Bondi Surf Life Saver Lauren Tischendorf first woman to swim solo around Lord Howe Island!

Lauren recently became the first woman to swim a solo, single session, 32km swim around Lord Howe Island where she faced sharks, strong currents, 25 knot winds and 2.5m swell. Lauren is an Athlete for The Minerva Network, a group that supports female athletes, and a member of various global swimming clubs and associations. Lauren grew up in South Africa, came to Australian in 1999, joined Bondi Bathers Surf Life Saving Club in 2024.

In this interview, we discuss:
1.What was it like growing up in South Africa?
2.Why swim around Lord Howe island?
3.How do you prepare? What are the mental and physical challenges?
4.You’ve made a film about the swim; tell us more!
5.What is the Minerva Network?
6.Who is your patrol named after? McDonald?
7.What do you think of shark nets?

If you want to contact Lauren about her film, here are the contact details:

Email: nextepicadventure01@gmail.com
Website: https://laurentischendorf.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nextepicadventure_lt21/profilecard/?igsh=MWltaTFuanJ3a2Nraw==


Thank you for listening to this episode. thank you to our long term supporters City Ford Sydney; we appreciate your support of the Bondi Blue Water Challenge – this enables our club to raise money for the life saving service we provide the community; if you want to get involved, wether for our Nippers program if you have young kids, or you want to become a volunteer surf life saver, you can learn more at www.bondisurfclub.com

Over 300 lives were lost at Australian beaches last year– So please, swim at a patrolled beach and swim between the flags.