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1: Name? Matt Harry
2: Age? 39
3: Resides? St Kilda
4: Swimming Highlights? Successfully crossing the English Channel in 2013. The other one was beating all of the wetsuited competitors in the 5km at Brighton in 2013 – the last 650m was a brutal stroke for stroke battle with Rob McManus…I managed to get half a body length on him in the last 100m then he stumbled in the shallows – hardest fought and most satisfying victory I’ve had
5: Biggest influence and coach? Pop Watts who encouraged my extreme streak and encouraged me to seek out life – going for 7km walks as a 9 year old whilst doing bicep curls with lead filled baked bean cans, watching him eat whole oranges with the skin on and seeing him swim 100 laps of the Maroubra sea pool. I also remember him asking me if I could spell “Leichhardt” when I was about 10 (I missed the second “h”)….He went BIG
6: Swimming Idol? Des Renford and Hacky
7: Pool or Ocean? Both have their appeal – Ocean for spirituality, pool for brutality
8: How many kms a week? When preparing for the English Channel as many as 60km a week but averaging 40-45km….When preparing for pool events 20-25km/week
9: Longest swim and how many hours in the water? English Channel: 11hr 34min
10: Favorite place you have swam? Portugal in the European summer of 2001 with 3 hot German girls and all 4 of us floating around on a lilo in the sunshine….. or did you mean actual swim?
11: Coldest place you have swam and temp? Our beloved bay – Winter 2012 6.00am air temp 4 degrees , water temp 8 degrees
12: Roughest swim eg. Wave height and wind speed? 8 hour qualifier this year (2013) by myself starting at 4am in the dark with wind blowing at 35knots – we couldn’t get the kayak under the jetty as it was getting swamped by waves – big gulps of water straight-up and lost my breaky in the first half hour
13: Swimming goals? To compete in the 95-99 age group 50m fly at Masters Nationals sometime between 2069 and 2074
14: What or who motivates you? Life motivates me – I am determined to live a life full of adventure, learning, laughs and enjoyable challenges
15: How much is :- Physical? Mental? The mind and the body are one and equally as important as each other in any endeavour\
16: Favorite saying?
2: Age? 39
3: Resides? St Kilda
4: Swimming Highlights? Successfully crossing the English Channel in 2013. The other one was beating all of the wetsuited competitors in the 5km at Brighton in 2013 – the last 650m was a brutal stroke for stroke battle with Rob McManus…I managed to get half a body length on him in the last 100m then he stumbled in the shallows – hardest fought and most satisfying victory I’ve had
5: Biggest influence and coach? Pop Watts who encouraged my extreme streak and encouraged me to seek out life – going for 7km walks as a 9 year old whilst doing bicep curls with lead filled baked bean cans, watching him eat whole oranges with the skin on and seeing him swim 100 laps of the Maroubra sea pool. I also remember him asking me if I could spell “Leichhardt” when I was about 10 (I missed the second “h”)….He went BIG
6: Swimming Idol? Des Renford and Hacky
7: Pool or Ocean? Both have their appeal – Ocean for spirituality, pool for brutality
8: How many kms a week? When preparing for the English Channel as many as 60km a week but averaging 40-45km….When preparing for pool events 20-25km/week
9: Longest swim and how many hours in the water? English Channel: 11hr 34min
10: Favorite place you have swam? Portugal in the European summer of 2001 with 3 hot German girls and all 4 of us floating around on a lilo in the sunshine….. or did you mean actual swim?
11: Coldest place you have swam and temp? Our beloved bay – Winter 2012 6.00am air temp 4 degrees , water temp 8 degrees
12: Roughest swim eg. Wave height and wind speed? 8 hour qualifier this year (2013) by myself starting at 4am in the dark with wind blowing at 35knots – we couldn’t get the kayak under the jetty as it was getting swamped by waves – big gulps of water straight-up and lost my breaky in the first half hour
13: Swimming goals? To compete in the 95-99 age group 50m fly at Masters Nationals sometime between 2069 and 2074
14: What or who motivates you? Life motivates me – I am determined to live a life full of adventure, learning, laughs and enjoyable challenges
15: How much is :- Physical? Mental? The mind and the body are one and equally as important as each other in any endeavour\
16: Favorite saying?
“Far better is it
to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by
failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor
suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor
defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt
17: Biggest fear swimming” eg.. cold jellyfish, sharks etc? Sharks still scare me….sometimes things that are shaped like sharks also scare me
18: Swimming close calls? Lost track of a mate in winter water last year – 55minutes later with the Police Chopper buzzing overhead looking for his body he decides to turn to one of the cops on the Brighton Baths boardwalk and say “I think they might be looking for me”….it was heavy.
19: Tips for other swimmers? Accept the cold and the pain as normal – if you accept it as normal your body will release endorphins which will help to lower the pain – if you start to stress about it and beat yourself up for being weak your body will release the stress hormone cortisone which will make the pain and the cold worse. Relax – everybody hurts when they swim a distance in cold water.
20: What would you eat and drink during a swim? Alternate every half hour between 300ml hot multodextrin and then on the next feed 300ml hot multodextrin and a carb goo….gatorade at the ready for after I spew as it helps settle my stomach
21: Worst place you have swam? Red Bluff in WA – the place was infested with Tiger Sharks
22: Worst injuries? Have broken quite a few bones but most of my swimming ones have been back and shoulder related….also fell into a pool at a client function and put two tears in my MCL – yeah yeah go on have a good laugh – I did
17: Biggest fear swimming” eg.. cold jellyfish, sharks etc? Sharks still scare me….sometimes things that are shaped like sharks also scare me
18: Swimming close calls? Lost track of a mate in winter water last year – 55minutes later with the Police Chopper buzzing overhead looking for his body he decides to turn to one of the cops on the Brighton Baths boardwalk and say “I think they might be looking for me”….it was heavy.
19: Tips for other swimmers? Accept the cold and the pain as normal – if you accept it as normal your body will release endorphins which will help to lower the pain – if you start to stress about it and beat yourself up for being weak your body will release the stress hormone cortisone which will make the pain and the cold worse. Relax – everybody hurts when they swim a distance in cold water.
20: What would you eat and drink during a swim? Alternate every half hour between 300ml hot multodextrin and then on the next feed 300ml hot multodextrin and a carb goo….gatorade at the ready for after I spew as it helps settle my stomach
21: Worst place you have swam? Red Bluff in WA – the place was infested with Tiger Sharks
22: Worst injuries? Have broken quite a few bones but most of my swimming ones have been back and shoulder related….also fell into a pool at a client function and put two tears in my MCL – yeah yeah go on have a good laugh – I did
23: Favorite food, drink, music, movie
and holiday destination?
Food? Seafood – Crab or Cray with a
coupla glasses of red wine
Music:? Illy, Stereophonics,
Florence…lots of others
Movie?
Many but Avatar in 3D on the big screen blew me away
Holiday?Anywhere tropical, developing
and abundant with water/surf
24: What do you think of when you are in the water for hours? Depends – some swims the whole time I am just thinking about getting out (8hour qualifier) other times I’ll sing, do a bit of maths, count my strokes or often I will just be thinking about my form and monitoring my body
25: Where is one place you haven’t or would like to swim? Antarctica
26: 3 people you would invite to dinner? David Suzuki, Alain De Botton, Jim Jeffries
27: Cold water tips? Get aggressive – don’t think, just march toward the water and jump in – full submersion on the first hit
28: Toughest competitor? Myself
29: Diet and how much is weight a factor on long distance swims?Long distance weight is a burden – unless it’s cold water and then it’s essential
30: Pet hate? Small minded people and floaters in the middle of the fast lane. *Floaters = slow swimmers
31: Biggest thrill? There’s two – Crossing the Channel….and surfing in the desert in 2011 and getting a tube that I could have driven a small car through….blew my tiny mind
32:Favorite sport besides swimming? Surfing
33: Who would you like to sit next to on a plane:? No-one and hopefully they would also be sitting next to no-one so that I could pull the arm rests up and end the misery of upright non-sleep
34: Car you drive? Subaru Outback Wagon – with roof racks – it’s tuff
35: Next swimming challenge? That is an extremely good question – just started back at training in the past week after a 4 week break post Channel
36: Occupation? Foreign Exchange Sales
37: D.O.B? 24/02/1974
38: Pet? Sudza was my dog growing up – I still miss him – he was a legend
39:- Why did you attempt the channel? A number of reasons – first and foremost was because it is a part of my continuing drive to live a full life. Secondly it helped me to have a focus for training as part of my mental health plan. And, thirdly to raise funds for mental health research (this wasn’t really a “reason” as such but more of an extra reward and opportunity to give something back)
40: What next? Unsure to this stage…aint it a beautiful thing!
24: What do you think of when you are in the water for hours? Depends – some swims the whole time I am just thinking about getting out (8hour qualifier) other times I’ll sing, do a bit of maths, count my strokes or often I will just be thinking about my form and monitoring my body
25: Where is one place you haven’t or would like to swim? Antarctica
26: 3 people you would invite to dinner? David Suzuki, Alain De Botton, Jim Jeffries
27: Cold water tips? Get aggressive – don’t think, just march toward the water and jump in – full submersion on the first hit
28: Toughest competitor? Myself
29: Diet and how much is weight a factor on long distance swims?Long distance weight is a burden – unless it’s cold water and then it’s essential
30: Pet hate? Small minded people and floaters in the middle of the fast lane. *Floaters = slow swimmers
31: Biggest thrill? There’s two – Crossing the Channel….and surfing in the desert in 2011 and getting a tube that I could have driven a small car through….blew my tiny mind
32:Favorite sport besides swimming? Surfing
33: Who would you like to sit next to on a plane:? No-one and hopefully they would also be sitting next to no-one so that I could pull the arm rests up and end the misery of upright non-sleep
34: Car you drive? Subaru Outback Wagon – with roof racks – it’s tuff
35: Next swimming challenge? That is an extremely good question – just started back at training in the past week after a 4 week break post Channel
36: Occupation? Foreign Exchange Sales
37: D.O.B? 24/02/1974
38: Pet? Sudza was my dog growing up – I still miss him – he was a legend
39:- Why did you attempt the channel? A number of reasons – first and foremost was because it is a part of my continuing drive to live a full life. Secondly it helped me to have a focus for training as part of my mental health plan. And, thirdly to raise funds for mental health research (this wasn’t really a “reason” as such but more of an extra reward and opportunity to give something back)
40: What next? Unsure to this stage…aint it a beautiful thing!
Alby
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