#162: Neanne Alnafta on the Representation, Fear & Ocean Swimming
Sparta Chicks Radio: Mindset | Confidence | Sport | Women
English - June 20, 2021 10:00 - 57 minutes - 46.4 MB - ★★★★★ - 14 ratingsWilderness Sports Health & Fitness Mental Health Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Neanne Alnafta doesn’t like labels. But it is hard to introduce someone without them.
So for this moment, I will share that she is a proud Muslim woman, a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, an ocean swimmer and a volunteer surf lifesaver.
She is also someone who is (and I quote) “freakishly scared” of the ocean.
I came across Neanne’s story after reading an article about an organisation called ‘Swim Sisters’, an all-female swimming squad that empowers women, especially those from Islamic backgrounds, to feel more confident and comfortable in the ocean.
You may know Swim Sisters by its former name - Burkini Babes, a group launched in France in 2016 by a group of women who were banned from wearing burkinis on the beach.
In this conversation, Neanne and I discuss:
- her love of soccer growing up,
- why she felt like swimming and beach life weren’t for her after she started wearing the hijab,
- the power and importance of representation,
- what prompted her to become involved in ocean swimming and then surf lifesaving (despite being “freakishly” scared of the ocean),
- the healing impact of ocean swimming on mental health,
- why fear is not a bad thing.
Get the full show notes for the episode here.