Back To The Water with Sarah Freeman

I return after a thoughtful pause with a clear vision: share short solo wisdom from the water, bring in global RAWW (rad, active, water women). From a 10K turquoise lake swim to a renewed coaching mission, I map the next chapter and invite you to make a splash with me!

• why the pause and what changes
• highlights from a year of training and a 10K open water swim
• intention-led swim squad and technique
• lessons from water applied to work, rest, and courage
• launching Swim It Forward with 5% proceeds to sponsor young women
• details on the upcoming women’s clinic with sound bath
• invitation for global RAWW to be guests
• encouragement to start again and create ripple effects

If you're listening/reading to this right now and you know somebody out there that's a RAWW, someone who loves water, swims, surfs, whatever it is to do with water, please reach out.

sarahfreemancoaching.com

@sarahfreemancoaching (Instagram) 

Transcript

Why The Pause And What Changes

A Season Of Swimming And Growth

Coaching Returns And Squad Philosophy

Swim It Forward Initiative

Upcoming Women’s Clinic Details

A Call For Global Water Women

Courage To Reenter The Water

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Hello, incredible water lovers out there, water women and other water humans. It's Sarah, and I would like to welcome you back to Raw Podcast. Now, if you're new here, or maybe you just forgot, what RAW stands for is rad active water women. It's been a while. The podcast took a bit of a pause, and so did I. And now I'm finding my way back as I know there's so many more stories that I want to share out there. And I really do have a passion for podcasting. And it's not just about the podcasting, it's about sharing those stories of other water women. So you can hear this and be inspired by them, or maybe you're learning from them. But I just want to share that even more across the globe. Now, this pause was not about stopping the podcast. This pause was about listening. Listening and noticing the space for myself and noticing that I needed to just take a pause to reset. So here I am. I'm back. It's gonna look a little bit different, where we're gonna have myself, like today, talking to you and sharing my wisdom from the water. Those will be shorter episodes. And then the other ones I'm gonna be inviting in guests. So if you're listening to this right now and you know somebody out there that's a water woman, someone who loves water, swims, surfs, whatever it is to do with water, send them my way. I would love to meet them and invite them on Raw Podcast as a guest. So here we are. It's been a year. It's been an incredible year. The summer was awesome. I was in the water most of the time, and I did lots of events as well. Uh in the spring, I did master's swimming events in the pool. Something that I decided to do a couple of years ago. Um, it reminded me of when I was a kid, and I was like, I want to bring this back to life. So I did. And I love the competitions and pushing myself and the training and the journey along the way. But what I really love is the open water swimming and the endurance part of that. I love that. Being outside when you're training so much inside in a pool in the winter, especially when you live in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, our summers are slightly shorter. Now, if you know me well, I actually do like the cold water, and I'm starting to lean a little bit more into that and to be curious about it. That's the word I'm using right now. So the season ended with an incredible 10-kilometer swim in Calmalca Lake in Vernon, and it was the most beautiful water, turquoise, and it was something I trained for for quite a while, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. The support of my husband was amazing. Um, I had dedicated every mile to a woman in my life that no longer is, and that helped me move through that event. So, what's next? So I have started coaching again. The swim squad is in full motion here in Canmore, which I've been running for over 15 years, and I love that. It really builds the community, the swim community in the valley. But the one thing I wanted to talk about is with the swim squad, it's not about put your head down, get the get in your miles. This is about community. It's about something way bigger than that. So if you've never joined in my squad, yes, we do workouts. Yes, we do work on technique one thing at a time for about four weeks until you've got that, and then we move on. But the squad is about that community, about the connection, about holding that space because we all show up with a different story on the pool deck. And how we start our the squad is on average, we start off with setting an intention to then take that into our swim and off the pool deck. And we also do a check-in as well, like a one-word, not to dive into the nitty-gritty of what's happening, but just to get a sense as a coach on that deck of how you're doing. And what I love seeing is after doing that, after getting in your swim, being in the water, everybody seems to leave with this this like you the intention that you set. And maybe that intention gets reframed too, and gets taken off the pool deck. The things we learn in the pool, those get taken off the pool deck. And I love seeing that, whether it's community, whether it's building your confidence, whether it's you time, and then creating more you time off the pool deck. Maybe it's something in your career as well that you take out of the water into your daily life. I know for myself, there's so much learning from the water as an endurance swimmer and a swimmer to take into my career off the pool deck outside of coaching. Um, it helps me with persistence and rest. Sometimes can be harder, but it's like knowing when to pause, knowing when to say no, and knowing when to lean into that heck yes. So the swim squad is not about just putting your head down, it is way more than that, and it is so beautiful. There's some other things going on with Sarah Freeman coaching. Um, I recently launched an initiative and it actually started last summer inspired by another young woman that had been through adversity. So I brought Swim It Forward to life, and that trickles into all aspects of my coaching. So 5% of all proceeds go into a pot, and by June, whoever that one or two women are, young woman that's been through adversity, then they will be partially sponsored into whatever. Maybe it is a full sponsorship, just depends on what you're doing. It can be anything from swimming the English channel to um doing an event, it can be trathlon too, because there's swimming in there. So it could be um wanting to start your own swim coaching business, but you need a little help. I remember when I was growing my business, and I remember when I was becoming a triathlete and swimmer, it's expensive. It's a lot, it's an investment. So I want to invest in the young women out there. I want to see them action their dream, whatever that is, in some small way, and then be able to create a ripple effect outwards that they carry forward and ripple effects throughout my whole swim coaching as well. So that is one thing that's very close to my heart right now, and there's other ways you can support that as well. So reach out to me anytime. We have a women's swim clinic coming up, so if you're like maybe just taking a pause and ready to get back in, but need some motivation, these darker days are kind of harder, they're colder, and maybe you've just kind of lost that spark. This is a great special edition on November 30th in Canmore for eight women in total, and we also have this beautiful sound bath at the end that a local woman named Valerie will be facilitating outside of the pool deck, and that will just bring in that calmness, that reset, really grounding outside of the water as well. So I am so glad to be back here with all of you, and I have a lot to be thankful for for everyone that keeps listening and that wants to hear more, more guests, and I will share more wisdom with you from the pool from my experiences. This episode here is just kind of it's a welcome back, kind of letting you know what's going on around in my world in swim coaching as well. So here's to the next wave. If you've been waiting for a sign to start again, maybe this is it. And I'm so glad to be back with you. So let's dive in. Let's dive into those stories with those rad active water women out there. There's so many of you out there, so if you are listening, please reach out because I would love to have a conversation with you. Raw has always been about women who love water, women who find themselves in it, on it, or just drawn to it. That won't change. In this next chapter, I want to go a little deeper into water, what water teaches us about resilience, flow, leadership, connection. I'll be sharing conversations with women who inspire me and swimmers, business owners, guides, artists. The list goes on, really. And I'm looking for women that are not within Canada too. I'm looking for global, definitely in Canada, but I'm looking for global as well. Women who are moving with courage in their own ways and they're ready to talk about it. So if I could leave you with one thing, I would say if you've been kind of teetering on getting back in the pool, I would say dip your toe in the pool. Dip your toe in the water wherever that is, or dive in, do a freaking cannonball if you're ready. Create that ripple effect. Whether it's through a big splash, just a dip in the water, but keep creating that ripple effect for other young women and girls that are out there too to see, to see that you can action that dream. Just believe in yourself, no matter how small or how big. Dive into that dream. I got you. I see you out there, and I can't wait to start talking to Rad Active Water Women and sharing your visions, your dreams, your stories outwards. Have a beautiful rest of your week, Rad Active Water Women, and I'll see you in the water soon.