a coachor are you doing all your own
sort of workouts, riding themyourself?
Laura Quliter (15:52):
I've been a solo battler this entire year.
Wow, yeah, I've joined a club,but it's quite a cool club
because you can, you know, popinto the Sunday sessions or the
weekday ones or you don't haveto.
They're very accommodating.
And I've also joined a club forcompetitive swimming.
So I'm kind of, as I said, inthese two worlds.
(16:16):
So last year, at the end of lastyear, what was really good to
kind of kick my butt a bit andget in was to train with a squad
, and that I found reallychallenging.
The sessions were awesome but,holy moly, they were hard and I
was only training for the 50 atthat point.
So, you know, doing, doing lotsof volume, I was kind of.
I still love swimming, but I'vedone my dash with the really
big mileage and, um, you know,actually it wasn't even big
(16:37):
mileage in that squat, it wasjust hard graft that I would
need for 100 and 200 andprobably would have helped the
50.
So that was a great way to dipthe toes back in.
But it's been quite a I don'tknow how to describe it.
It's been a really uniqueexperience training myself this
year.
Um, you know, through the dipsof like low motivation and
(17:00):
having to reach out to a fewpeople and it's been really fun.
I've been more free to joinother people and have others to
train with, so it's been thisamazing fluid experience.
And still being able to join inwith my club as well is awesome
because there's such a coolgroup of people yeah, that
sounds really good.
Danielle Spurling (17:18):
I mean, it's good that you've you've got that
flexibility.
Obviously you're working andyou're doing all these other
things and so training byyourself, you can fit it in
whenever you want to.
But how?
How often are you training eachweek?
Like what's a typical weeklyschedule for you?
Laura Quliter (17:32):
uh, for the 50 this year for my pb, I was
probably only swimming threetimes a week, um, but those
three sessions you know I wouldturn up, I would be mentally
there for the whole session, ifthat makes sense.
I wasn't letting my mind wanderand it was all purposeful, um,
but I was in the gym probablyfour to five times a week and I
did supplement my gym with spinclasses a lot actually.
(17:56):
So in my thought process,behind the spin classes was I
needed A, an increase in powerin my legs, but also an increase
in cadence for the kicking andwhen you're on those spin bikes
going really fast, your hipflexors and things are going and
it's a really tough, reallyreally hard cardiovascular
workout which, if I was beinghonest with myself, you know
(18:17):
those are the steps that I foundreally hard to do by myself.
I could do the short sprintsbut to do the like, more VO2 max
and the threshold sets, theywere actually really challenging
for me to do and I'd be wantingto pull out early and all this
kind of stuff.
So my naughty way around thatwas to try and do on a spin bike
, um, in a class with like loudmusic and lights, and for the 50
(18:40):
it worked, um, you know, andwhat was quite cool is my times
came down sequentially everysingle race.
So I don't think I'm quite done.
I think I might have one morenationals in me because I didn't
reach the plateau, but whetheror not that training approach is
the best moving forward, Ithink swimming is such a unique
sport where we have to work inthis environment that's got so
(19:02):
much more resistance and youneed to be just so technically
excellent that I have started toincrease my focus in the pool
as much as I miss my gym.
I'm doing 100 freestyle at theshort course national.
So for the 50 I was swimmingthree times a week, um, and now
I'm swimming trying to go five,six, if I can right, wow, that
(19:25):
is a big step up.
Danielle Spurling (19:27):
So almost double the k's that you're
probably doing each week indoing so yeah, yeah, the k's
still aren't big if you considermy background.
Laura Quliter (19:36):
They're big in terms of the recent training
cycle.
But what I really want my bodyto get used to particularly is
the underwater kicking, becausethat's something that's never
been a strength but forunderwater.
So the New Zealand A standardfor the world champs this year
is a 53.7.
And you've got to be prettyfast underwater to swim that
(19:57):
quick.
So my best ever is a 54.00.
So if I can drop 0.3 it'd bepretty cool to be back on the
national team.
But you know that's that's justa cherry on the top kind of
thing.
I just want to have another goat racing in the short course
season.
Danielle Spurling (20:11):
Yes, yes, absolutely.
Look, tell us a little bitabout your Commonwealth Games
experience in 2014.
So you're off to Glasgow.
What did you represent NewZealand in what events?
Laura Quliter (20:22):
So I was selected on the 4x1 women's freestyle
relay team and also the 50butterfly, so that was the
greatest experience of myswimming career.
I didn't manage to kind of stepup after that, so it's just
this one amazing memory.
But I think what I'm almostmost proud of is that I did do
personal bests in every eventover there.
(20:42):
So I took, you know, I thinkit's quite a tough thing to be
able to step up on aninternational stage and I'm
quite an excitable person.
I think if you've got thiscapacity to take that energy and
excitement but funnel it intoan effective swim, that's quite
good, because it can go bothways.
I think there's almost thislike arousal bell curve of like
(21:03):
being too hyped up and too tenseand also being too low, like if
you at the end of the career orit's an event you're not
interested in and you just don'twant to swim.
That's also too low.
So managing my I suppose,excitement levels and minimizing
anxiety was quite challenging.
But the one like there were tworeally cool moments, like I
(21:27):
remember, in the marshallingrooms.
They were underneath the pooland so when people were like
jumping in the stands, I kind of, in a weird, weird way, I felt
like I was a gladiator right,like you're about to walk out
onto stage, but all you can hearare these people like screaming
.
You don't know what's going on.
I don't know if there were TVsor not, but it was just this
(21:47):
noise and then this like sweetsmell of chlorine and sweat,
because there's all these women,because obviously it's the
relay, so there's lots of peoplesweating because they're
probably nervous and they'rewarmed up, and then obviously
chlorine because it's swimmingand it was such a visceral kind
of I've still got that memory inmy head and walking out, you
know, holding that girl's handsand getting to represent the
(22:10):
country, that was such a coolexperience.
And then actually AustraliaAustralia broke the world record
in that event, so like that wasalso amazing.
Danielle Spurling (22:20):
Yeah, yeah, I mean that 4x100 Australian
women's relay is prettyphenomenal, aren't they?
Laura Quliter (22:27):
Oh, I'm so excited for the Olympics.
The Australian team isabsolutely swimming out of their
skin at the moment and we'vegot a few New Zealanders that
are looking like our team'sexciting this year.
Danielle Spurling (22:38):
Yeah, I agree .
I mean Erica Fairweather andEve Thomas.
I mean you've got some greatsort of females on the team and
obviously Lewis Claiborne.
Laura Quliter (22:47):
Yeah, I can't wait.
It's going to be awesome.
Danielle Spurling (22:49):
I know, yeah, I was going to ask you.
That's one of my questionslater.
Laura Quliter (23:02):
Which one of my questions later what, uh, which
New Zealanders you want youthought we should look out for?
Oh, you've named them.
Yeah, erica.
Erica and Lewis, absolutely,but I wouldn't discount Eve
either.
She's just like going strengthto strength and and stepping up
on those international levels.
You know she performed so wellat the world champs earlier this
year.
So was it this year?
I think so yeah, yeah, februaryyeah, covid's confusing, I know
Too many pinnacles in a year.
Danielle Spurling (23:20):
I know Well she has such a strong background
.
Obviously her mum was SarahHardcastle and, you know, raced
for England and she's obviouslytraining in Australia with Dean
Boxall.
So she's got the best of bothworlds.
Laura Quliter (23:32):
Yeah, absolutely.
Danielle Spurling (23:38):
And yeah, absolutely, and she's so tough
like, yeah, is she awesome, yeah, yeah, yeah, it'll be
interesting to see how she goesum up against our arnie, so
it'll be very interesting.
Oh, what I was going to alsoask you was a little bit, um,
when you mentioned the come offgames and that sort of sense of
you remember things because ofthe smell of the chlorine and
the sweat and what was happening.
(23:59):
But when you walked out ontothe pool deck for that four by
one relay to get yourself intothat zone, do you have any
techniques that you use to sortof calm yourself down so that
you're in that sort of optimallevel of the arousal inverted
you?
Laura Quliter (24:14):
yeah.
So I think, um, brief workhelps me a lot, like kind of an
extended exhale, because I tendto be more on the nervous side,
so for me it's important to notbe, not be too tense.
Um, and then visualizing thechangeover was probably the more
important part.
So I was the second swimmer and, um, I don't know how many
(24:35):
other people are terrified of abreak, but that was mine.
I was like you know what, if Ican see it in my head before I
do it, then the rest, as I said,it takes care of itself.
You've benched the training andwe did our pre-cab in Mallorca
in Spain, and that was thefastest I've ever swum before.
So I kind of had that in theback of my head, being like you
(24:55):
know, if I can replicate whatI've trained to do, then you
know, just trust that it's inthere.
I think I used to get in my waya lot in terms of overthinking
and I hadn't realized, until Iprobably quit, that I had a big
fear of failure too, and I thinkfocusing on what could go wrong
(25:16):
is definitely not the bestmindset, and that's something
that has been really fun to comeback to, because you know, as I
said, that, those thatarbitrary pressure creeping in
earlier this year and then, youknow, having a bit of a reality
check, just to say it's mychoice to be doing this.
I'm paying for everything.
Now like it's quite a differentexperience.
Danielle Spurling (25:36):
Yeah, I think that's a great perspective.
Absolutely, we'll be back withLaura after this short break.
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Now back to Laura, and yourecently got a little bit into
ice swimming.
Can you tell us a little bitabout ice swimming, what are the
sort of the rules andregulations around it for those
people who don't know much aboutit that are listening and a
little bit about the competitionthat you recently did.
Laura Quliter (26:47):
Yeah.
So I just found this sport onInstagram.
It like popped up on a reel sixmonths ago and I thought, well,
that'd be a heck of a challenge.
Like I hate the cold, let's goswim in some five degrees.
Like let's just see whathappens.
You know, um, but in terms ofwhat the sport is, it started in
2009, uh, and involves swimmerscompeting in water that's less
(27:10):
than five degrees celsius, injust a standard swimsuit and cap
, so you can't wear yourwetsuits or your neoprene caps.
Um, I raced in a like standardissue racing suits, like a
speedo suit and some of theother nuances of the sport.
For safety is all athletes startin the water, so it's a push
start.
You have to surface by fivemeters, so you've got.
(27:33):
You don't have the underwatersand it's also touch turns.
So you know, that was all, um,something to get used to,
particularly when I'msimultaneously training for
short course, which is, you know, working on underwaters.
Um, but that's all part of thejourney.
And then the last part, forsafety as well as you, you
compete with a belt around yourmiddle and that's in case you
(27:54):
pass out.
They can drag you, drag you out.
Oh, okay, I actually got intotrouble because, you know, being
that racing mindset, I did oneup as tight as I could to reduce
drag.
And then we had like a safetymeeting saying, hey, they
actually need to be a little bitlooser because otherwise the
rescuer who's got these biggloves on can't actually get
under the belt.
(28:16):
So I loosened it the next day,um.
But I suppose my motivation forgetting into this wild sport
which I now would absolutelyrecommend um was just a
psychological challenge.
You know, swimming 100 metersis nothing to me anymore because
it's something I've done for somany years.
But doing that in like lessthan five degrees seemed pretty
(28:36):
radical.
So I also my original intentwas to do the 100 meter
freestyle and that was thelongest event.
As my training developed Istarted to wonder what could be
possible and I was nudged alittle bit by a friend and I
signed up to the 500 and thatwas so hard, like that was one
of the hardest things I've everdone.
But when I finished I was kindof like well, could I do the
(29:00):
thousand like um.
So I entered the thousandactually at the event, um, and
that was amazing.
I actually had somebody ask youknow, is it, does it have any
health benefits?
And I don't know, because thatwas a pretty wild ride.
It took me about two hours tocompletely recover after the
thousand meters, um and my.
(29:22):
My splits for perspective wentfrom a 34 to a 51 per 50, yeah,
but the, the whole journey wasactually awesome because it, it,
just it made me like thissounds really weird, like more
in my body.
So I was like less affected bythe elements.
You know like having to juststrip off and get into my togs
(29:43):
and swim at the beach when it'showling with wind and rain and
dive into the lake sorry, feetfirst, don't dive into cold
water, into the lake and, um,just get, get it done was really
fun.
And there's something quiteexciting about like leaving your
nursing shift, getting likechanged in your big hoodie thing
and getting into the water andbeing like I've gone from you
(30:04):
know, like caring for thesepeople, to just like being out
in the wild in the middle ofwinter and I definitely felt
that rush and I understand whypeople get into it.
But what I would say was reallyinteresting for me is I've got
a certain level of exposurewhich I really enjoy and above
that it's really not pleasant.
So I enjoy about 20 minutes atthe moment.
(30:25):
More than that, the recoverytime's really long for me and I
just I don't really enjoy it.
But I do think you know, withmore training that would
increase in time.
But that was interesting onreflection.
It's like cold swimming wasawesome, but everyone's got
different capacities and for me20 minutes is awesome, but more
than that not so much fun yes, Ican imagine, like I saw on your
(30:50):
Instagram, you were doing yourrecovery and it looked um a
little bitous.
Danielle Spurling (30:55):
So can you talk us through how you
recovered from that swim?
Laura Quliter (30:59):
Yeah.
So before I did the 1,000, oneof the ladies, a really
impressive swimmer, she's donethe ice mile and she told me
before my race that she got astress fracture in her spine
from all the shivering and I waslike what am I getting myself
into?
And you know, I want tochallenge, I don't want to push
myself too far.
So I always had the mindset oflike, if it gets too crazy, just
(31:22):
pull pin.
And I have to admit, like 10laps to go.
What was really interesting,I'll get to the recovery.
But I had to change my stroke.
Like in swimming you don't wantto rotate too far side to side.
I say to people it's likerunning.
You know, if you run and youtwist your body 90, 90, it's not
very efficient.
It's the same with swimming.
But I had to do that at the endof that swim because my
(31:44):
shoulders were so cold that Ifelt like I was dragging my
hands as they were comingforward.
So what I did notice is like Ihad to just roll my trunk, like
really accentuate that movementjust to finish.
So when I did finish, I neededassistance into the medical room
.
So I wasn't actually able tostand up and I felt like I was
(32:06):
100% aware the whole time.
But there were a few peopleafterwards that were saying, you
know, I remember this or that,and I thought, holy moly, like I
think I was a little bit morein space land than I realized,
um, but it's all very methodical.
So the recovery basically,there's a huge medical team and
they will look at the athletesand, depending on your state in
(32:26):
the event like when you'reswimming, how you're looking,
how your pace is dropping andalso how you exit the water will
dictate how you're cared for.
So I was taken immediately tothe medical room because I was
unable to stand unassisted.
Um, I did need a wheelchair,which was good.
Um, managed to walk withsupport, um, but they they
(32:47):
needed to dress me.
So I got stripped out of my suit, um, and patted dry.
So when an athlete is reallycold, they can't tell you if
you're ripping their skinbecause they can't, like I
couldn't really feel what'sgoing on.
So they pat you dry and thenit's really important that you
start to layer smartly.
So the first layer was merino,because that helps to wick
(33:09):
moisture but also warm at thesame time.
So pat dry and then get a wholebunch of layers on and then
it's all about kind of this um,slow heating.
So I was laid on a bed underlike I know a couple of sleeping
bags and then all these hotwater bottles kind of patted
around me and from that point,like I had my eyes closed most
(33:29):
of the time because I was sonauseous, and it was, I think,
the reason it was such anamazing experience.
I just had to accept what mybody was doing, because the the
shaking like I had experiencedthat in my training, but only to
a mild level because a lot ofmy training was done by myself
so I couldn't really push it toofar um, but it was so violent
(33:51):
like I just you know, fullshaking, and then you kind of
come out a little bit, have achat with someone, and then it
would just hit you again.
And I'm so glad the personbefore the event told me that
the recovery was harder than theswim, because it was so right.
Like the swim was reallyamazing because you're in
control you know I'm going tofinish this or you're still okay
(34:13):
but in the recovery phase yourbody's just like taking over.
It was quite, quite a weirdsensation.
But everyone also reactsdifferently.
You know, my friend was like herecovered in half the time and
he went to the changing roomfirst and yeah, okay, oh, so
it's quite different obviouslyyeah, there's actually.
Yeah, there was an amazingathlete from Australia actually
(34:35):
and she shocked me because shewas so chill, like like just no
shaking, was having a bit ofchocolate or something
afterwards, and I was looking ather like how.
Danielle Spurling (34:47):
How did you prepare, prepare with your
training for it?
Were you just training in acold water pool and getting a
little bit more each time, ordid you stay with your normal
training?
Laura Quliter (34:58):
um.
So it took me a long time tobuild up the confidence to
actually swim cold.
So, like most of my training,because my my mindset going in
was specificity, so I was like I, the water I'm going to swim in
is less than five degrees, sothe beach is up at like 14, the
lake's probably the same.
So I thought I really need tounderstand what it feels like to
(35:22):
be in the cold water.
So most of my sessions wereactually done in an ice bath and
what I did was I just wanted towork on simple exposure to
start with.
So how long can I just sit inhere?
And once I could do about fiveminutes, then I went into the
submersion.
And I tell you what the firsttime I put my face in that ice
bath, the pain was such a uniqueexperience because like I could
(35:46):
put my face in.
But when I started blowingbubbles to practice and those
bubbles were hitting me in theforehead, it was like getting
little punches.
It was so weird.
So that took quite a lot.
But on reflection, doing the icebath submersions, like going
underwater and practicing likebubble bubbles and rolls, just
you know, sat in this little tub.
I think that worked really well, because when I got into that
(36:09):
water my friend had beentraining in the rivers down
south.
They got colder so he wastraining in about seven degrees
but he was like, holy moly, likethat water we raced at two
degrees, by the way.
So the nationals was like my Kwas done at 2.1 degrees, which
is pretty wild.
So, yeah, most of it was done inan ice bath and then I did
(36:30):
start to go more into like theocean and the lakes.
I probably should have done abit more of that.
But, as I said, like that wasfor me the biggest psychological
challenge and what I foundreally interesting was like how
my mindset was going into like acold water, either an ice bath
or a swim.
The mindset mattered so muchbecause my tolerance for the
(36:52):
cold was so much dictated on howI felt, which is not so much in
swimming.
Like I feel like it was justexaggerated or exacerbated by
the cold.
Danielle Spurling (37:03):
Yeah, absolutely, will you do it again
?
Laura Quliter (37:05):
Yeah well, I you know, pending my ability to
fundraise, I think I might go tothe World Champs in.
Danielle Spurling (37:10):
January oh fantastic.
Where are they being held?
They're in.
Laura Quliter (37:14):
Molvino, which is a Italian city or town with
1000 people.
Danielle Spurling (37:20):
Oh, wow, and they're going to hold the World
Championships.
Laura Quliter (37:24):
Yeah.
So the people I met down at theice nationals, they were
awesome, so I've kind of got allexcited about that.
But you know, as I said, it'skind of it's uh hopeful but not
a definite at this stage.
Danielle Spurling (37:33):
And are they?
Are they running those in alake or are they doing it in a
pool?
Laura Quliter (37:37):
I think it's both because the the most coveted.
So if you look at ice swimming,if you google it, there's warm,
cool and ice, I think, or warm,cold, ice.
Warm means that you've, like,signed up to ice swimming.
I think I should fact checkthis.
Cold means that you've done,warm means you've competed, cold
means you've done a thousandand ice means you've done the
(38:00):
ice mile.
And there's also, like theextreme ice mile, which is 1.6
kilometers and sub two degrees,which I don't know how humans
actually do that, but that'samazing.
So I think I'm a cold swimmernow, which is exciting.
I've graduated from warm um, sothe world champs.
To my knowledge there's.
There's definitely pool races,because that's what I'm going
(38:21):
for, um, but I'm guessingthere's.
There's lake stuff as well,because it's on a beautiful lake
, but I'm actually not sure.
Danielle Spurling (38:27):
I've seen sort of Instagram of a guy that
I actually had on the podcast.
He's an ice swimmer, peterPlavik.
I don't know whether you followhim, but he oh yes.
Laura Quliter (38:37):
He's awesome.
Yeah, I follow him.
Danielle Spurling (38:44):
Some of his footage is in.
Laura Quliter (38:46):
It looks like in a lake, but they've put sort of
they've put ends into it, soit's sort of like a pool in a
lake, if that makes sense.
Oh, interesting, yeah, I wonderif it will be.
Yeah, some of some of thephotos online are pretty wild
where, yeah, there's like snowcoming through and I think I
read somewhere that they put ledor not like led, but they put a
light down.
You know if it, if it's underthe lake, because for me, you
know if you're sprinting, it'slike sprinting blind, like I
(39:09):
think we put the light there soyou can follow the black line,
basically.
Danielle Spurling (39:14):
Oh, that's a good idea.
I didn't know about that.
Yeah, fantastic.
I just wanted to circle back tosomething you said before,
where, when you were trainingfor that 50, you did sort of
four to five sessions ofstrength work, and I know you're
a personal trainer as well andyou're obviously in charge of
your own strength training.
What are your sort ofphilosophies behind training
(39:37):
strength for a swimmer?
Laura Quliter (39:39):
I think it needs to be well structured and have
like a long lead in time.
So hypertrophy is kind of thisword that freaks a lot of people
out because they assume thatit's going to make you like the
body builders up on stage.
But the the truth of buildingmuscle like that level of
conditioning takes years andyears of like optimal nutrition
(40:03):
and lifting like specifically.
So I think for me I finally gotrid of this fear that I was
going to get really, reallybulky.
When I was swimming younger Ididn't want to lift heavy
because I was afraid of likewhat I might look like.
I'm definitely a lot physicallystronger, but my philosophy is
that you want a base ofhypertrophy, so that's getting
(40:26):
the body used to lifting withgood technique at a somewhat
higher rep range, so that it'dbe, like you know, 12 to 15 reps
and you can even start onmachines to get the body.
I think machines are awesomebecause they take away a lot of
um mistakes.
You know you move in a smoothplane of motion and you can
(40:47):
build a lot of strength beforeyou start to use the barbells
and kettlebells and dumbbells.
So I think a base ofhypertrophy and the goal behind
that is to both build strengthbut also technique.
From there you want to buildstrength, and so that's a lower,
lower rep range a little bitfaster, and from there those two
(41:08):
kind of blocks will allow youto go into the more explosive
power, plyometric, the kind offun stuff which I really enjoyed
and, ironically, one of thebest things that happened to me
is I had to rehab a back injurylast year and so the physio
actually advised a heavystrength program, which I
absolutely hated.
(41:29):
I persisted with it because Iwas terrified that my back would
be injured long term.
I'm very tall, so you knowlooking after my spine is quite
important.
So, as much as I hated it, Ipersisted with this and, weirdly
, at like three months ofdragging myself to the gym and,
you know, doing like deadliftsand squats and stuff, I just
(41:50):
suddenly started enjoying thegym and I think it's because I
could see the gains and at thatpoint there was nothing about
performance, it was just likeget your body strong, um.
But yeah, in terms of thephilosophy, I think I don't
actually think that swimming, um, specific stuff needs to be
(42:11):
incorporated.
Like my gym conditioning isabout like strengthening the
body with a bias towards themusculature that's used in
swimming, but also with balance,because we're very anterior, so
we use a lot of the front ofthe body.
So incorporating back stuff isimportant for maintaining
posture and also just well-beingof the entire person, rather
(42:32):
than just making themridiculously strong.
And just a set number ofmovements um, rotational and
anti-rotational movements, Ithink can like just completely
transform people's ability toswim, because it emphasizes that
cross-body connection and youknow that hip drive.
So a lot of that connection canbe challenging for newer
(42:53):
swimmers, but when you feel itit just allows you to generate
so much more speed.
And the way I explain it topeople is if you've ever done
boxing and you stand there andyou just like punch a bag,
versus if you get that like youknow that hip drive and you come
through the amount of powerthat you generate through that
punch when you use the hips,versus if you're just standing
(43:14):
there punching.
That's the same with swimmingif you can learn to coordinate
the core, so be able to, youknow, use the shoulders and the
hips, um, in unison.
I think that's just one of thebest things.
So I don't have a beautifulphilosophy to kind of just like,
you know, just one line bangerbut yeah basically it needs to
(43:35):
be um, it's a kind of a longprocess, but it's one that's
well worth doing, and especiallyfor master swimmers.
You know, when we get older,unfortunately, as great as
swimming is, for so many things,it's a non-weight-bearing
activity.
So if it's your primary sourceof movement, incorporating
strength training as we age isso important because you're not
(43:56):
getting that like, um, thatstimulus to build bone density
which we're at risk of,especially women as well, as we
age.
Danielle Spurling (44:05):
So, yeah, passion, like definitely a
passion point strength andconditioning yeah, yeah, I've
really got into it in the lastfew years.
I was, I just, you know, sortof played around with it but
I've really made a sort of acommitment to I go definitely
twice a week to do it, but I tryto do three, but you know.
(44:25):
But I'm trying to get in swimsand spin and pilates and that's
hard to get it fitted all inyeah, absolutely.
Laura Quliter (44:33):
What made you decide to focus on it?
Danielle Spurling (44:36):
a few injuries.
I had bursitis in my shoulderand I think that you know I was
definitely sort of relying moreon those upper.
I wasn't tracking my shoulderscorrectly and I wasn't using the
lats.
So I really was trying to, youknow, strengthen that and get a
(44:56):
little bit more balance in mybody.
I felt like it was uneven onboth sides and my legs were weak
, even though I'm a good kicker.
My legs were quite weak and I'ma good kicker.
My legs were quite weak and Iwanted to work on that as well
and I'm I'm just now starting tosee a little bit of an
improvement just a tiny bit, butI can feel.
I can feel it.
But as you get older, once youhave one or two weeks off, you
(45:18):
start to sort of you can tell ityeah, you know, feel it, go
back.
I can feel it in the water, goback as well.
So it is something that youknow it needs to be ongoing.
Laura Quliter (45:28):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think I saw something onmy social media and just a reel
and it said it was like the 10minute rule and I loved it.
It just said you know, on thedays that you can't be bothered,
even if it's like at homeputting on like a strength thing
on YouTube and just doing 10minutes and from there if you're
still not feeling it, you canleave it.
But often, getting past thatthreshold of 10 minutes, you
(45:49):
walk into the gym and you startyour program for 10 minutes and
from there you're allowed toleave if you want to.
But I just thought that wassuch a cool idea.
Obviously, like if you needrest, then then prioritize it,
but if it's just a lull and thatkind of motivational discipline
, that 10 minute rule is quite acool little idea.
Danielle Spurling (46:10):
I like that idea because I think sometimes
the hardest part is actuallygetting to the gym.
It's not what you're doing atthe gym.
Laura Quliter (46:17):
I so agree and honestly, I've got the most
insane um, like hurdles that Isorry, yeah, like strategies to
hurdle over those barriers.
So like I'll often blast someterrible music that I would
never listen to.
Like I'm talking like kind ofscreamo stuff, like I don't
listen to that at all and juststart getting ready and then
leave and somehow that likeblaring music like gets me
(46:41):
really pumped and it might notbe the best nutritional.
I mean, I also use energydrinks.
You know, on those low daysthey're such a treat for me
because I actually really likethem.
I wish I didn't, but I do so ifI can't be bothered, but I know
it's an important day, I'lloften treat myself with like an
energy drink and then often Ihave like a great session
(47:02):
because I'm like, oh, I got tolike have my beta alanine today,
world championships for iceswimming and trying out for
short course.
Danielle Spurling (47:11):
New Zealand nationals, are you considering
world masters championships inSingapore next year?
I?
Laura Quliter (47:18):
would love to.
It all depends on funding, yeah, yeah, I mean I'm like in a
very awesome position where I'min my new home my partner and I
purchased in November, um, butthat comes with, obviously, a
lot of restriction in terms ofwhat I can and can't do, um.
But you know, I've startedonline coaching and things and
that has been my way ofhopefully being able to to
(47:41):
follow this um newfound passionfor master swimming, because I I
didn't even realize when I wasswimming that they follow the
world champs.
So you know and it's, I've meta few people online, um, that
are into that master swimming,that go to all the big meets,
and it's something I definitelywant to be involved in.
So would love to be there, butlet's see how it goes yes, yes.
Danielle Spurling (48:03):
Well, we'll definitely also put a link to
your website, your coachingplatform, in the show notes so
people can follow that up withyou and have a look at that as
well oh, awesome, thank you yeah, now everyone that comes on the
podcast, I ask them the deepdive five, which is five
favorites um in the questionsthat I ask you.
So just give me the first thingthat pops into your mind
(48:24):
Favorite pool that you've everswum in.
Laura Quliter (48:27):
Oh my gosh, the first one there's so many.
Weirdly, the one in Aucklandthat's 60 meters long.
It was a sunny day and I can'tremember the name of it and it's
terrible.
Oh my gosh, there's one inAuckland that's 60 meters long.
Danielle Spurling (48:41):
Sorry, okay, that's right.
There's one in Auckland that's60 metres long.
Sorry, okay, that's right.
We'll look it up and we can putthat in.
The 60 metre pool is theParnell Baths.
What's your favourite freestyledrill?
Laura Quliter (48:53):
Penguin kick.
It's not technically afreestyle.
Well, yeah, it's a freestylekick drill yeah.
Danielle Spurling (48:57):
Yeah, and what do you do with your arms
when you do that?
Laura Quliter (48:59):
Do you have them at the side, just at the side,
just at the side and that hasbeen probably the drill that's
helped my body position the most.
So how often would you breatheevery?
How many kicks?
Um, none, if I'm using asnorkel, or I tend to like the
goal for me.
So this is more on that sprinttechnique.
I would be thinking aboutkeeping my hips pointed at the
bottom, so kicking hard, butgetting my shoulders dry.
(49:22):
So it's almost like twistingyour body, um, but keeping the
core tight.
So I'd like twist about threeor four times and then I would
breathe.
And when you breathe you've gotto keep that kick cadence up,
because if you like pause, youknow you just sink.
So yeah, I'd often do it with asnorkel or breathing every
(49:42):
three or four twists.
Danielle Spurling (49:44):
Yeah, okay, that's a good one.
Laura Quliter (49:50):
How about your favorite main set for 100-meter
freestyle fitness.
Really good set.
That's actually from my likecompetitive years.
It was 100 all out, 275s allout, 350s, trying to hit 100
pace and 425s and it was justawful so it just made you want
to vomit and you'd have to dothat.
(50:11):
I think it was three times inthe early season and then it
would drop to two and one intaper.
So 100 max, 275, max, 350s,trying to hold 100 pace and 425s
with whatever you you had leftand how much rest interval did
they give you in those?
it was quite a lot.
I think it was possibly doingthe 100s on two minutes, 30, and
(50:33):
then I can't remember the 75s,but we would have had at least a
minute.
Then the 50s were on less rest,so they were on 110, and then
the 25s were on about 45 secondswell, that's a tough one, yeah
lactate through the roof?
Danielle Spurling (50:49):
yeah, of course.
And what's your uh favoritepre-race snack?
A musashi energy drink, okaythat's okay.
Laura Quliter (50:59):
That's the.
That's the naughty answer, butthat's that is definitely my
favorite.
Um, otherwise, I just lovepeanut butter and jam on toast.
It's like the safe option thatI really enjoy and it doesn't
leave me bloated.
Danielle Spurling (51:12):
That's a nice one and last question how about
swimmer you most admire and why?
Laura Quliter (51:17):
Lauren Boyle um, she's a close yeah, close friend
now, um, but the way that shethinks about swimming, how much
she's influenced my swimming, um, you know a from the way that
she conceptualizes it and andthinks about it, but also just
swimming alongside her andwatching what she does under the
(51:38):
water like she's a phenomenalswimmer and a phenomenal person.
Danielle Spurling (51:41):
So it's yeah, it's an easy one yes, yeah,
she's got a bit of a sad story,hasn't she?
Because did she get a worldrecord that wasn't then counted
because they didn't do thesurvey of the pool?
Laura Quliter (51:54):
I thought it was acknowledged.
Danielle Spurling (51:56):
Oh, it was maybe I think, because she's
saying that was the 1500 metershort course in wellington.
Yeah, I'm actually not sureyeah, I thought that that was
one of the stories, but I couldbe off base there.
I was going to check that outyeah, that'd be awesome.
I just saw the time, I justthought it was a little bit cool
, but I don't know whether itwas ratified yeah, yeah, because
(52:18):
sometimes if they don't do thesurvey of the pool or it's not
an official survey, then theythey won't recognize it, which
is crushing, isn't it?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, laura, thank you so muchfor joining us on the podcast
today.
It's been delightful talking toyou and hearing about your
swimming journey and telling usall about your ice swimming as
well.
And best of luck with all ofthose championships coming up.
(52:40):
I'm sure you're going to doreally well.
Thank you, with all of thosechampionships coming up, I'm
sure you're going to do reallywell.
Thank you, it was so awesome tochat.
Yeah, same, okay, then Bye, seeya.
Thanks for listening in totoday's episode.
I hope you enjoyed my chat withLaura.
Don't forget to check outLaura's website at auramoveNZcom
(53:01):
to connect with Laura and findout more about what she offers.
I wanted to welcome some newsubscribers to the Swim Talkers
Fold.
Welcome to Dee, teddy, emma,sarah and Kelvin.
I hope you enjoy being on theinner sanctum of Torpedo Swim
Talk Till next time.
(53:21):
Happy swimming and bye for now.
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