Thys Lombard interviewed Geoff Gryllis, the remarkable businessman, visionary, and aquatic athlete who represented his native South Africa in three different disciples (swimming, sailing, and lifesaving) at the international level.
During the interview, The Triple Springbok touches upon his multiple entrepreneurial successes, his swimming prowess, both in the pool and in the open water, his unique river training methods, and his experiences from all over South Africa, Europe, Australia, and the La Jolla Cove in California and the Maui Channel and Waikiki in Hawaii.
Lombard interviewed Gryllis before he passed away in April 2021 due to the complications of COVID. He captured Gryllis’ engagingly humble personality and strength of character. Gryllis talked about being gutted due to having to miss participation in two Summer Olympics – where he was a medal favorite. He talked about his open water swimming days and travels – from Hawaii to Cape Town. He talked about sailing and swimming around the world – against the best including 7-time Olympic gold medalist Mark Spitz and the other top swimmers of his era. He talked about racing tactics in the open water and pool – including national championships wins in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 1500m, and the 4x100m freestyle and medley relays – in the same year.
Gryllis won and competed in multiple open water swimming competitions including the Maui Channel Swim and the Waikiki Roughwater Swim in Hawaii, La Jolla Rough Water Swim in California, and the famed Redhouse River Mile on the Swartkops River in South Africa where he won in 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1965. Concurrently, he was also traveling the pool from United States to Great Britain where he won races such as the British Swimming Championships in the 800m freestyle.
Known as the River Rat who was known as a gentle giant in all ways possible, Gryllis had an exceedingly distinctive stroke with a strong arm pull and a very streamlined soft beat kick. His technique was developed as he trained in a fast-moving 100m wide river where he swam against the current. “All my life, my swimming was about (the number of) my strokes, [focusing on stroke per distance],” he explained.
Lewis Pugh talks about the time he inadvertently met Gryllis. “I was swimming in the Adriatic Sea [on my Seven Swims In The Seven Seas For 1 Reason] in Zadar, Croatia when I saw a beautiful yacht with a South African flag. After I got out, this kind man came up to me, invited me to luch, and said he saw me swim in the sea. He give me some great technique tips that I remember to this day.”
Listen and learn from a great man:
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