Under A Billion Stars - Legendary freediver Mehgan Heaney-Grier on creating records and breaking boundaries for American freediving
04/26/22 • 19 min
In this episode, iconic freediver Mehgan Heaney-Grier. Mehgan's life story is wildly eclectic and has elements that originally attracted me, particularly its sense of rugged individualism and carving your own path.
As a teenager and underwater model, she was a pioneer as she set the first U.S. freedive record for both men and women in the constant-weight category. And this earned her a place as one of the original inductees and the youngest ever at the time of induction to the Women Divers Hall of Fame. From there, she went on to perform underwater stunts for Hollywood films, such as Pirate of the Caribbean and Into the Blue, and was recruited by Discovery Channel and starred in their original series Treasure Quest: Snake Island. And all of this culminated in her recent membership as a Fellow in the Explorers Club.
But over the past few years, I've also gotten to know Meghan personally, and she is kind, fun, and very thoughtful. And when we spoke, she talked a little bit about how she went from being a Minnesota lake girl to an ocean advocate, the crazy bootstrap story of how she set her own record, and an amazing moment freediving with a group of jacks.
Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science.
Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference.
In this episode, iconic freediver Mehgan Heaney-Grier. Mehgan's life story is wildly eclectic and has elements that originally attracted me, particularly its sense of rugged individualism and carving your own path.
As a teenager and underwater model, she was a pioneer as she set the first U.S. freedive record for both men and women in the constant-weight category. And this earned her a place as one of the original inductees and the youngest ever at the time of induction to the Women Divers Hall of Fame. From there, she went on to perform underwater stunts for Hollywood films, such as Pirate of the Caribbean and Into the Blue, and was recruited by Discovery Channel and starred in their original series Treasure Quest: Snake Island. And all of this culminated in her recent membership as a Fellow in the Explorers Club.
But over the past few years, I've also gotten to know Meghan personally, and she is kind, fun, and very thoughtful. And when we spoke, she talked a little bit about how she went from being a Minnesota lake girl to an ocean advocate, the crazy bootstrap story of how she set her own record, and an amazing moment freediving with a group of jacks.
Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science.
Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference.
Previous Episode
Just Over The Horizon - Explorer, adventurer, and NOAA scientist Dr. Steve Gittings on a life spent chasing adventures under the seas
In this episode, I speak with Dr. Steve Gittings, chief science officer for NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. In addition to overseeing science at all 14 United States Marine sanctuaries, and being on numerous boards for ocean environmental organizations, he lives one of the most eclectic lives I know.
As an example, he spent time recording and studying humpback whale songs off Hawaii with National Geographic photographer, Flip Nicklin; became a self-identified garage-ineer as he created a deep water trap for invasive lionfish; and he's even spent substantial time as an underwater aquanaut in the undersea research center, Aquarius. He's even recently become a member of the Explorers Club after being nominated by none other than Sylvia Earl.
But even with that resume, the reason I did this interview with Steve was because he is just one of the best guys you could meet, and we spent a few nights carousing in a dive industry convention, and just kind of hit it off.
When we finally did our interview, Steve spoke about where his deep passion for the ocean started, why he loves piloting submarines, and an incredible evening dive off Little Cayman to watch a massive grouper spawn.
Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science.
Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference.
Next Episode
Where The Story Ends - Maritime archaeologist Jim Delgado on the magic of stories revealed, what shipwrecks can tell us, and his time exploring Titanic
In today's episode, I speak with maritime archeologist, historian, author, television host, and explorer Jim Delgado. Jim's work has taken him around the globe, and he has known is one of the world's foremost experts in underwater archeology. And his CV reads almost like the greatest history of that field.
He started with the National Park Service in San Francisco, then went on to work for NOAA as the Director of Maritime Heritage, was Executive Director of the Canadian Maritime Museum, and headed the Institute of Nautical Archeology. At the same time, he was a TV host for Discovery, History Channel, A&E, and National Geographic.
Most recently in 2017, he left to become a senior vice president at Search Incorporated, a maritime archeology company. That was one of the leads on the recent discovery of Ernest Shackleton's Endurance. But beyond all the titles. When I spoke with Jim, I found him to be super fun to talk to, as he was an excellent storyteller. And he spoke about his beginnings as a teenage amateur archeologist, the reason why maritime archeology initially caught his attention, and what it was like to be the lead science officer on the most well-known shipwreck exploration of all time.
Scuba Diving, Free Diving, Ocean Environmentalism, Surfing, and Marine Science.
Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference.
Big Deep - An Ocean Podcast - Under A Billion Stars - Legendary freediver Mehgan Heaney-Grier on creating records and breaking boundaries for American freediving
Transcript
Jason Elias: (00:08)
Hi and welcome to the Big Deep podcast. Big Deep is a podcast about people who have a connection to the ocean, people for whom that connection is so strong it defines some aspect of their life. Over the course of the series, we'll talk to all sorts of people. And in each episode, we'll explore the deeper meaning of that connection. Today, I speak with an iconic freediver whose pioneering dive broke boundaries for women and raised the profile of freediving in America. He
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