Diving to Incredible Depths During Menopause with Nina McGowan (Episode 146)

Hit Play Not Pause

Health & Fitness, Medicine, Fitness

4.9 • 769 Ratings

🗓️ 20 September 2023

⏱️ 70 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Nina McGowan didn't begin freediving until she was in her late 40s and sliding into the menopause transition. With the help of her background in meditation, yoga, dance, the arts, and eventually hormone therapy, she’s reached depths she would have only dreamed imaginable, setting multiple Irish National Records as well as securing a World Record in the 50-54 age division with a dive of 43 meters (141 feet) that involved holding her breath for 2 minutes and 10 seconds. Just last month, Nina set three new National Records including 46 meters (151 feet) in the Constant weight No Fins (CNF) division and 58 meters (190 feet) in the Free Immersion (FIM) division. We talk all about it, along with her history and work as a visual artist this week.

Nina McGowan is a visual artist who is primarily concerned with the human body, and considers it a tool for understanding, mediating, and perceiving the world. She uses freediving as a research tool to inform and direct her artwork. Her current themes address the overwhelm that people cite when they think about the scale of the climate crises. Her work attempts to re-scale and re-map aspects of the crises to the human body. She performs on stage, makes sculpture, and speaks publicly on these topics. You can learn more about her and her artwork at nina_mcgowan_artist and her diving at marinina_freediver.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You are listening to Hit Play, Not Pause, a feisty menopause podcast for active performance-minded women.
0:14.6	I am your host, Celine Yeager. Each week, I bring you advice from athletes, scientists, researchers, and other experts to help
0:21.2	you feel and perform you best no matter what your hormones are doing.
0:25.0	This show is a production of Live Feisty Media.
0:31.1	Hello, strong feisty women.
0:33.9	So buckle up because I have a wild ride for you this week.
0:39.2	I had the pleasure of sitting down with free diver and visual artist Nina McGowan.
0:45.1	And what attracted me to Nina's story, aside from my totally geeky love for sports like free diving,
0:51.9	is that she really didn't get into the sport until her late
0:55.1	40s. And she started racking up national records pretty much out of the gate. And then,
1:01.1	shortly after she turned 50, she secured a world record for her age division with a dive of 43
1:07.7	meters, which is just over 140 feet for those of us in the U.S., that involved holding her
1:13.4	breath for two minutes and 10 seconds. And she was just getting started. Last month, Nina set three
1:20.8	new national records, including 46 meters or 151 feet, in the constant weight no fins division, which as it sounds requires
1:29.9	divers to use only their own muscle strength to propel themselves downward and back up again.
1:35.0	And she went 58 meters or 190 feet in the free immersion division, which is very similar to the
1:41.7	no fins division, but the free diver can pull on a guide
1:44.5	rope to descend and ascend. That world record that she set at the World Championships in Turkey
1:50.7	last year currently stands unchallenged, and in an email to me just a couple of days ago,
1:56.4	Nina told me she is currently hoping to push to 60 meters or a mind-boggling 197 feet.
2:04.2	More remarkably, she accomplished all of this while also navigating her menopause transition,
2:10.4	which was slowly stealing her mojo to do kind of anything, until she found a doctor who
	...

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