Louise Minchin interview: “It’s really empowering to push at the boundaries of what you think is scary”

“The Norseman bike leg is just bonkers! My husband, who was also my support, was really worried, because grown men were getting off their bikes and crying at the top of this mountain and he thought, ‘If that’s what grown men are doing, what is Louise going to be doing?!’

“Well, I was just laughing – laughing my head off because I just thought, this is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever tried to do…”

Louise Minchin is laughing again now, bubbling with the kind of infectious enthusiasm you only ever find among those who completely and utterly love what they do.

We’re catching up ahead of the launch of her new book Fearless: Adventures with Extraordinary Women, which takes Louise on 16 amazing journeys, each with different women who excel in a unique sport. From wild caving to freediving under ice, triathlon to rugby, you’ll find it all in here.

But first, a catch-up. Louise is no stranger to most triathletes. Having written about her journey from complete novice to GB age-grouper in her first book Dare To Tri (2018), she inspired many to follow in her footsteps, with a mix of enthusiasm, raw honesty and practical advice.

From there, we followed her triathlon journey in the pages of 220 as she went on to complete Patagonman and Norseman – two of the toughest races on the planet.

“The more I do this kind of sport, the more I just want to be outside doing really exciting things. And in some ways, for me, the harder the better,” says Louise. “I only did Norseman because of Patagonman, which was my present to myself for my 50th birthday. What a ridiculous present!

I had seen a tweet about it, which read ‘Patagonman, the extreme triathlon at the end of the world’, and I just thought – oh, that looks fun!

“So I looked, and it was in deepest, darkest, Patagonia and I had spent three months living in that area just after I’d left university, working as an interpreter. So for me, it was all the stars aligning.”

Louise is the first to admit that going from representing GB in short-course to heading straight to Patagonman is not the usual trajectory for an athlete.

She admits she loves the adventure, though – the feeling of completing 226km of tough terrain under her own steam while taking in amazing scenery.

Which brings us nicely on to her latest project – Fearless. Within the book, Louise joins 16 women on adventures within their sports, taking part in each one with her trademark mix of guts, hard work, vulnerability and enthusiasm.

They aren’t just token ‘toe in the water’ adventures either – for some of the sports, such as ice diving, Louise had to undergo rigorous training, while for others her fitness was sorely tested, as were her own boundaries of what scares her.

So, while we could chat tri all day, let’s find out more…

220: The book is amazing, Louise – and even more so because you take part in all the adventures, from wild caving to mountaineering to ice diving! What inspired the project?

Louise Minchin: They’re all stories about endurance and being intrepid and courageous – this is what I live for! I’m a huge believer in the transformative power of sport, not just for yourself but for other people, and influencing other people.

And I noticed that pretty much every time we talked about the kind of story I would call ‘endeavour’, it was a man. You only have to go to the sports section of any bookshop to see that.

So I thought, let’s go do it – let’s go and actually do the things these women love with them, even though it’s going to be massively challenging for me!

220: Many would say you’re fearless yourself – would you agree?

LM: We all need fear because fear should stop us when we’re pushing too far… So actually, yes, fear is a good thing.

But it’s really empowering to push at the boundaries of what you think is scary, because that means that next time you’re in a tough situation – and it could be a tough situation at work or in your personal life – it builds your resilience and your ability to carry on and get through difficult things.

So am I fearless? Yeah, I can do stuff that other people find really scary.

Like, for example, jumping off the back of the Norseman ferry in the dark. For me, it’s kind of exciting, because I know I can swim. So unless the orcas eat me (which obviously went through my mind in Patagonia!) I know it’s going to be okay and I’ll really enjoy it.

That’s what’s really important about the book – we all have different levels of where our fears are. I do accept that mine aren’t probably average boundaries. But it’s such a spread of different experiences in that book, and we can all pick some out that scare us.

220: I think most of our readers would be excited by the swim/bike/run adventures rather than scared. So for me, it was the wild caving chapter that was out of my comfort zone – I don’t think I could do that!

LM: Yes! I did it, it was incredible, but I never want to do it again! You’re not the only one, people have really been shaken up by that adventure. My fear was that all those rocks that have been there for thousands and thousands and thousands of years above me would choose to fall down on that one day that I’m there.

So I’m thinking I’m going to get crushed by rocks! Of course, I wasn’t going to get crushed by rocks. But you know, you have your fears. To me, it felt real. But again, to Christine Grosart, that’s nothing for her. It doesn’t even cross her mind. It’s her world.

220: The openness and vulnerability you’ve shown in your own adventures can really help others relate to them. Why do you think this is important?

LM: I wanted it to feel accessible and I think if I’m vulnerable and people realise that I’m not gung ho – and that I take these things seriously and they do scare the living daylights out of me sometimes – then in a way that can encourage someone else to try something they wouldn’t have done, and that’s brilliant.

And I think that’s what I really love about the book. Just the diversity of women that we’ve got in there is just so inspiring, because as a human race we’re diverse, we’re all different shapes and sizes and we should celebrate all of that. It’s wonderful.

220: Cath Pendleton stands out here – she was very open in the book about her struggles with body image. But I’ve swum with her before, too, and she’s phenomenal in the water. It’s just stunning to watch how her body moves.

LM: Isn’t she? Yes! We were both new to free diving under ice in the book. We’ve both got that love of the water and we really identified over that feeling of being a mermaid.

And I felt afterwards that we were like these two little mermaids who’ve been on this incredible adventure together, and hopefully that will inspire other people to go and do something similar.

Just look at Cath and what her body can do – she’s inspired so many people. We need to celebrate all bodies.

Mimi Anderson [ultra-endurance athlete and multiple record holder who has been open about her 15-year struggle with anorexia] in the book, too, who’s had her own issues with body image, said one of the most important things to me, which was that she’s proud of her body for what it can do.

I’m proud too, that my body can get me from a ferry here in Norseman to a hundred and however many miles away! I think if we can be proud of what our bodies do, that’s really important and sends a real message out there.

220: In the book we meet two triathletes – Caroline Bramwell and Lucy Gossage – both of whom have different stories. How were your adventures with them?

LM: Gosh, there’s lots of things going on with those two. Lucy was one of two athletes who were the inspiration for the book actually – Mimi was the other one.

As your 220 readers will know, as well as winning many Ironman races in her life Lucy happens to be a cancer oncologist, and the two things have sort of melded together in this brilliant, dynamic and powerful way.

Lucy talks about when she’s training or when she’s having difficult times in a race, she thinks about the incredible privilege she has (and which I have!) because we are lucky to put ourselves in that position – we can choose to suffer – whereas her patients are cancer patients. They don’t get a choice.

So then we come to Caroline. I feel very lucky that my body works with me, not against me, whereas Caroline has a stoma because she had ulcerative colitis.

So her whole immune system was working against her – she was offered a stoma as basically a last resort. I love what she does because she’s racing Ironman-distance races with a stoma, and I just think what a fantastically brave thing to do and what an amazing role model she is to other people.

We did a half-iron distance race together [the Cotswold Middle Distance] and at the time, I wasn’t even going to start the run because it was before a knee operation I was waiting for. But I just thought, ‘You know what Louise, just get over yourself. Caroline is doing this with a stoma. You can just run or walk or whatever it is, just do it!’

I think it takes a particular type of bravery to start a race like she does, knowing that she’s probably going to come, if not last, maybe second or third from last. And I think that’s admirable, actually, in itself.

I remember going to bed after Norseman, absolutely exhausted, and hearing that bell ringing and cheering for those last racers and I was thinking, ‘God, this is where the real heroes of the race finish. They’ve been on their really dark, dirty journeys to get there.’

No disrespect of course to those people at the pointy end, but I just think sometimes, you know, it’s really worth staying and watching those last people coming over the finishing line because that’s really, really hard.

Top image credit: @Tom Warry Photography