Business Woman. World Record Holder. Osteopath. English Rose. South African Lioness. Role Model. Charmer. Coxless Crew Member. Lady Leader.

Imagine, one night you are watching a documentary on Netflix and are so inspired by it and then a few weeks later you are actually speaking to a person from that documentary on a Podcast you host…..?! The world we live in these days and our access to people is quite amazing!

The simple fact that nobody had ever accomplished what these girls were embarking on doing, highlights how extreme the task at hand was. Four girls, attempting an 8,446 mile row from San Francisco, United States to Cairns, Australia, across the Pacific Ocean. Just the idea of that is mind blowing in itself!

Our guest this week, Lizanne, was born in a small town, Zeerust, South Africa, which straddles the border of Botswana. Born in a traditional Afrikaans family, she was 9 years old when her parents decided to move to the UK. Lizanne and her brothers trotted along in excitement and anticipation of the adventure ahead.

Her parents genetically passed down musical skills and an interest in medicine, but more importantly, they made her feel that anything in the world was possible and encouraged her to do anything she wanted.

After training in London to become an Osteopath, life took her back on a journey to her native South Africa. After completing her first half-ironman race, she realised that you can literally do anything you want with the right mindset, which was kind of the trajectory she needed.

Her real adventure, of epic proportions, began in a serendipitous sort of way by replying to a tweet on Twitter. Roll forward a few months and she was selected and in training to be part of the team, of an expedition which had been 3.5 years in the making.

In the Podcast we find out about what makes her tick as an individual, attempting to gain 12kg’s of weight in 3 months, sunrises on the ocean, listening to pods of whales, 2 hour sleep rotations, food rationing, being sea sick for 97 days straight and dealing with 30 foot waves.

These ‘ordinary’ women managed to finish a completely ‘unordinary’ task. You can only really be in awe of them for their accomplishments.

Lizanne shares her part of the story so charmingly and graciously with us. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.

Let’s find out what it means for Lizanne Van Vuuren to be Ridiculously Human.

Your fellow beings

Craig and Gareth

SHOW NOTES

Background, Context & Reference

Connect with Lizanne: Website | Instagram | FaceBook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Email |
Coxless Crew Website
Coxless Crew Donations
Losing Sight of Shore - Netflix Documentary
Lizanne’s Blog from the trip
Hashtag #mypacific

Other relevant points discussed

People Discussed

Chrissie Wellington, Triathlete
Laura Penhaul, Coxless Crew Team Leader
Emma Mitchell, Coxless Crew Team Member
Natalia Cohen, Coxless Crew Team Member
Isabel Burnham, Coxless Crew Team Member
Meg Dyos, Coxless Crew Team Member
Keith Goddard, Team Sports Psychologist
James Lawrence, Ironman Cowboy - 50 Ironman races, in 50 days, in 50 States
Tony Humphreys, Logistics Manager
Professor Tim Noakes
Book - The Real Meal Revolution by Tim Noakes
Peter van Kets - Someone who rowed part of the Pacific

Music By

The Bambuseae Rhythm Section - Check them out here

Right Hook Request

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