U.S.A. Women's Spearfishing Team, Part 2: Melody Engle

Artemis

Melody Engle is the captain of the U.S. Women's Spearfishing team, which is headed to Sardinia next month for the Spearfishing World Championships. She tells us what it's like to condition for World's, how to master your mind as a freediver, and how her own headgame was influenced by a background in competitive figure skating and skydiving. Plus -- targeting fish, stone shots, and the ecology of the marine ecosystems we depend on.

3:00 The best tasting fish is a fresh fish

5:30 Speara - woman who spearfishes

8:00 A typical spearfishing outing; Determining 'drop' location based on quarry

10:00 Where to aim on a fish... a "stone shot"

11:00 Distance from fish when you shoot + you ARE the reel... you have to swim the fish to the surface

12:00 The quality of your shot can influence how quickly sharks pick up on that animal's demise

13:00 A good spearfishing friend fends off a shark (!) while you get your fish to the surface

15:00 Diving for a Cause + Ted Harty's freediving course

19:00 Getting into freediving in your 50s (with a background in figure skating and skydiving)

21:00 Being captain of the U.S. Women's Spearfishing team

24:00 U.S. Women's Spearfishing Team headed to World's in Italy in September: World Spearfishing Championship 2021; Plus, if you have any to spare, their GoFundMe page is still active. (Plus... it's a WINNING team!)

26:00 The U.S. Women's Spearfishing Team is relatively new compared to teams in other countries. Follow them on Insta @usa_spearfishing_womens_team and Facebook @USAWomensSpearfishingTeam

27:00 How team members are selected

27:30 U.S. Women's Spearfishing Alliance - conservation & camaraderie

33:00 Shooting a 68-pound yellowfin tuna in Costa Rica

37:00 Decline in Florida hogfish in the past couple years

38:00 Reef-safe sunscreens (like Stream2Sea)

43:00 A high-level competition mindset is about disciple, mastering your nerves, being present

46:00 What's the fate of the fish caught during spearfishing tournaments? Fresh fish are sacred to many

50:00 Ciguatera poisoning

55:00 Freediving + black out risk

58:00 Do you have a boat? It's an obstacle to entry for many

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