15 hours on the water - Nathalie Pohl: "You mustn't lose yourself in thoughts, that can be dangerous"

Created: 10/12/2022 10:19 am

By: Nico-Marius Schmitz

Fantastic backdrop: Nathalie Pohl swam through the Kaiwi Canal.

© Photo: Marc Le Cornu.

Nathalie Pohl is one of the best open water swimmers in the world.

At the end of August, Pohl conquered the Kaiwi Canal near Hawaii, 47 kilometers in 15:05 hours.

It was the fifth of seven stages of the "Ocean's Seven", here seven straits are swum.

In an interview with our newspaper, the 27-year-old talks about darkness on the water, an encounter with the Portuguese galley and protection for the underwater world. 

Nathalie Pohl, how long did it take you to recover from the Kaiwi Canal?

The Pacific was super salty, which really attacked the mucous membranes.

I couldn't eat anything for three or four days and I couldn't swallow well.

I've gotten used to other pains like my shoulder when swimming, it's nothing special anymore.

It definitely takes a week to get really fit again.

15 hours in the water, what do you think about?

There are always different phases that you go through.

In the first few hours we are very happy that we can finally swim.

I wanted to start in Hawaii last year, so I had to cancel it.

So I was really happy that everything worked out.

We got into the water at 5:10 p.m. (local time), at 8:15 a.m. the next day I arrived at the destination.

So it was eleven hours dark.

In the dark you have to concentrate extremely.

The only orientation I had was the kayak, which was pushed far forward so that the water was calmer and no sharks were attracted by the light.

I always have to be focused, even over 15 hours.

Don't lose yourself in thoughts, that can be dangerous.

So the head always swims with it.

The mental aspect is at least as important as the physical.

No matter where I swim, I play it all 40, 50 times in my head before I start.

Loved the water from a young age: Nathalie Pohl.

©James Farrell

47 kilometers and more than 50,000 arm strokes, doesn't your body even ask what's actually happening here?

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That happens relatively early (laughs).

After about six or seven hours, your arms ask how long you actually want to swim.

You just have to keep reminding yourself how much you trained for it and how much work you put into it.

I never ask how much longer I have to swim.

On the ocean, a current can turn an hour into five hours.

I just have to swim until I get to the other side.

There is a short refreshment stop every half hour.

I always swing my way from one drink to the next.

Is there an exact plan for such a long distance on the water?

You make a plan in advance and it never really works out (laughs).

In Hawaii, for example, I was extremely seasick after two hours.

Sometimes I couldn't do anything at all.

Shortly before the goal you then clashed with a Portuguese galley.

That was extremely severe pain, it goes through the whole body and chokes off your breath.

The species is one of the most poisonous jellyfish in the world, which can also be life-threatening.

I was ready to say that everything went really well and then the jellyfish came 500 meters from the finish line.

I thought to myself: stopping now is out of the question.

When I'm on the boat now, the pain is still there.

What was the best moment?

The arrival?

You always imagine the goal to be more exciting than it actually is (laughs).

You often arrive at remote stretches of beach, where there is no one there and there is also no big cheering.

First of all, you're glad you made it.

A day or two later you can think of a party.

In Hawaii, the sunset was of course fantastic, but I was looking forward to the sunrise the most.

That after eleven hours of darkness you can finally see something again.

The starry sky was beautiful too.

I have never seen so many stars as there.

I didn't have much time to observe, but I always looked up briefly while drinking.

How did your passion for open water swimming come about?

I've been swimming since I was little.

I took swimming lessons when I was five and since then it feels like I've been in the water every day.

I swam in the pool for years and took part in German championships.

When I was 14, I was given the book “Die Eismeerschwimmerin” as a gift.

There Lynne Cox describes how she swam across the English Channel.

I found that incredibly impressive at the time.

At the age of 17 I decided to concentrate completely on the open water.

What is the scope of the training?

In a normal training week, I swim three hours a day, then I do strength training two or three times.

I don't have any mental training.

I'm at the point where I know myself very well.

I am good at motivating myself.

In direct preparation, like now in Hawaii, it can sometimes be six hours a day.

They are also socially committed and want to counteract the trend that fewer and fewer children in Germany can swim.

Corona has of course brought the topic even more into focus.

I'm very active there, recently also co-founder of an association.

We are committed to ensuring that more children learn to swim again.

If a child isn't good at math or music, it doesn't become life-threatening.

If kids can't swim, yes.

What does the water mean to you?

After Hawaii I couldn't see the water for two weeks.

The time before was just too intense.

But it just doesn't work without it.

I always want to go back.

This is the place where I'm happy.

I have experienced so many moments in the water that I will never forget.

Being exposed to the element in this direct way also makes you notice much more directly how people interact with the environment.

There is so much plastic and other rubbish floating around.

If you just drive the boat over the water a bit, you don't really notice it.

That's why I'm also committed to preserving these beautiful places.

Interview: Nico Marius Schmitz