Advertise on podcast: Because It's There

James Stead is not a normal individual. Well, maybe  if you’re the kind of person who enjoys six hour swims in the ocean in temperatures below 60 Fahrenheit or 15 degrees Celcius. James is training to swim the notorious English Channel.... Something that less than 1900 people have done solo, not in a relay…. 8,200 people have taken part in channel crossings…. It’s a distance of about 21 miles, with a current pushing the swimmer sideways...there are jellyfish, ships, whales…. I think of it as  the mount Everest of swimming, and for those who have done it successfully, they are in an elite group, indeed. 63.0% of swimmers have been male. 37.0% of swimmers have been female. Doing some research for this episode with James I discovered that the legendary Swimming Hall of Fame coach Doc Counsilman of Indiana University, mark Spitz’ coach…..a man who endeavored to recruit me to swim under his leadership at Inidaina when I was a high school senior, had in that year himself completed the english channel in 13 hours and 7 minutes, ata the time he was the oldest to cross successfully….had he told me that in one of the many phone calls I received from him, who knows, maybe I would’ve gone to Indiana University….ahhh such is fate on which path to take when we approach forks in the road…. Back to James, he’s been training like a man possessed, and his English Channel crossing is scheduled within a week’s time…. James is the husband of my the Happiness Quotient guest Elisabeth Sharp McKetta, episode #78, Elisabeth is the brilliant author and creative writing teacher at Harvard and Oxford. Here is that episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/268133/8451398 I spoke with James on May 18, 2021….where he was training on a Lake in the Lake District, not too far from where he and his wife and children are living now in Cornwall England…. I’ve trained hard in my life on many occasions….for mountains, swimming events, trail racing, and for life in general. The commitment and mindset to train for the English Channel is honestly something I wonder if I’d have the right stuff for….well, I don’t like swimming in any water deep enough  where I can’t see the bottom...there might be a snapping turtle or worse, right? See, I told you James wasn’t normal, right?  That’s my kind of person….. Here’s my conversation with James Stead about his decision to swim the E C and the incredible physical and mental rigors of training for his swim, which is coming within hours of this episode going live. ========= For more information about Thom Dharma Pollard: http://eyesopenproductions.com/ For a free downloadable copy of A Course In Happiness: www.patreon.com/thehappinessquotient

The true definition of 'adventure' is an endeavor you embark upon when you don't know the outcome. In the spirit of long lost Everest pioneer George Mallory, who was told that no human being could ever climb Mount Everest, we tip our caps here to the people who dare go where few others dare.  Mallory was once asked "Why climb Everest?". He is famously credited to have answered "Because it's there." We all have an Everest: whether on land, sea, air, space or, quite simply, the mind, in this podcast we say 'go find it'. In BECAUSE IT’S THERE we’ll be meeting with some of the world’s most intrepid explorers, and adventurers, scientists, biologists, oceanographers, like Don Walsh, who in 1960 co-piloted the bathyscaphe Trieste to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, -35,994 feet below the sea. We’ll share a rare interview with Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to ever set foot upon the summit of Everest. We’ll also meet modern day explorers, like climber/filmmaker/social media influencer Renan Ozturk, Lhakpa Sherpa, the most successful female Everest climber of all time, who has climbed Mount Everest nine times, the most of any woman in the world. We’ll investigate mysteries, such as the disappearance of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, who, in 1924 disappeared high upon the slopes of Mount Everest, last seen at over 28,000’, going for the top. Their disappearance continues to captivate armchair mountaineers and would-be sleuths almost 100 years later. What these men and women all share is a belief in oneself, the refusal to accept the common idea that something is impossible. Because it’s there will amaze, educate, entertain and inspire listeners to stretch the limits of imagination and begin to see what’s possible… If you ever thought about what it would be like to sail around the world in an ancient-styled ship made of reeds, swim the English Channel, search for never before discovered species, climb Mount Everest, balloon around the globe, well, Because It’s There will share important and unique contributions to exploration, science, literature, adventure and human endeavor throughout history and into the future. I’m your host, explorer/adventurer and filmmaker Thom Pollard. I’ve been all around this great big world, I look forward to sharing this exciting podcast with you, because it’s there. ==== FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THOM DHARMA POLLARD VISIT: http://eyesopenproductions.com/