The Bolder Woman: Recent Episodes
WiSP Sports
Marci Kornegay chats with Chris Stafford about the bike ride they did together—April 19-26—when they took on the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail from Point Lookout State Park in Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - a total of 427 miles over eight days. Marci, 42, and Chris, 70, combined their athletic backgrounds and adventure seeking spirits to take on their first long distance cycling challenge. The ride would involve two days on the road in southern Maryland to reach Washington, DC. From there they joined the Columbus & Ohio Canal Path (C&O) that runs from Georgetown, DC to Cumberland, MD, arriving three days later. it is there that the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) begins and runs over the Allegheny Mountains reaching 2392 feet at the Eastern Continental Divide, shortly after crossing the Mason Dixon Line, arriving in downtown Pittsburgh, PA. It was an epic adventure for them both, not knowing what was around every corner along the way, and where some situations would mean facing real fears head-on. Marci takes on the role of host as she interviews Chris about the trip, what it felt like to take on such a big challenge, why she did it, what she learned from it, including her fear of heights, and what advice she would have for other women to dare to be bold.
Marci and Chris were also raising money to feed Ukrainian refugees via World Central Kitchen. Visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/RidingforUkraine to donate.
ridingforukraine
For more information, links and resources and hundreds more conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com.
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Our guest this week is Canadian Hurdler turned Steeplechaser Dr. Katherine Cochrane-Brink who at 52 is continuing her sporting life in Masters Track & Field. Kate rode horses as a child before she turned to gymnastics and later rowing at university. At the 1990 OWIAA rowing champs she won the lightweight 4s and 8s for the University of Toronto. Other wins include the North American Henley in 1989, 1990, 1991 in lightweight 8s and she rowed heavyweight for the Oxford University Blue Boat in England in 1992 and1993 and also won the Head of the River on the Thames in 1992. Kate won a Rhodes Scholarship in 1991 the year she took part in the Pan Ams selection camp. After Oxford she went into medicine at University of Toronto and took part in rowing, mountain biking, Nordic skiing and later more road biking. Triathlon was her first Masters sport experience and she competed in the 2002 and 2005 World Age Group Champs. Her Masters track and field career started in 2010 and in 2019 she claimed the Canadian W50 record in 2000 m steeplechase. Nowadays Kate spends her winters competing in Nordic ski and snowshoe races. In 2019 I won the 10 k National Masters Snowshoe racing title and was 4th overall amongst the open women.
Host: Chris Stafford
This episode was first released in 2019
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. We are ranked in the top 2% more of than 2.69 million podcasts worldwide. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Californian Laura Val is a Masters Swimmer who has clocked up some 360 world records, which is more than any other Master Swimmer. In one race meet when she turned 60 eight years ago, she broke six World Records; the 50m,100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m and became the first woman ever to do so. In 1984 she joined a Masters Swimming Team and went to her first nationals in 1987 where she broke five national records. In 2016 Laura broke the World Record in the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyles on her way to the World Record in the 1500m at a meet at the San Francisco Olympic Club. Laura has been inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame. She has also graced the cover of numerous magazines including Swimming World Magazine, Swimmer Magazine and SWIM Magazine. “I started as a kid at a local team. When I was about 10 years old, my mom got my four sisters and me into swimming. I instantly fell in love with it and was pretty successful from the start. I just loved it – everything about it,” said Laura who thanks her mom for leading her to the sport.
Host: Chris Stafford
This episode was first released in 2019.
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. We are ranked in the top 2% more of than 2.69 million podcasts worldwide. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Canadian trap-shooter and Officer of the Order of Canada Dr. Susan Nattrass is unparalleled both in terms of her successes in world trap shooting events and also her contribution to the way the sport’s governance. At 68, she is now in her fifth decade of competing at elite world level and has been described as the most-decorated and longest-running competitor in Canadian shooting history. Sue is a seven times world champion, she’s competed in six Olympic Games, she’s been 14 times either captain or a member of the American Trapshooting Association All American Team, she’s an International Shooting Sport Federation coach. Sue was the first woman to participate in a shooting event at the Olympics in 1972. (Shooting was open to both men and women together till 1992.) Sue won gold at the 2007 Pan American Games and the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Sue runs the Puget Sound Osteoporosis Center where she studies the effects of aging in bones of active sports-women over 40. Sue is an officer of the Order of Canada and has been recognized as Canadian Athlete of the Year.
This episode was first published in 2019
Host: Alex Rotas
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. We are ranked in the top 2% more of than 2.69 million podcasts worldwide. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
This week’s guest is Canadian Dragon Boat Racer Petra Mattes, who at 57 has been paddling for 20 years; the last ten of which have taken her around the world. It’s a sport that she took up when she was in search of a new activity after her children were grown up, and she has not looked back. Petra is a member of the New Dragons Racing Club Toronto (NDRC) which trains at the Sunnyside Paddling Club in Toronto. Her career highlights include the IDBF Club Crew World Championships in Ravenna Italy. She has paddled for the 'Outer Harbour Senior A Women' winning gold medals in all three races. In 2017 at the World Nations Championships on Dianchi Lake in Kunming China and has represented Canada for Senior A in the Women's and the Mixed Divisions where they won eight gold medals out of eight races; four for each division. She is currently preparing for the Canadian. National Championships in Regina, Saskatchewan with the goal of qualifying for France 2020 and she will also be competing in Thailand later this year.
Host: Chris Stafford
This podcast was first released in 2019.
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. We are ranked in the top 2% more of than 2.69 million podcasts worldwide. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Sue Yeomans, 66, is a British track and field athlete with multiple world championship titles in the pole vault event where she has been world champion in her age group no fewer than nine times. Sue holds 13 European championship titles and 22 national British titles. She‘s made 27 British records in the pole vault, 11 European records and she has also been placed in gold medal positions and been proclaimed world champion in both the long jump and triple jump. In August, 2018, Sue won the the world championships in Malaga in her age group, 65-69 years old, after a tough year of health issues. Just ten weeks following major surgery in 2016 Sue won the gold medal at the World Championships in Perth, Australia where she was competing in the 60-64 year old age group.
Host: Alex Rotas
This episode was first released in 2019.
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. We are ranked in the top 2% more of than 2.69 million podcasts worldwide. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Octogenarian U.S. Masters Track & Field athlete Jeanne Daprano is very careful of what she expects of herself to continue to compete. With a meticulous diet and diligent coach she no longer hammers out distances on the track but instead saves her legs while training on the rowing machine; for which she also holds records for her age group. She focuses on core strength and swimming for cardio, and for the most part saves her running for the races. Jeanne’s local club is the Atlanta Track Club Masters which she has been a member of for almost 20 years. Growing up on a farm in Iowa she has always been active from riding her horse to school and helping on the land. Jeanne played basketball in high school and college in Nebraska, but didn't take up running until she started jogging on the beach while working on her master's degree in California. She was 45 before she started taking running seriously and five years later she was competing internationally. She holds the current world records in the W70 mile, W75 400 metres, 800 metres, in addition to the pending W75 mile record. Indoors she hold the W75 records in those same events and is on the W60 4x400 metres relay. She also holds the American records in the W70 400 metres, W65 and W70 800 metres, and W70 1500 metres. In the summer of 2012, she became the first woman over 75 to run under a seven minute mile with a time of 6:58.44. Chris Stafford spoke to Jeanne at her home in Atlanta, Georgia before she went on her daily walk.
This episode was first released in 2019.
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. We are ranked in the top 2% more of than 2.69 million podcasts worldwide. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Canadian Masters Rower Marisha Roman, now in her fifties, has been rowing competitively for 32 years and is still motivated to set her 4:30am alarm to go training. In 1989 she won the Royal Canadian Henley Intermediate Women’s Eight and when she returned to Masters Rowing in 2003 she won the age 40+ 8s at the famous Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston five times with the Toronto Sculling Club. Other notable successes have been winning the Women's B 8 at the Amsterdam Heineken Rovierkamp in 2018, winning medals at the US Masters Champs in 2003 with the Don Rowing Club and in 2016, 2017 with the Masters Rowing International. In 2017 she won gold at the Royal Henley Masters Regatta in Women's C 8, The gold in Masters women's category at the Royal St. John's 200th Anniversary Regatta in 2018 which was a fixed seat boat in the world's longest running rowing race. Marisha has also excelled in canoeing kayaking and swimming which is her winter cross training sport of choice. She is also the co-founder of the Masters Women Competitive Athlete Network and an elected board member for Rowing Canada with the Safe Sport portfolio. In 2005 Marisha was awarded the Tom Longboat Award as the Indigenous Athlete of the Year for Canada for Dragon Boat Paddling.
Host: Chris Stafford
This episode was first released in 2019.
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. We are ranked in the top 2% more of than 2.69 million podcasts worldwide. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
There is no stopping Multi-talented Masters Thrower Myrle Mensey from St Louis, MO who, despite becoming a septuagenarian, continues to dominate both nationally and internationally. Her catalogue of world records is endless, both in hammer and shot put and as a coach she knows a thing or two about throwing discuss and javelin too. Despite growing up before Title IX and missing out on the school and college sports available today Myrle decided to take up Masters Athletics at the age of 50. Unfortunately she ruptured her achilles tendon two years later, which put a stop to her running so she turned her hand to throwing instead. She was ranked World Number One in 12lb weight throw from 2011-2014. And from 2007 to today Myrle is ranked number one in the USA in five or more events for 12 consecutive years. In addition to multiple records Myrle was the 2013 USA Track and Field Masters Thrower of the Year, the 2013 USA Track and Field Masters Overall Female Athlete of the Year and was inducted to the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2014. She is an IAAF Level 5 Throws Coach, USA Track and Field Certified Level 3 Throws Coach and Certified USA Track and Field Level 2 for Jumps and Youth Specialization. Determined to pave the way for girls to have advice and access to sport in 2008 she established Throwing and Growing – The Myrle Mensey Foundation, which is Not-for-Profit Organization providing mentoring, educational, nutritional information and physical fitness programs for girls while participating in the throwing sports.
Host: Chris Stafford
This episode was first released in 2019.
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. We are ranked in the top 2% more than 2.69 million podcasts worldwide. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Rowena Purdy has reached the stage in life when she has all the trophies she wanted from Rally car racing but she is still in search of more miles to conquer and memories to cherish either driving or navigating. At the age of 76 she will mark her 50th year in the sport this year and she plans to mark the occasion competing in the British Isles. Rowena started rallying in a 1969 FIAT 125 in Malta and since then has competed in road, stage and historic regularity rallies, from Closed to Club to International status, in Malta, Britain, Hong Kong, and Europe as driver, co-driver, navigator, organiser, instructor, marshal and official in a variety of cars including a Simca Rally 1, a Lancia Fulvia Coupé, an Air Portable Land Rover and currently her 1966 Porsche 912 SWB. Spending time in the Royal Air Force she learned electronics and some mechanics which has proved helpful while racing in remote areas. During almost half a century in motor sport, Rowena has taken part in nearly 100 rallies. Most recently she has competed in the 2018 HRCR North Yorkshire Classic and the HERO ‘Summer Trial’, and has also entered the 2019 ‘Summer Trial’. Rowena plans to enter as many of the 2019 HRCR Motorsport News Clubman’s’ Championship rallies when other activities allow. She also takes part in local Track Days with her Porsche 912. When she is not driving or navigating she is giving back to the sport and encouraging women to take up Rally driving. Beyond that she is enjoying sailing and has her sights set on crossing the Atlantic.
Host: Chris Stafford
This episode was first released in 2019.
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. We are ranked in the top 2% more than 2.69 million podcasts worldwide. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Multiple world-record holding Masters Swimmer, Jane Asher turned 88 in 2019 and is currently swimming in the 85-89 year old age group. She holds 22 current world records in a highly competitive sport. In the United States alone there are around 60,000 competitive masters swimmers and in the UK there are 17000 registered in clubs. And it’s not just the number of world records that she holds that’s astonishing, it’s the variety of strokes that she holds them in, and also the different distances she’s swum. The records she made in her early 70s are still standing. She holds 50m records in freestyle, fly and backstroke in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m distances as well as the endurance swim of 1500m. Her 50m freestyle record for the 85-89 year old age group is 38.75 seconds; that’s 19 seconds each way in a 25m pool. And her record for 100m in the same age group is 1:28.60.
Host: Alex Rotas
This episode was first released in 2019.
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. We are ranked in the top 2% of more than 2.69 million podcasts worldwide. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
British Eventer Lucinda Green at 67 has not lost one ounce of her passion and dedication to horses and horse sport. Lucinda epitomizes being a sportswoman whether she is training horses or coaching riders around the world or competing on her only horse. She began riding at the age of four but didn’t own her own horse until she was 15. Be Fair proved to be a birthday present that would launch her career and their partnership forever be carved in the history books of the sport. They made their Olympic debut in 1973 and this was only the beginning of Lucinda‘s success, as she went on to claim a number of gold and silver medals and two European Championships. In 1977 Lucinda scored a hat trick, coming first at Badminton, Burghley and the European Championships. She is the only rider to have won the prestigious Badminton six times, on six different horses from 1973 to 1984. Lucinda has won the Tony Collins Trophy, awarded to the rider with the most British Eventing points in an eventing season, a record seven times and in 2008 won the outstanding contribution to equestrianism award. No-one has done more to promote the sport and influence generations of event riders than Lucinda in her role as British Team Selector, Coach, Trainer and Journalist. Lucinda still competes on her one horse and has no groom to help her, instead she enjoys the sport with the same enthusiasm as she did some 50 years ago.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
British Ultra-Runner Sharon Gayter has come a long way, quite literally, since enduring a difficult childhood that left her socially scarred and lacking confidence to take part in any sport. Now at the age of 55 she has clocked up too many miles to count with record-breaking performances around world that have fueled her ambition for yet more milestones. Sharon has gone from bus-driver to university lecturer turning her life around as her world has pivoted around her running career. She has run over 1,500 races over 30,000 miles and represented her country at Ultra Marathons for 18 years but who’s counting. Her world records include Land’s End to John O’Groats in England and Mizen Head to Malin Head in Ireland. Sharon has set three world records at Teeside University running on the treadmill; her 833km in 7 days is still 6km ahead of the men in the 2018 Guinness World Records book. In January 2018 she completed 10 marathons in 10 days on a treadmill and we will hear about her plans this year to break more world records.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Our guest this week is Jenni Cluskey, a Masters Diver who has reached her 70th birthday with the same enthusiasm for the sport and appetite for winning that drew her back in the early 90’s. Like any athlete she has faced her challenges, whether it be physical or part of the mental game that sport presents. She started diving at the age of 14 and three years later she was already qualified for national championships in the Highboard event. By the time she was 20 she earned a place on the Commonwealth Games team for Scotland where she finished 8th. And then she spent time in the Australia and New Zealand with different coaches and learning how different their system was for divers to that in the UK. She missed a chance to try out for the 1972 Olympic Games because she couldn’t afford the fare home which we learn was a mixed blessing given the massacre at the Munich games. Since returning to the UK she took a break from the sport but when she did pick it up again she began her Masters career with a vengeance competing at numerous European venues and finishing in the top three. In 2019, the World Masters was held in Gwanju, South Korea but Jennie has to be selective about traveling since divers are entirely self funded.
This episode was first released in April 2019.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
This week’s guest is the Australian world-record holding masters athlete, Marge Allison who at 74, has been described as Australia’s most prolific female medal winner at world level over many years. Marge has set 18 world records in 7 events: the 200m, 400m & 800m races, and the 200m, 300m and 400m hurdles, plus the 4x400 relay. She won a total of 53 world championship individual medals; 38 gold, 7 silver and 8 bronze. In 1995, she was the first woman ever over the age of 50 to run 400m in less than 60 seconds. Marge was born in New Zealand and had started to make a name for herself in Open athletics in her youth. Following time off for her family she returned to competition in 1981 as a masters athlete in the 35 - 39 year old age group. Marge moved to Sydney and by the time she was competing in the next age group, the 40 - 44 year old age category, she was breaking more national records.
or more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
On the first episode of season two our guest is Canadian Sprinter Karla Del Grande who at 66 has been a member of CMA for 16 years, and is now competing in the W65 age group. In that time, she has set numerous Canadian records. She currently (as of April) holds 24 individual and 10 relay Canadian records. She has broken 11 World MA records and currently holds 8. She has won 25 gold and 5 silver medals in individual events at WMA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, as well as several relay medals. Her age graded scores routinely reach over 100% with some as high as 105%. She has been honored for her prowess by her club, by the Ontario MA, the CMA and the WMA, including being named the 2018 WMA Athlete of the Year in the female sprinter category. In addition to her competing, she gives back to athletics as an official, a coach and was a member of the OMA Board of Directors from 2010 to 2016.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Florida based Cyndi Benzel continues to be a prolific winner on water skis with 55 years of competitive experience under her belt in slalom, tricks, and earlier jumping too. Nowadays she also gives back to the sport by judging and scoring but she still has goals on her to-do list. It all began for her growing up in California when she took part in her first tournament at the age of 11. Two years later she took part in her first national championship and by the time she was 17 she claimed her first national title. She went on to win more National titles Overall and in slalom and trick culminating in the Overall title at the World Games in 198. Cyndi has won the National Title six times as well as the Pan Am team gold and other senior medals. In 2018 she held the number 1 spot in slalom and tricks both on the International Water Ski Federation and USA Water Ski rankings. She hold a number of records in the slalom for her age group and has been inducted into both the AWSEF and Florida State Hall of Fame. She has owned and operated a ski school in the Florida area which is a haven for water skiing and she has the luxury of being able to walk down to the lake from her house to train. Having been a National Champion all her skiing life we ask what motivates her and what’s on her bucket list.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
This week’s guest is World Champion Powerlifter Catherine Walter, who, at 72 holds the world records for the squat, deadlift and bench press for her age and weight categories. Catherine started lifting weights seven years ago already holds World Drug Free Powerlifting Federation records for the 58.5kg bodyweight class, in the women’s Masters 7 class (70 to 75 years of age) for the unequipped squat, bench press and deadlift; and for the Full Power event in which all three lifts are performed on the same day. She is three-time National Champion and three time World Champion in her class in the Full Power Championships. In 2018 she was the top woman lifter over the age of 40, and the second woman lifter overall, in the World Drug Free Powerlifting Full Power Championships. Catherine ranked 3rd in the All-Time British Drug Free Powerlifting Association rankings for all women lifters over the age of 40.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Californian Carolyn Nichols sits comfortably on top of the singles and doubles rankings as a US Senior player on the International Tennis Federation Rankings. It’s a place that’s familiar to her. At the age of 63 she has been playing competitively for almost 50 years and her itinerary is as intense as ever. Carolyn enjoys giving back to the sport too serving on numerous committees and in different roles both at national level and for her local California clubs. Her motivation to improve her game is endless as she strives for that better top spin or drop shot. Carolyn has been nationally ranked since 1989 and a member of the 19 Senior Fed Cup teams of which she one the cup no less than 14 times. She has won the World Singles and Doubles a few times and collected 41 gold balls for national championships. Her record is amazing but it’s also her single-minded focus and ambition to be satisfied with every game. Chris caught up with Carolyn before she took off for another international trip and heard about her training schedule and the tournaments she will be playing.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
British diver Barbara Heathfield first started diving at her high school at age 11 and has returned to the sport she loves after a break of 20 years. Now aged 60 she is taking on the world having competed in numerous National and International Masters competitions. Barbara says: “I thought I would give it a go again, so I joined a club and started to re learn some dives. I must say it was much harder than I remembered it as a child. It wasn’t long before I became hooked again, and needless to say, one by one my sons stopped diving but I carried on. I had forgotten quite how nerve wracking it could be.” Barbara has won the British Masters Championships many times in her age group, and been placed in the top three in the European Championships. She was a gold medalist in the platform synchro event at the 2010 World Masters in Gothenburg, the 3m Synchro and Platform Synchro in Riccione in 2014 and the Mixed 3m Synchro in Budapest in 2018. Barbara is still aiming for the top three in an individual event in the World Masters. In 2019 she will be competing at the Croatia Masters Championships in Rijeka, and the World Masters Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Octogenarian American track & field athlete Irene Obera who specializes in sprint events and during her extended career she has set many world records and won numerous world championships. She is currently a member of the W70 world record holding 4x100 metres relay team. She also holds the current American record in the W60 and W75 100 metres and the W75 200 metres. Her accolades are so many and in July 2014, at San Francisco Track and Field Club's Pride Track & Field Meet in Hayward, California she broke two world records in 80m hurdles and 200m hurdles.marking her sixth and seventh world titles that year. A pioneer in Masters athletics, in 1996, Obera, 86, was elected into the inaugural class of the USATF Masters Hall of Fame. Irene does not ease up on her training. A typical week includes tennis 2-3 times, gym 4 times, track 3 times and bowling 2-3. Her next major competition is the 2020 World Masters Championships.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
The name Cheryl Stearns is legendary in the sport of skydiving, her resume a catalogue of records that seem to extend far beyond what is possible in a single lifetime. Yet this affable aviator’s quest for perfection in accuracy is breathtaking. She currently has in excess of 22,000 hours of flying time and almost 21,000 jumps to her name. Since the age of 17, when she started flying, just three months after her first jump Cheryl’s focus has been relentless when it come to flying or jumping out of planes. And now as she approaches her 65th birthday her passion for perfection and the thrill of the free fall is still the air she breathes. She is without question the most successful competitive skydiver in the world. Cheryl has a total of 31 world records and once held four different world records simultaneously: a feat no other parachutist has matched. She is the two-time Overall World Champion, five-time World Military Champion and has been US National Champion 31 times. She holds the Guinness World Record for the most parachute jumps in 24 hours by a woman, a feat she achieved in 1995 when she jumped 352 times, hitting the five centimeter target a record 188 times, of which 84 were at night. Cheryl entered the Army in 1977 as the first female member of the Army’s elite parachuting team, the Golden Knights and served two three-year tours. After which she continued her service in Army Reserve and National Guard units, retiring as a Master Sergeant in 2005. Currently her day job is flying the Airbus for American Airlines out of Charlotte, North Carolina. And just for fun in her spare time when she’s not parachuting she enjoys flying her Cessna 185, which is just one of over 75 types of aircraft she has flown. As we will hear though, skydiving has changed over the years and now the challenge for Cheryl is finding the time for training and the funding for jumping since this is not an inexpensive sport.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1500+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Wendy Barrett is a breast cancer survivor who discovered the sport of dragon boating in 2007, just two years after a double mastectomy, and fell in love with the sport. She joined the breast cancer Dragon Boat team “Abreast in a Boat” in her home town of Vancouver, Canada, which had started ten years earlier as a research project for women recovering from breast cancer. This organization is now worldwide with teams of women competing and paddling together for empowerment, encouragement and companionship in healing and staying healthy. It had been a break of some 40 years for Wendy since she had previously ‘messed about in boats’, as she put it, growing up rowing and sailing on the River Thames in England. Discovering Dragon Boat Racing was a turning point in her life when she was healing from two surgeries and dealing with a lot of scar tissue. She gradually became more competitive joining new teams and learning to be the steerer, an all important role in dragon boating, and in 2015 steered her first competitive boat, the Granddragons. And she has also steered the women’s FCRCC Senior C team too. In 2017 at the Canadian Nationals she won a place to compete in the Dragon Boat Club Worlds in Hungary 2018 clinching silver in the 2000 metre race as the steerer. Now at the age of 75, Wendy has been selected to steer the Canadian National Senior C women’s team to represent Canada in Thailand this August. And we’ll hear about her plans to compete in the Canadian Nationals in Vancouver to try and qualify for the Club World competition in France 2020.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Neringa Jakstiene, 55, a U.S. track and field athlete who just this year has broken six world records; four indoors ,and two outdoor. At the 2019 USA indoor championships alone she broke four world records. Neringa then went to Poland and broke three more world records. Overall she broke world records 14 times + 4 records that she repeated. Her indoor 4WR: Pentathlon 4894 points, Long Jump 5m 22cm, Triple Jump 11m 9cm, 60m hurdles 8.48 seconds. And her outdoor WR: Pentathlon included Long Jump of 5m 6cm. Neringa also holds the American indoor high jump record of 1m 48cm ands the 4 x 200 m relay. She holds the American outdoor records in high jump, triple jump, and 80m hurdles. Neringa was born in Soviet controlled Lithuania and faced personal challenges when her mother was being treated for a brain tumor having to be placed with her sister in a foster home. Sport though has always been a part of her life and she says without it her life would have no meaning. Moving to the US in 1994 at the age of 30 with her husband she raised two boys Lucas, 19, and Nedas, 24, and at the age of 50 returned to athletics to make a considerable mark on the Masters Track and Field world. Neringa works as a housekeeper and manages on a modest budget to travel to meets and continue to fulfill her ambitions of more records and medals in the sport she loves.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Shellie Edington has reached a crossroads in her Crossfit career at the age of 55 with medals in every color she is now focusing on new goals. In the 54 CF Games from 2014 to 2017 she has won five gold medals, a silver and bronze. Nowadays Shellie also has a business to run having developed Tumblin4Kids, a mobile gymnastics program with her background as a gymnast when she was a teenager. Her passion for Crossfit has given her a new perspective. She says: “Being an athlete in your 50’s is much different than when you’re young, and surprisingly it’s better. For starters, I’m smarter about my body. After all these years I finally know exactly what to do to keep myself strong, in shape, and healthy. I understand food and how if can benefit me. I understand recovery and relaxation. And I understand that I need to invest in myself.” Shellie had to learn to overcome competitive anxiety with the help of a sports psychologist and it changed her mental game. And with her experience in Crossfit she exposes the value of Crossfit health for women to stay stronger longer.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Triathlon and open water coach Penny Harris is a firm believer that the sport is so adaptable anyone can compete in triathlon at any age because it’s not always about the result. She has always enjoyed biking and running and as we often hear it was the swimming that challenged her. Now in her mid fifties she specializes in coaching open water swimming and helping athletes overcome their fear. All while pursuing her own goals in the sport. Penny says her high points so far have been getting to the start line of her first sprint triathlon. In 2012 at the 5i50 European Championship she pushed herself harder than ever before to finish runner-up. In the same year she travelled to Lanzarote for her first ever Ironman 70.3 and finished 4th in her age group. In 2013 she came 3rd in her age group in the Cotswold 113 race and a year later at the age of 50 Penny competed in her first long distance triathlon at Challenge Roth in Germany. Nowadays Penny is coaching triathlon age groupers and helping swimmers overcome their fear of open water swimming. And in her spare time she is a volunteer on the local Lifeboat near her home in South Wales.
Host: Penny Harris
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Californian Joy Upshaw, 58, is a record breaking long jumper and hurdler who has also spent the past 30 years as a coach. Joan’s running career started at Acalanes High School in Lafayette setting records in hurdles & sprints and then into college with an All-American career at California State University, Joy continued to set records at USA Masters Track & Field Championships and win competitions internationally. Joy holds several American Record times in 80 meter hurdles & 300 meter hurdles and the long jump. During the 2016 USA Indoor Masters Nationals Championship, she set the Women’s 55-59 60m Hurdle World record. In 2018, she lowered her American 80m hurdle record at the Masters Outdoor National Championships. She also won a highly competitive 200m final at the Outdoor World Championships last summer in Malaga, Spain. Her most recent honor includes being inducted into the Masters Track Hall of Fame and Master of the Year. Joy has many more accolades and her secondary career as a coach has led to being named the Women’s Sprints & Hurdles coach of the 2010 NACAC U23 team, the 2011 Pan American Women’s Team Staff for Jumps & Multi Events in Guadalajara, Mexico, and 2013 Five Nations Match USA Women’s Head Coach in Glasgow, Scotland. Joy is Head Coach and Founder/Director of Joy’s Jack Rabbits Track Club for kids to competitive Masters Elite athletes.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.
Kathy Harvey is in her mid seventies and as enthusiastic about playing soccer as she was when she took it up at age 50. She now plays as part of an over-70 team in San Diego’s Prime of Life League and while the Covid Pandemic is interrupting tournaments Kathy is staying fit. She has recent taken up Pickle Ball to add to biking, kayaking, running, cycling and wind surfing when she’s not able to play soccer. A cancer survivor, Kathy credits sport with empowering her at a time when she was battling cancer and going though a divorce. She says it’s the camaraderie that appeals to her as well as being able to stay forever fit.
Host: Chris Stafford
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at info@wispsports.com.