1 Katy Dooley Baxter - Goddess of The Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming

My guest today is Katy Dooley Baxter, one of only a small handful of people in the world to have completed the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming.

This includes swimming the 21-Mile Catalina Channel, the 20.2 Mile English Channel and the 28.5 Mile Manhattan Island Marathon Swim.  

Anyone who knows Katy can attest that she's actually quite the dichotomy of human beings. She's one of those rare combinations of being both tough and stubborn on one end of the spectrum and then completely tender and compassionate on the other end of the scale. Put it this way, her two favorite things in life (besides her new husband) are dropping the F-Bomb and Hello Kitty of all things! 

She loves to tell the story of how she hitchhiked to her very first swim practice...at age 5! Things happen on her timeline when she's darn good and ready. Thankfully for us and thankfully for Katy, she did love swimming and that swimming career lasted throughout her childhood into college at the University of Texas. 

It wasn't until well into her adulthood that she decided to get back into swimming in a big way. She had been doing some Ironmans, marathons and other endurance sports when she decided she wanted to swim The English Channel. Did see sharks? How did she prepare for cold water swims with no wetsuit? What were her biggest fears? How did she overcome obstacles?

What personality traits does she possess to make her a great candidate for these swims? Most importantly, how has this accomplishment helped her in "real life."

She's normal, but extraordinary. Ladies and gentleman, my friend...Katy Dooley Baxter. 

Link to: article I wrote about Katy in Austin Fit Magazine

Link to: article on Austin360.com

Theme Music: ”Aitech" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/