In Episode 134, we sit down with Merle Liivand to talk about her recent world record swimming 26.2 miles with a silicone mono-fin in the ocean just off the coast of Miami. An amazing feat covered in just over 11 hours, we discuss the physical demands of such a long swim, but also the psychological strength needed to swim through currents, jellyfish, pollution and other sea creatures. She accepted the challenge in an effort to continue to raise awareness about the importance of clean oceans, spreading the word with the help of the Guinness World Records organization. Finding out that Merle could not use her arms over the 11 hours swim was a shocking revelation. Her career as a competitive swimmer started as a child and she continued to swim longer and longer distances, progressing to open water challenges and even ice swimming. Merle Liivand is a national Estonian competitive swimmer, Model, aquapreneur, Swimera CEO, ambassador, Triathlete, International Spokesperson and open water swimmer from Tallinn, Estonia. She is known mostly as an modern day life mermaid and ice princess who never stops exploring a life and passion towards to water world. She works with many successful brands like Finis, Dermasport, Triswim, and Foggies. She have been featured many Swimming technical videos like Goswim.tv, Swimspire and USA Swimming. You can find out more information on Merle Liivand via the following links: Website: https://merleliivand.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aquamjerle/ The D&D Fitness Radio podcast is available at the following locations for downloadable audio, including: iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/d-d-fitness-radio-podcast/id1331724217 iHeart Radio – https://www.iheart.com/podcast/dd-fitness-radio-28797988/ Spreaker.com – https://www.spreaker.com/show/d-and-d-fitness-radios-show Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5Py2SSPA4mntNwYRm0Opri You can reach both Don and Derek at the following locations: Don Saladino: http://www.DonSaladino.com Twitter and Instagram - @DonSaladino YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/donsaladino Derek M. Hansen: http://www.SprintCoach.com Twitter and Instagram - @DerekMHansen YouTube - http://youtube.com/derekmhansen