How It Is
Swimming through Jellyfish, Hypothermia and Electrocution - Carina Bruwer on Open Water Swimming
What happens when the thing that nearly killed you is the same thing you go back to, again and again?In this episode of How It Is, South African entrepreneur, endurance swimmer, musician, motivational speaker and mum of three, Carina Bruwer, joins us for a virtual sit-down that goes from open water to open heart from advanced hypothermia and hallucinating the lost city of Atlantis mid-swim, to being electrocuted by a shark shield off Cape Point and stung by a jellyfish that left her temporarily paralysed.Carina talks through the real, human side of pushing the body past what most people would call sensible: the mitigation and precautions that go into every swim, the crew who gave her CPR and wrapped her in silver blankets after a near-fatal swim, and "paradoxical undressing" the strange, little-known final stage of hypothermia most people have never heard of.She also opens up about the swim that changed how she takes risks, the line between settling and potential she's spent her life chasing, and how she's learned to let go of the guilt that comes with being a mother who takes big risks. The conversation moves into what fulfilment actually means to her, why she's stopped chasing "happy," and how she turned her swims including the English Channel and a 21km crossing of the world's most shark-infested bay into fundraising for children with cancer, before Carina shares what her own kids think about it all.Whether you're an endurance athlete, a parent trying to figure out how ambition and guilt coexist, or just curious what it actually feels like to nearly die in the middle of the ocean, this episode makes the case in the most direct way possible: through what really happened.What You'll Learn- What advanced hypothermia actually does to the body and mind, including hallucinations and paradoxical undressing- What it's really like to be stung by a jellyfish mid-swim, and how to keep moving through it- How Karina mitigates the real risks of open water swimming, from shark shields to support crews- Why she's stopped chasing happiness and started chasing fulfilment insteadFind Out More About Carina Bruwer- https://carinabruwer.com/Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@CarinaBruwer/videosInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/carinabruwer Listen & Subscribe Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/14YEU0UkAOGpdWbazdZ19W?si=QFJhoDO2Q7CrcYDHiMaMEA Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-it-is/id1783785566 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/e12b1c97-e5d0-4d11-8fcd-ca31a0ea12a1/how-it-isHave you ever pushed yourself past a limit that scared you? Let us know in the comments.
