Meet Susan Obrien….
Susan is a Wellington-based athlete and mother who is keen to help you get the motivation and skills to take the plunge and join her in an event this season!
| How long have you been swimming? | 5 years on and off 🙂 |
| Whats your favourite event in the series? | Wellington's Interislander Swim the Lighthouse 3.3km |
| Why that one? | You never know what conditions you’re going to get which makes the event exciting! Choppy or calm it’s always such a sense of achievement knowing that you conquered the swim, along with the amazing post swim buzz (endorphins!). The atmosphere and community is awsome, you can guarantee to bump into your ol swim training buddies and have a good yarn and banter about your “great epic training lead up. Overall the event itself is so well run, volunteers are friendly, the expo and music is on par and you even get some awsome goodies from sponsors! From nut butters to the much needed ice block post swim in the sun. Overall, it’s also a fun day out with the family and it’s pretty kool to be able to role model to your kids to lead a healthy active lifestyle and have fun! |
| What is your favourite pre-race snack? | Oats. |
| What song is on your raceday music playlist? | Peace be still By Lauren Daigle, The Belonging Co, she has an amazing voice and the song really helps me relax and shake off the nervous jitters. Yes I get nervous before events! |
| What do you hope to achieve by becoming a swimfluencer? | 10. What do you hope to achieve by becoming a swimfluencer? Inspire more people to join in the fun with Open Water Swimming! Whether it’s your first time or if you haven’t swam in awhile (shake out that wetsuit…) swimming is for everyone. By being a swimfluener, I want to make a positive impact for the nation of Aotearoa and the future generations to be more active and invest in their mental health and well-being with swimming. |
| If you had ONE PIECE of advice for a new ocean swimmer - what would it be? | Have fun! It’s all about the journey not the destination, start off small (might be 10 or 20 minutes swim with lots of breaks in between) then slowly build duration weekly. Set some goals, have a plan and rope another friend to join you! |
