As of: March 14, 2024, 2:16 p.m
By: Nico-Marius Schmitz
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Alone on the open sea: Nathalie Pohl.
© Photo: Pohl
Nathalie Pohl wants to make history and become the first German woman and youngest swimmer ever to complete the Ocean's Seven.
Our interview with the 29-year-old.
Seven straits on five continents have to be swum across, and 21 people have managed to do so so far.
Pohl is still missing the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland; it should be ready in September.
In an interview with our newspaper, the 29-year-old talks about a fatal failed attempt, thoughts on the open sea and dolphins as a companion.
Nathalie Pohl, you wrote the book “I am at home in the sea”. Did you realize again what you have already experienced so far?
That was a main reason why I wrote the book.
It was possible to relive every single swim.
I was inspired by a book back then and hope that I can now inspire many people too.
The seventh and final stage of the Oceans Seven is the North Channel. Spending hours in cold water is a horror idea for probably 99 percent of people. Why are you looking forward to it?
To be happy would be a lie (laughs).
I consciously saved the North Canal for last.
This will probably be the hardest stage.
I hope I don't have to train much in the indoor pool this year.
The body quickly gets used to the warm water again.
That's why we're training so much in Mallorca at the moment, with water temperatures of 13 or 14 degrees.
Just cold showers and ice baths are not enough.
In the book you describe how you suddenly felt warm on your first attempt in the English Channel. A short time later you had to be hoisted onto the boat. You were about to drown and said that your team saved your life. What do you remember about it?
I still have rough memories of swimming.
I don't even know how I got on the boat.
That was a real blackout phase.
I came to again in the cabin, but only outlines come back to me.
Unfortunately, I only know everything about the hospital phase for weeks (laughs).
Don't you think to yourself in a moment like this: Why did I choose this sport?
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As I lay in the intensive care unit, the thought occurred to me: Can I ever do this?
I thought for a long time about whether this is what I really want to do for the next few years.
After two or three days, the belief that I could do it quickly came back.
How important is the team on the support boat around your father?
It is an extreme sport and always will be.
From my side, I've never said that I can't stop anymore or that I don't want to stop.
It was always my team that made the decision for me.
I only have people on the boat that I trust 100 percent.
We hardly have any doctors on board, they would probably stop the experiment much earlier.
You had to stop crossing the Cook Strait twice due to weather conditions. How do you feel when you're just a plaything of nature on the open sea?
That was a learning process.
I had to accept that nature is always stronger than you. If you swim in one place against the current for three hours, you just have to stop at some point.
But that also helped me to come to terms with it.
It was never because I didn't train enough.
But rather to circumstances that you cannot influence yourself.
Can you mentally prepare yourself to be alone in the water for hours?
I never know what to expect.
People plan a lot, but on the sea you have to be spontaneous.
I can't plan how bad the jellyfish encounter will be.
Or maybe a shark will come and circle around the boat.
You think of many scenarios, you even dream about them at night.
But in reality things always turn out differently.
I try to always stay in the moment.
I'm not on vacation or anywhere else with the idea in mind.
You described the feeling of swimming on the open sea at night “as if I were swimming in space
. ”
It's definitely like another world.
In the Pacific I didn't even have contact with the big support boat.
The sunset was magical again and then there was only the darkness and me.
I spent twelve hours with myself.
Luckily I like being alone (laughs).
I really enjoyed the time.
At some point you fall into a trance anyway.
At some point you don't think about anything anymore.
I then count my arm strokes over several hours.
The autopilot kicks in and you just swim from drink to drink.
You have already had contact with dolphins in the water who accompanied you.
In the water you see the dolphins in a completely different way than from the boat.
When they swim next to or below you for hours, it's a special feeling.
At that moment you feel like you are part of the sea.
Of course, you shouldn't forget that you don't actually belong there and are just a guest.
Interview: Nico-Marius Schmitz