The Blue Room

The Blue Room's Sabra Lane joins artist & swimmer Catherine Stringer in her studio for a chat about her art and swimming. An exhibition of Catherine's work is about to open - it's called Below and Beyond. Catherine is now 71 years old, she started swimming with tribes seven years ago - and started her working life as a doctor. Water is a big part of her art - we talk about that and being in the Blue Room.
Features:
Catherine Stringer - swimmer and artist
Sabra Lane - TheBlueRoom.au

More Information:
Catherine Stringer's website:
https://www.catherinestringer.com.au/
The Social Gallery at Salamanca Arts Centre:
https://www.sac.org.au/events/below-beyond/

Podcast themes:
swimming, tribes, swim groups, inspiration, mental wellbeing, art, seaweed paper, diving, underwater, kelp, giant kelp, seaweed, Tasmania, Indonesia, King Island, the Neva, courage, fitness, physical wellbeing, University, study.

Dr Vanessa Pirotta spends a lot of her time in The Blue Room, or what she calls our Blue Backyard. As a kid all she wanted to do was to become a dolphin trainer - she's now a whale scientist and become a regular contributor in the media, explaining science. Vanessa talks with the Blue Room's Sabra Lane about her fascination with the ocean, whales and science. We also discuss the approaching 70th meeting of the International Whaling Commission - and what YOU can do to help protect whales.
Features:
Dr Vanessa Pirotta
Sabra Lane, The Blue Room.
Extra Resources:
Dr Pirotta's website: https://www.vanessapirotta.com/
Instagram: @drvanessapirotta
"Humpback Highway" - Dr Vanessa Pirotta:
https://unsw.press/books/humpback-highway/
Themes:
The Blue Room, the Blue Backyard, oceans, whales, dolphins, killer whales, Orcas, research, science, STEM, swimming, snorkeling, diving, university degrees, courage, adversity, "Humpback Highway", Tonga, Humpback whales, dolphin trainer, Rosa Pirotta, women in science, whale snot, drones, krill, International Whaling Commission, krill supplements, keystone species.

The Blue Room's Sabra Lane interviews marathon swimmer Joanne Norman on becoming the first Australian woman to complete the Oceans Seven Challenge. What makes Joanne's story truly remarkable is that she was bitten by a Cookiecutter shark on her first attempt at the Molokaʻi channel. She recovered and successfully swam it a year after the attack. What makes her tick, why did she start marathon swimming - and Jo reveals she swims with her eyes closed - all of the time.
Features:
Joanne Norman, Marathon Swimmer.
Sabra Lane, The Blue Room - theblueroom.au

Joanne Norman on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/jo_norman_swims/

Themes:
Courage, open water swimming, marathon swimming, Oceans Seven Challenge, inspiration, inspiring swims, surviving a shark attack, cookiecutter shark, English Channel, Catalina Channel, Strait of Gibraltar, North Channel, Kaiwi Channel, Cook Strait, Tsugaru Strait, Dubai, Abu Dhabi. Film, "Don't be Prey", Mark Sowerby, Rob Woodhouse.

Pop divas and sisters Vika and Linda Bull have just been inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, released a new album "Where do you come from", are currently on a national tour and have written a song for swimmers called "That's how I pray".
The Blue Room host Sabra Lane interviews them both to talk about how the song came about, what swimming means to them and about their careers, life, Tongan heritage and how strongly they feel about community harmony.
Features:
Linda and Vika Bull
Podcast host Sabra Lane
Additional information:
Vika and Linda's website including Gig dates:
https://vikaandlinda.com.au/
Their book:
"No Bull" - Affirm Press, 2022.
https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/No-Bull/Linda-Bull/9781922848260

Themes:
Singing, song writing, harmonies, ARIA Hall of Fame, swimming, open water swimming, ocean swimming, health, mental health, alcohol, absintence, Tonga, Tongan heritage, inspiration, Joe Camilleri, art, whales, Philip Island, ocean pools, Fitzroy Pool, Collingwood Pool, Doncaster Pool, sport. "No Bull".

Dr Heather Massey is a marathon swimmer. She's also a researcher at the University of Portsmouth’s Extreme Environments research group in the UK. She's just recruited people for a study comparing cold water swimming with medication in treating depression. Heather joined the Blue Room's Sabra Lane for a chat about her marathon swims, the science of cold water immersion, after drop and floating. Plus what do we know, and what don't we know when it comes to proven results from cold water swimming?
Features:
Dr Heather Massey/Researcher at the Extreme Environments Laboratory at the University of Portsmouth.
Sabra Lane, The Blue Room.
Themes: 
Cold water swimming, wild swimming, cold water imersion, marathon swimming, English Channel, Ice kilometre, after drop, depression, science, University of Portsmouth, acclimatisation to cold water, cold water exposure, driving after cold water swimming, numbness, pain, hot water

More information:
Dr Massey's research:
https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/en/persons/heather-massey/publications/
Float to Survive:
https://www.floattosurvive.au/