The Coolest Journey

This week is extra special — it's the first week of June, which means it's Ocean Week in Canada! Ocean Week is an annual national celebration of events, learning, and engagement held around World Ocean Day on June 8th. It's a time to recognize the incredible role the ocean plays in our everyday lives, and how our local waterways connect us all — from watersheds and coastal areas right out to the open ocean. So if you haven't already, head over to oceanweekcan.ca to find out how you can get involved and celebrate that connection. In the spirit of Ocean Week, I'm launching something I'm really excited about — a monthly open water check-in series, where I chat with swimmers from around the world about their swimming conditions, experiences, and all things open water. We're putting OWS at the forefront of our conversations throughout the year.And for this very first episode of the series, I have a guest who needs no introduction — well, almost. This is actually her fourth time on the podcast, which officially makes her my swimmer in residence! Gabriela Herrero is a cold open water swimmer with serious distance credentials — 10km swims are basically a warm-up for her. Based in Burlington, she's a regular in Lake Ontario, and she always brings the best stories and insights.If you want to catch more of Gabriela's episodes, check out The Coolest Journey on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts — links are in the show notes.If you loved this episode, here's how you can keep this show alive and growing: -subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube, leave a review if you're feeling generous-most importantly — share it. Share it with a friend, a family member, a colleague, your neighbour who keeps talking about wanting to feel better. Word of mouth is the single most powerful thing you can do for an independent podcast, and it costs you nothing but thirty seconds of your time. Every share could help this community grow by one person, and that matters.I’m on a mission to make the world a little cooler — one conversation, one cold plunge, one allergen-free vegan plate - and many communities at a time. And I can't do it without you.So thank you Gabriela for adding your voice to mine in terms of OWS check-in.Until next time, wishing you all health, energy, and the coolest journey of your life.

My guest today is extremely special and close to my heart — she's one of our nieces on my husband's side of the family. We've watched her grow into a smart, kind, and uber-talented young woman through the years, and she's now at UBC in Vancouver with one year left in her environmental engineering program. She'll come back to The Coolest Journey later this year to talk about her studies and the environment, but today, she's here to share a very special part of her journey: her involvement with performance, music, and breathing — and how it all culminated a few weeks ago when her UBC-based Eh Cappella group competed in a world-renowned competition in New York City. Not only will she share some stories from along the way, she'll also guide us through a few vocal and breathwork exercises that will help keep our voices toned and centered — and add a little fun to our day. Whether you sing for fun, in karaoke, in an a cappella group, or in your shower — or even if you just want to breathe a little better — this conversation is for you.Caelin shares how she transitioned from general A Cappella groups to joining the competitive ICCA team, describing the rigorous rehearsal schedule of 10 hours per week and the technical demands of maintaining precise timing and blend while performing choreographed routines. The group won the quarterfinals in Tacoma and placed first in the semifinals in San Francisco before competing in the finals in New York, where they became the first Canadian West Coast team to reach the finals. New York Finals: https://youtu.be/Alj4jXUXEAs?si=5GzOmwpaDc-zUrncCaelin explains the breathing techniques and vocal exercises the group used to prepare, including box breathing, siren exercises, and shakedown routines to stay present and centered during performances. She discusses how managing time between heavy engineering coursework and A Cappella commitments helped her develop better time management skills and reduce procrastination. 

Nicolas Guzman is back! Something happened between our podcast recorded in April and this one. Nicki found another gear, and I felt it critical to get him back on The Coolest Journey to talk about this experience. If you're interested in swimming, VO2 max and performance, this one is for you :D