SPEAKER_02 0:04

That wasn't the plan. Last week on That Wasn't the Plan, we sat down with Melissa Kegler, marathon swimmer, ice mermaid, and the woman who held the U.S. ice swimming distance record for exactly 30 days before it was taken from her. She told us about her journey from quitting her college swim team to becoming one of the most accomplished open water swimmers in the country. And then she told us she was going to get that record back. This week she tells us how. And trust me, nothing about it went according to plan. So that was my journey. And then so like coming into 2025, it was like the winter that almost wasn't. You have been searching for cold for months and months and months. And then you were, when we spoke a couple weeks ago, you were like, I don't, you know, it's now March. Winter, you know, is kind of we didn't really have much of a winter here in the Northwest. Um and you were like, I just don't think it's gonna happen this year. I can't find cold water anywhere. And you were looking in Colorado, you were looking in Tahoe, all over the Northwest here. There just wasn't cold enough water. Literally everywhere. You can't have too, too cold, uh, you know, because then you run into safety issues. So it has to, you know, it's a Goldilocks zone for this ice swimming. Um like a fluke thing happened here. I would I was on a sitting on an airplane last Friday. We were delayed five hours because overnight we had this massive winter storm and we got snowed on. And I bet Melissa woke up that morning and was like, hell yeah. So talk to us like when you kind of had this knowing of this is it. I actually know where I'm gonna go, or how did you figure out where you were gonna go?

SPEAKER_01 2:02

The yes, the storm was it was like that divine intervention for for ice swimming. So that this entire process started actually January 2025. And at that point in time, I was looking at doing um an ice swim in Alaska in late July. And so I had this theory because for the I wanted the world distance record for females at that point. And I have this theory that a summer ice swim is possible in cold enough water. So you have the glacier water coming in that's super cold, that's below what is required, and it mixes with the seawater that is above the required ice swim temperature. And there is gonna be a zone where those two waters mix, and you will be able to find that location. I mean, you know, I call it the unicorn swim, but you'll be able to find this location where you can basically put yourself in the perfect water temperature because if it's too cold and it's too warm, there's gonna be a convergence area. And if it's in the summer, maybe I can get sunshine in 60 degrees. I mean, how great would that be to be breathing in warm air, to have sunshine and be swimming at exactly like the exact temperature you need.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

And I thought, okay, it's gonna happen. So um put that plan into place. Lots of other dramatic issues leading up to that. But long story short, two weeks before the swim, my boat canceled and there's a mechanical issue on the boat. Um, they put all their charters out on other boats. So I said, okay, cool. Called the other boat to just get an idea of what it was like, and they didn't have a swim platform. And I thought, oh, yeah, well, that's kind of important specifically for me. And at that point in time, you know, it's two weeks to go in the middle of the summer in Alaska, which is prime tourist season. And I said, you know what, there's there's been too many signs this year of this swim not working. I have to take those for what they are and just call it and be done with it. So I said, okay, I'll take the month of August off and then I'll get ready to do the swim in the winter. So I thought it would be a great idea to go back to Colorado because that's where it all started. I know the people there. I have really good memories there. Colorado's notorious. We're having a lot of sun, and like warmth of that sun feels so much, like so much better because you're so further up. And I'll deal with the altitude issues. Um, yeah, so that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna go to Colorado. And so I started putting my crew together, got in touch with Colorado people, and said, I don't know when it's gonna happen, probably around Thanksgiving. The Colorado team said it's it's probably gonna be a little later, maybe early December. So that's what we were gearing for. And then early December came and went, and they said it's probably gonna be mid-December. Like, okay, it's almost go time. Mid-December came and went, and now it's Christmas, and I'm thinking, oh my gosh, flights are gonna be so expensive for last minute booking. And then I got the word, like, hey, you should be on standby for this coming weekend. Like, okay, it's here ready. And then Christmas New Year's came and went. And it it was like that for three months. It was it was so warm, and the weekend finally came where it was really gonna happen, and it had dropped, and then they opened the dam for flood control in Colorado, and it raised the water temperature back up. And I just thought, okay, so that's something I wasn't expecting. That wasn't the plan. And and how am I going to how what control do I have? And how am I gonna prevent that from happening in the future? And short stories, you can't. I mean, it's not up to anybody when the government, you know, opens the dams. So in the meantime, I'm flying in and out of Lake Tahoe, trying to train at elevation, taking a whole bunch of data in Tahoe, because you know, Tahoe, everybody said an ice swim is not possible, which I think it is, which is a separate, separate topic for this coming year. But like, I'm spending all this money on flights to Tahoe. I'm looking at, you know, the Great Salt Lake. I'm looking up at Alaska, I'm looking anywhere, even locations here in Seattle, and there's just nothing. Like none of the water is cold enough. It's all one degree above what it needs to be. And my safe spots, which are like spots that notoriously always drop that are too cold, weren't even cold enough. I don't know what to do. And I was so focused on Colorado. I missed all the windows of the temperature dropping on the East Coast. So I couldn't take any advantage of those spots because now it was too cold or frozen over. And it was just this back and forth every two weeks. I mean, you you imagine the the stress of England, and everybody said, Oh, it's a lot like the Dover Coaster. I said, No, the reason it's not the Dover Coaster, which Courtney is the wait, your weight window, and when you do the English channel of like when you may go, but it's a week. Oh, so you have a week, a weather window of a week, and they kind of slot you in when the weather's optimal. And I said, No, this is not the Dover Coaster because the Dover Coaster is a week, give or take a few days. This has been five months now. I mean, it's like imagine gearing up and getting emotionally ready, financially ready, and organizing crew to go with you who are spending their time, taking time off from work, switching shifts. And then you have like the logistics of getting permits, depending on the park you swim at, like permits ready, dealing with emergency responders and crew who are there to help you, and doing that every two weeks, ramping up and then just being like deflated. And then you have a full-time job. Yeah. Yeah. And I have to, I'm telling my boss every two weeks, hey, you know, hey, I may be gone last minute this week, Thursday and Friday. And it was just to continue getting excited and then being let down and disappointed and have no other option, knowing that you're trying, and then also feeling the pressure of I have to balance work with this, I have to get all my work done, I have to get my crew ready, people that change shifts for you that, you know, now their schedule is screwed up, people that have bought tickets that, you know, may not be refundable. You know, all this stuff is just, it's so much pressure. And, you know, the the mental or the physical strain of your body, too, of you know, having to continue hypothermicizing yourself for that long. And, you know, training and just being mentally checked in, like it definitely took its toll. So uh my coach Dan Simonelli in San Diego, he said, for Colorado, you gotta put a cut date on it, and that's it. So once it hits this date, if you haven't done it by then, you just gotta be done with it to like mentally relieve yourself of the stress. So I did, and it instantly helped. Like I was having nightmares, I was having like just all this stuff related. And the minute I said no, I'm not doing it anymore, it all stopped.

SPEAKER_02 9:38

But then there you go.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

But then what what am I gonna do? Like, I haven't achieved my goal. So I said, I'll give the Pacific Northwest two more months until March 30th. I'm jury duty that I've deferred twice. So that I can't get out of.

SPEAKER_02 9:54

So you're like, judge, but I'm doing this ice swim.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

So you gotta give me understand your honor, please. I sent in an excusal request. I didn't know what to put, so I put that on there. It got denied. So I thought, okay, I got I gotta serve. So um March 30th is gonna be the date, and that's gonna be that's gonna be it for the Pacific Northwest. And I mean, by that time, Emily, it was just getting warmer and warmer. Tahoe was now no longer an option. Um there, there's just literally nothing. And then all of a sudden, I heard, hey, there's a storm coming to the Pacific Northwest. And I thought, okay, this could be, this could be it. So what I did learn through this the past five months is how to track how the meteorological effects of storms and weather affect upwellings of deep lakes. Hang on, this one is uh this is Grayson.

SPEAKER_00 10:53

Oh my gosh. Is Grayson a main tone? I was gonna say he's I don't know, he's just uh he's a big old guy.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

He's a big boy.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

So he definitely needs his like snuggles.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

Oh, yeah. Oh my gosh. Is it illegal to have lions where you live?

SPEAKER_02 11:16

That is one big kitty. So yeah, you've gotten so good at forecasting and predicting like what variables can predict what we're doing.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Yeah, and it's it's not just the weather conditions, you have to look at the depth of the lake and how how um probable is upwelling going to occur, and you know, where are the shallow and deep parts of the lake? And based on that, um based on the depth, you know, where can I swim? And there's, you know, which way is the lake flowing? It's going north to south, south to north, where the water inlets, where the water inlets are coming from. Like there's so many things that in the course of this five months, I took data on and I got to know really, really well. So the storm was coming. I knew about three days before the storm hit that it was coming. And I thought this could be it. So monitored very, very carefully. And um, there's one buoy out on Curtilane, and then I had two friends out there that was taking measurements for me and wow, finally made the decision like this is this is it. It's either gonna happen or it's not. And if I don't go and it did drop, I'm gonna forever regret it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:31

So absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

My mom's on vacation in Hawaii. She flew to Seattle last minute.

SPEAKER_03 12:36

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

So she flew to Seattle last minute, and the passes then closed. And I thought, oh my gosh, now I can't even get over there. We're trying to book flights, and all the flights were full. And so I thought, okay, well, I don't know how we're gonna get over there. Two seats finally opened up, booked them, and we were five minutes from leaving to the airport when I got a ping on my phone that the pass opened up.

unknown 13:02

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

So I said, okay, we're getting in the car and we're going because we have to get over the pass. It was like, it was super stressful. And um, because otherwise I was gonna have to like get a rental car and it was gonna be other complications. My bags weren't exactly flight ready because they had been packed for five months. I didn't even know what was in my bags at that point in time. So got in the car, got over there, was so excited, measured the lake. It was 0.1 degrees warmer than required. And my heart just kind of like sunk at that point in time. So we looked at the weather forecast. We thought it was gonna get cold enough. And so I said, okay, I'm just gonna make the decision. We're gonna check in the morning, which is Sunday morning. And if it's cold enough Sunday morning, I think I'm gonna have 24 hours to get the swim in. So we're gonna check Sunday morning, and then crew's just gonna have to travel on Sunday. And let me tell you like the caliber of friends you have to have and the net of friends you have to have to call somebody Sunday morning and say, can you come out to Kurt Elaine in an hour? Can you can you like can you get in the car and and just get out here? And so like a big prop to my crew for like sticking through me with this and just the testament of relationships because yeah, just the community, and that's exactly what happened. Um, it was cold enough in the morning. They came out Sunday, we measured Monday morning and said, okay, we're gonna do the swim today at noon. And that was it. And that was it. So we worked with the fire department to be available because I didn't think it was gonna hold until Tuesday. Tuesday was my original day I was gonna do the swim. And I just thought the way the weather is shaping up, I think it's I think it's just not gonna be there Tuesday. So did the swim, got through it, which is a really bad swim. Um, got through it though, measured just for giggles on Tuesday, and it was too warm. So the weather held for for 24 hours. And it was the only 24 hours in the entire winter of the Pacific Northwest that it happened. So in all the pieces fell in place. Like when you really, I'm not gonna talk to you guys for another hour about this, but like all the different pieces that fell into place coincidentally to make this happen. There's like there was too many things to have worked out for it to be pure coincidence. I mean, absolutely, it was definitely something that was meant to work at this point in time.

SPEAKER_02 15:45

It was that's amazing. Wow. So um you had mentioned, and our other friend Susan, who is out there crewing for you, had mentioned about halfway through that swim, things got rough for you. What happened?

SPEAKER_01 15:57

Oh my gosh, it was a lot sooner than halfway from my recollection. So um I got in for the swim, and because it was so rushed, it it wasn't like the standard swim prep that I normally do. Um, but I thought, well, it's it's literally now or never. And you know, now it's it's officially spring, so it is the never piece until next season. But I got in the water and it always feels horrendous. I mean, when you get in because it's cold. I mean, it's 40 fucking degrees, and you're allergic to cold waters. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 16:33

Allergic to cold.

SPEAKER_01 16:35

So I get in and we made probably three or four different course adjustments before the swim because um there's it was a nasty day. It was overcast, thick clouds, raining, it was cold, the air was cold, the water was cold, like it was just cold. And um we finally settled on a course. And normally what happens is I get in, I do a little breaststroke, I do a few strokes, like I get my breath regulated, and I go on my way and I do my safety check-ins, I get done, I say I'm never gonna do it again. I go through hypothermia, and then I'm like, oh, I'm gonna do it next year. So what happened this time is it felt horrible from the beginning and it just got worse from then on. Um, my first length was about uh 532 meters, was like my first loop change. And I didn't even make it like that first length, and I stopped and I told Susan, like I feel horrible. My stroke didn't feel right. I didn't want to tell her something was wrong, but just something didn't feel like it should. I was like sucking in water through my nose and mouth. Um the my stroke just felt not right. And I was getting like cold brain fog in the first 500 meters, which doesn't happen to me until usually that you know 1100, you know, almost closer to the mile. So I was questioning myself, thinking, I don't know why this is happening because this isn't like I've done enough ice swims where I know this is not normal. So get done with the first length and come back. And I remember telling Susan, I I said, like, I don't think I'm gonna make it. I think like I think I'm gonna bail. And I don't think I can do this. And at that point, it's what 700 meters in of 2800 meters, like it's pretty quick to bail. And then I thought, oh my gosh, but everybody's out here, like I don't want to bail. If I'm thinking I'm gonna bail, though, my head is coherent because I'm aware I might do it. So I got a little, I got a little bit more to go. Um, and I told them ahead of time. So this is probably an important detail. I was out sick for two and a half weeks beforehand, like that that crud everybody's been getting where they're on the couch. So I only had probably two swims the three weeks leading up to it, which I don't recommend, but it's what it is. Um, so I thought, okay, well, I don't know, maybe maybe I'll see something in the water to distract me. And so we start going back, and there was just nothing, and I was getting bored. I thought, okay, now I'm getting bored, so I'm not with it. I don't like to swim. I'm cold, I'm complaining, I'm bored. Like this is shaping up to be a really bad experience. Um, so I decided I started feeling unsafe at that point in time too. And I just felt like I was too far away from the car because I was feeling so cold. And I was so I had in the original course a loop around the plane because I thought there's like a dock with sea planes at the end, and I thought, oh, that might be fun to go explore halfway. So I'm gonna build a plane loop. And I I didn't want to do it, and I said, I just want to go back and do like short loops in front of the car. But then I thought, oh my gosh, if I do short loops in front of the car, it's gonna take forever and it's gonna just take so long. So, hey guys, this is gonna sound crazy, and I know I just told you I'm not gonna do it. I'm aware I'm telling you something crazy. So don't say I'm delusional. I want to go around the plane. So we we shifted back to the original intended course, went around the plane, which got me to um 2.2k, which is my previous longer swim. Okay. And then it was just literally um, so I did short 0.15 kilometer loops just back and forth. So at any point in time I could get out. I was already in the bay by the warming car, so I felt safe, but it was it was a struggle. I mean, it was doing breaststroke because I was never able to regulate my breath the whole swim.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

It just Oh, geez.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

That's I think my lungs just weren't back from being sick. So I was doing a lot of breaststroke, which added a lot of time. And um, and every now and then I just wanted like a little bit of a break. So I would do a very fast float. But then I realized, oh, I wonder if like I look like I'm unconscious in the water. So maybe I maybe I shouldn't, maybe I shouldn't do the float, the dead man float. Exactly. I just wanted like a little bit of a break, and I just wanted to float there. But you know, when you're face down on your stomach floating, it's not a good look.

SPEAKER_02 21:33

Yeah, the fire safety boat next to you is like, who the fuck are these people? She's dead in the water.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Yeah, so I I like got out of that state really quickly and said, that's not a good idea. Um so, but then it was literally my safety kayaker every tenth, like 0.1 kilometer. I would say, hey, where are we at? You're at 2.2. Hey, where are we at? You're at 2.3. Hey, where are you at? You're at 2.4. Hey, what? I'm in the same place. F. I mean, this is yes. And then finally I get to 2.8. And then I start to think, ooh, maybe, maybe I'll go to 3K. And like hit that, hit that magic 3K button. But I said, nope, that's not my plan today. I feel awful. There's no purpose in going to 3K.

SPEAKER_02 22:29

So smart that you could you were able to say that to yourself and comprehend and listen and be like, not today, like save it for another day.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

Yeah. Because the the original plan was if conditions lined up and they were these magic conditions, I would go for the female world record.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

What is that record? Um, 3.8k. So I would essentially have to do, you know, 3.9. And I was in no position to add on another thousand meters at that point. Oh, yeah. The conditions were like the opposite of what optimal would be. So I I just thought, oh, maybe I could do 3K, but I thought there's like for me, it was either 2.8 or 3.9. Nothing in between was going to satisfy me. So we're done. I hit my goal. It's good. I'm going to get out. I want to go to back to the house afterwards. I rented one with a hot tub because I thought all I want to do is I want to get pizza and I want to sit in that hot tub after this year.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

Aww. I want to do that right now.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

Cold, just listen to this story. Get out and got to the car, went through the normal, um, went through the normal like hypothermia things. The the difference with this hypothermia time though was super cool. So the the fire department personnel that was helping out, um, she was mentioning she was doing a research paper or project on like cold water and hypothermia. So this was the first hypothermic experience I've had where I've had somebody sitting with me that coincidentally is studying the exact thing I'm going through. She's getting to watch somebody go through the process end to end. And I'm getting to ask her all my questions about what my body's doing, and she can answer me. And so it was kind of like a it was truly a hypothermia, can be fun experience.

SPEAKER_03 24:23

Yes!

SPEAKER_01 24:25

Put it on a t-shirt. I got to like get all my questions answered, and you know, she got something from it, and I thought, okay, the swim was absolutely horrific. I would never do that swim again, like in those conditions. So I learned a lot from it. But the rewarming process was so much fun. It was educational. Yeah, it was educational. I wouldn't say fun, but it was super educational because I got to learn. And the biggest question I had is when I go through rewarming, um, I noticed there's like spots of skin that are super, super dark purple blue. Yeah. And it looks like a really bad bruise. And I always wondered what those were, and they're the histamine reaction from my allergy that are showing through my skin in blotches. And I thought, okay, so now it makes sense why this stuff is showing up. It's nothing to worry about because I'm allergic. So it's like a normal reaction for my body. So it was just like a super cool experience. It is fun experience. Learning. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:31

So yes, hypothermia is fun.

SPEAKER_01 25:33

It it can be fun. So, but the actual swim, um, the swim was horrendous. It was the worst or one of the worst, like one of the worst, if not the worst swims I've performance-wise, I've had in my life. Just because nothing, nothing felt right. My stroke felt off, like everything that I wanted was for an experience, was not there. Um but I got it done. And so that started me thinking if I can do this swim under those awful conditions, hell yeah. And when I'm not feeling good, when I've taken three weeks off, essentially, when mentally I was kind of checked out from even doing the swim at that point because I didn't think it was gonna happen. If I'm properly trained, if I'm healthy, if I have those magic ideal conditions, I am totally capable of going for and potentially getting the female world record. So that was kind of a really great thought process. You know, I had a really horrible experience that really taught me something too.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

Heck yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:41

And I got my pizza afterwards and I sat in the hot tub for 45 minutes and loved it.

SPEAKER_03 26:48

I bet.

SPEAKER_01 26:49

Which is above the recommended sitting limit for a one-time hot tub experience. But go to hell.

SPEAKER_00 26:55

You're an ice swimmer.

SPEAKER_01 26:57

Yeah, I loved it. I loved it, and I had my crew to watch me. What swimsuit did you wear for this? Um, what what did I wear? I wore um, so I had my red alki cap on and I had red bottoms and a hot pink top. So it was and I had um hot pink or light pink crocs. So it was like a a red pink ensemble.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Totally, which is so cute.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

I looked great on top.

SPEAKER_00 27:21

I looked great. Yeah, yeah, of course you did.

SPEAKER_02 27:23

And Courtney, because she swims year-round in a bikini, she's also really tan. Soon colors just like pop on her skin. It's cool. Oh my god. You beautiful creature. I know she really is this beautiful mermaid. So, Melissa, what's next? Do you want to talk about it?

SPEAKER_01 27:42

Yes, because I said as soon as I was done, I really seriously don't ever have any desire to do a world record attempt again. That has changed.

SPEAKER_03 27:55

Absolutely dub.

SPEAKER_01 27:56

That has changed. What what I've learned though is that I don't want to, the the mental toll that this process has taken this year, um, let's say hypothetically happens again next year. The mental toll that ramping up and ramping down for five months have taken, the planning, I mean, it's a sheer miracle the planning even worked out. It's too much. And I I don't think I'd ever be successful if I went into a world record attempt position having five months of mental stress leading up to it. So my plan is I still want to go for it, but I'm gonna go for it when the conditions present themselves. And I don't want the pressure of training for it necessarily. Um, I just want like if they happen to be here, then and everything works out, then yeah, we're gonna do it and we're gonna go for it. And I'm happy with that decision right now. What I'm really excited about are some of the mini goals leading up to that. So, one of the big things about Tahoe that I learned, I love Lake Tahoe. And I've been told by everybody, including other swimmers, that an ice swim is not possible in Lake Tahoe. When, based on all the storms and how they work with uploading the lake, it is possible. So I'm really excited to explore that next year and just go have a fun ice mile. And I don't believe, I haven't looked through all the data, so don't quote me on this, but I don't believe an ice mile has been done in Lake Tahoe yet. So I'd love to be like the first person to do a Lake Tahoe ice mile. It's been done up in um Donner Lake in outside of Truckee, but not in Tahoe. So I thought, okay, well, I want to go and have a fun hypothermic experience next year. I want to go, I want to go do a fun ice swim in a place that I love, that I'm happy every time with people who are just excited to go to Tahoe. I mean, who wouldn't want to go to Lake Tahoe? So that's the immediate plans. And I kind of feel like as long as I do those ice miles, that's good enough training for the world record temp. So if I'm down there, if the conditions present themselves, if sun in 65 degrees shows up at Lake Tahoe on the morning of my ice swim, then I'll I'll go for it. So I think if I put myself in the position to be mentally ready, if it does show up, like everything else will just fall into place. And if it doesn't happen, then I mean you have a fun swim out of it at least. Yeah, I have a fun swim. And then I also really want to focus on helping other people next year. There's a group of um ice swimmers who I was mentoring this year who a few of them went through the qualification swim for the ice smile, but they didn't get an opportunity to swim because the weather was just awful. So um I'm really looking forward to like taking the knowledge I've learned, passing it on to this group, and really supporting them and getting their ice smiles done next year. Oh, that's great. So lots of good stuff. Fun swims, helping, maybe a world record. Who knows?

SPEAKER_02 31:05

All the possibilities are just endless. What what um what's one small way you could um tell somebody how to push themselves out of their comfort zone? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 31:17

Whoo, that is a tough question. How to push yourself out of your comfort zone. You know, the first thing that come to mind is I remember having a conversation a long, long time ago with Randy, um, who I mentioned, and we were talking, and and this kind of leans into a little bit more of the body positivity side. Um, but we were talking about bodies and what they look like. Um, and this was funny going into Tahoe because my support kayaker, who was male and who was, you know, a lot taller, because they're taller, they're gonna look thinner in general, even if you're the same weight. Um, when we met some of the other support people, they said, Oh, and you're the swimmer, pointing up to him. And it was nobody ever assumed I was the swimmer. So that it was interesting, but I thought about Randy, and your question just made me think about him. That we were talking about bodies, what people think of when they look at bodies and the preconceived notions of what those bodies are capable of. And he said, What I want to do is get away from looking at somebody and thinking about what they're not capable of, and looking at the body and think about what is their body capable of doing. And then when you start to kind of shift the mind to looking at somebody and judging them positively versus negatively and thinking, you know, this person looks like this. I wonder what they could do with that type of body. I think thinking about that and thinking about all the things that they could do enables you to start thinking about, well, what could I do with my body the way it looks like? And it enables you to try something. And I think that initial trying of whatever activity it is that you're doing or whatever you think you may be capable is that is a really, really critical first step into getting out of your comfort zone. Because I never thought I was capable of doing ice swimming in general until I thought, well, actually, you know what? My midsection, you know, with it being bigger, that plays a vital role in protecting my organs. And that's an advantage for ice swimming. So thinking about and just looking at what people are capable of doing and again, judging positively, I think is like a really important first step to start that mental process and thinking about what you could be.

SPEAKER_00 33:50

Heck yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:51

God, beautifully said.

SPEAKER_00 33:52

That was unbelievable. Oh, Melissa. I am inspired.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

Did I did I just hear Courtney say she's gonna do ice swimming? She did. That's what I heard.

SPEAKER_00 34:02

I've already done it actually during this. You've inspired me so much. I have already unswimmed and um I'm phenomenal. There we go. There we go. I'm I'm absolutely inspired. I'm telling you, because we've done the polar plunge at my parents' lake house, which is you know, in the typical very, very cold North Carolina Mooresville uh during the winter, we'll do that. And I always win. I'm the only one, I stay in the water the longest. Everyone else is just weenies. But there you go. I've we haven't done it in years, and I'm like, every time I do it, I'm so grateful for that shock and that like because it does, it lights you up. And I need to get lit up. So I am taking so much out of what you've shared. Like it's phenomenal, Melissa. Just you are incredible. It is just the coolest.

SPEAKER_02 34:52

One final question before we close out, Melissa. And what is one of the nicest things somebody has ever done for you? And it can be recent, it can be from your childhood, whenever. Big, small, yep, doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_01 35:08

Oh, there's there's honestly, there's just so many I think about. Um, I think the first thing that comes to my mind is one of my swimmers that I was mentoring, Rose. She was doing her her first big marathon swim. And Rose was doing uh the Catalina channel, and she was having, just as like all first-time marathon swimmers do, she was having a very tough time at the end. And we verbally worked through the issues she was having, and she finished successfully. And um, a long while later, you know, after she went through and processed all the emotions of the swim, you know, we we got together once we were back here in Washington and had, you know, congratulatory party for her just celebrating her success. And she she gave me a card, and I still have the card in the other room, but she wrote something on the card that I still think about today is one of the nicest. So we we talk a lot about like how words mean a lot. And it was her words, and she said, I acknowledged that she was hurting. And that acknowledgement of not somebody being super positive saying, like, oh go, you got this, but the acknowledgement and validation of her feelings and her being aware that I was acknowledging and validating her feelings was so important to her for her to say thank you and be able to communicate back to me that validation is super, super important. It made me aware that it's okay to, and it's really helpful to people. Again, the the words that you put back, it was really, really, I don't know, like her saying that to me made me think, okay, what I'm doing as a coach is right. And so I think as a coach, sometimes you always wonder, because you have swimmers and you have people that they don't perform well and they blame you. And you know, blaming the coach is maybe in some cases, like it, it's it is fair, depending on the circumstance. But you know, 99 times it's a variety of things where the athlete's not successful. And then you have athletes that are successful that don't show gratitude. And then you have athletes that are successful that, you know, they're just shy by nature, and you know, they don't show gratitude. Like, you know, they're thankful, but they just don't, they don't show it because it's not in their personality. So I think to have validation as a coach that what you're doing is right, and for that swimmer and the skill set that you're giving the swimmer and the tools that you're giving the swimmer to hear that back is the nicest thing that anybody could ever do. Because you never really find out like if what you're doing is good. And again, just to have Rose pick out something very specific for the validation of feelings and thoughts, have her communicate it back to me and make me feel that okay, what I did was right and good. Like that was probably one of the nicest things anybody has ever done or said.

SPEAKER_00 38:18

Oh, I love that. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 38:20

I will say though, um, I will also take gifts and um recently I got a surprise um tub of ice cream and Cadbury cream eggs because my favorite holiday is Easter, specifically for the Cadbury cream eggs. So that's also pretty nice too. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna lie.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

Together it was just an egg ice cream.

SPEAKER_01 38:47

No, they're separate, but it it was brought together. It's like, hey, I saw this in the store and thought of you. I thought that's pretty nice too. Melissa, where can people find you? Um, well, I have my blog, MelissaKegler.com, and I actually am gonna be updating that as soon as my swim gets ratified. I have not put a post on there. It may be for up to two years back. Maybe it's a year, I don't really know, but I've intentionally not put one on there because I wanted to wait for this swim.

SPEAKER_02 39:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:18

So I cannot wait to write something.

SPEAKER_02 39:22

Yeah, you're a great writer too. What's your Instagram handle?

SPEAKER_01 39:26

Melissa Kegler. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 39:28

All right. So, folks, that's that's where to find it so nice and easy. For anybody that's interested in open water swimming or ice swimming, and you want to reach out to Melissa, go ahead and you can find her on Instagram, or you can email us and I will relay the message over to Melissa, and our email is that wasn't the same.

SPEAKER_00 39:48

Or I'll just handle it and let them know how to start and go ahead and get into ice swimming because I'm pretty much know it now. I'm pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 39:54

So I was saying I'm gonna have to, I'm gonna have to like jump off this interview in a few minutes and you can start your next one with uh ice swimming phenomena, Courtney. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 40:05

Let's just go ahead and redo it. Thanks, Melissa. Good to have you. All right, I'm ready.

SPEAKER_02 40:11

Melissa, thank you so much for coming on today and sharing your story, your transition from pool swimmer to US record holder. Um insane. Unbelievable. And especially the fact, and it still always blows my mind when I think about this. You're allergic to cold, and you are the US ice swimming champion. So that's a bad bitch. That's a bad bitch. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, Courtney. Thank you, Melissa. Until next time. Bye. Have a good one.

SPEAKER_00 40:43

Have a great swim.

SPEAKER_02 40:49

Thanks for listening to That Wasn't the Plan. If you found it helpful or at least mildly entertaining, a quick rating, review, and a click on the subscribe button would be lovely. And it genuinely helps us. And if a friend comes to mind, please share. Until next time. Bye.