Theodore Yach On WOWSA Live

Courtesy of WOWSA Live, Cape Town, South Africa.

Theodore Yach, a man who has built a successful business in Cape Town, South Africa, has never strayed too far from the cold, rough oceans.

An English Channel swimmer and former water polo player, he is King of Robben Island for an incredible 59 solo crossings between the infamous island prison and leper colony of old to the South African mainland between 1981 and 2010. He also holds numerous solo records around the southern tip of South Africa, battling rough seas, sharks of all sorts and sizes, and cold water. Very cold water.

On today’s WOWSA Live, Theodore shares his secrets on how to encounter and handle cold water. He talks about putting the concept of cold in a little box somewhere in the back recesses of his mind and simply getting on with his cold-water swims. In the interview from South Africa, he talks about the sense of humor and sense of camaraderie of like-minded cold-water swimmers and sheds light on the community of tough extreme swimmers and successful swimming entrepreneurs of Cape Town – a tightly-bond group of aquatic adventurers.

On the weekly WOWSA Live, Yach talks about swimming in 3ºC (37.4ºF) water and explains how recovery from those swims at those temperatures can be scary. He discusses wetsuits and how it can give swimmers a false sense of security. He recalls the ‘cold experience’ in the seas and oceans – where humans are pitted unmercifully against nature – and how he defines a successful swim – a simple formula that has relevance for one’s career.

His simple and direct approach to life and to sports is refreshing and old-school. He shares lessons from his life and his adventures in the sea – a life blessed with successes, buoyed by dedication and enabled by a circle of family and friends.

For more information, visit WOWSA Live.



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