Joep Buijs’ Marathon Swim Story

We met Joep Bujis a few episodes back in the retelling of Carolyn Anderson’s swim down the Derwent River, be sure to check out her journey episodes if you haven’t already.

Today we’ll find out how Joep, a pool swimmer from The Netherlands ended up moving to Australia, taking up open water swimming then tackling the 34km down the Derwent river in Tasmania, several decades and life events later. 

We talk about the balancing act that is marathon swim scheduling with a family when everyone needs to go in different directions at the same time, how the confidence gained from swimming pays off in other areas of your life, what it’s like to plan feeds with a nutritionist, and that warm fuzzy feeling that you get when you help others.

I’m intrigued at how Joep describes seeing other swimmers training for long swims encouraged him to test his mettle. Commonly we need extrinsic motivation to try new things, however comparing ourselves to others can also be toxic. Perhaps it’s a paradox of human existence? What do you think? Reach out to me: shannon@intrepidwater.com.

I hope you enjoy Joeps story.

In his own words:

Joep is a Dutch born marathon swimmer who moved to Australia in 2006 after meeting his now wife, Kerry, and has been living here ever since. He was born in the Netherlands in 1969.
 
Inspired by his best friend, Joep started swim training at the age of 8 in the town of Goor. By the age of 10 he competed in his first race, a 100m individual medley, from which he was sadly disqualified. Despite the setback, Joep is still swimming 43 years later.

In his teenage years and early twenties Joep competed mostly in 50m and 100m events, specialising in breaststroke. By the age of 19 Joep was swimming almost every day, playing water polo a few times a week while also coaching the local youth water polo team.

After moving to the university town of Groningen to study a PE degree, Joep dropped water polo in order to concentrate on swimming. Joep’s last competitive pool event was during the 2000 FINA World Masters Championships in Munich, after which he made the tough decision to retire due to injuries.

Joep started swim training again in 2008, two years after moving to Australia, after a friend asked him to do the swim leg in a triathlon team event. Since that day Joep has been enjoying his second swim life in the open water. In recent years Joep has successfully tackled numerous long distance marathon swims.

Ultra-Marathon swim to date:
2020 – Rottnest Channel Swim (19.7 km)
2020 – Swim Around Great Keppel Island (20 km)
2022 – Derwent River Big Swim (34 km)
2022 …. Joep is currently training for the English Channel crossing.

Joep is a free-lance photographer and lives with his wife Kerry and their two children Jake and Lily, 20 km outside Brisbane, Australia.