Neanne Alnafta doesn’t like labels. But it is hard to introduce someone without them. 

So for this moment, I will share that she is a proud Muslim woman, a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, an ocean swimmer and a volunteer surf lifesaver.

She is also someone who is (and I quote) “freakishly scared” of the ocean.

I came across Neanne’s story after reading an article about an organisation called ‘Swim Sisters’, an all-female swimming squad that empowers women, especially those from Islamic backgrounds, to feel more confident and comfortable in the ocean.

You may know Swim Sisters by its former name - Burkini Babes, a group launched in France in 2016 by a group of women who were banned from wearing burkinis on the beach.

In this conversation, Neanne and I discuss:

- her love of soccer growing up,

- why she felt like swimming and beach life weren’t for her after she started wearing the hijab, 

- the power and importance of representation,

- what prompted her to become involved in ocean swimming and then surf lifesaving (despite being “freakishly” scared of the ocean), 

- the healing impact of ocean swimming on mental health,

- why fear is not a bad thing.

Get the full show notes for the episode here.

Growing up exercise was a source of shame and embarrassment for Brooke Nolan. 

It was only in her late 20s that she discovered a love of outdoor adventure.

Fast forward a few years and in March 2020, Brooke found herself on the first all-female team to cross the Finnmark Plateau, which is an ice plateau in Arctic Norway.

The crossing was a journey of 250km 14 days that required the team to drag sleds weighing up to 50kgs up to 20km each day in temperatures as cold as -30.

Oh, did I mention? Before committing to this expedition, Brooke had never seen snow before, and certainly didn’t know how to ski!

Now we could have spent the entire episode talking about the expedition, but as I said, this was March 2020 and Brooke and her team were off the grid for 14 days.

When they left, Covid-19 was a blip on the radar.

By the time they returned, it had become a pandemic, borders were closing and it was a race to the airport to try and get a flight home, which ultimately took her over 4 months. 

Get the full show notes for the episode here.

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