Partners Month Throwback: Better Tethered Together (Amber Ferrera & Aryn Marsh)

We're closing out Partners Month with a throwback to Episode 12—our conversation with Amber Ferrera and Aaron Marsh from team Better Tethered Together. We recorded this back at Catalina in March 2020 during early COVID lockdowns, and it's still one of our most popular episodes ever.
Amber's a pro triathlete and Ironman champion. Aryn's an elite swimmer. They met over kale smoothies in Concord, New Hampshire, started training together, and decided to partner up for swimrun. Their first race together was Casco Bay 2019, which... well, let's just say it didn't go as planned.

Aryn dealt with some serious GI issues mid-race (five days of constipation, a double dose of "comfort cleanse," and then everything decided to happen at once). There's a lot of poop talk in this one. You've been warned.

But it's also a conversation about what makes a good partnership, how you handle adversity together, and why swimrun is different from triathlon. We also talk about prize money, equal race slots for women, and what the sport needs to grow in the US. Plus a follow-up where they tell us about qualifying for Swimrun Worlds after a wild Catalina race.

Timestamps:
00:00 Endurance Partner Highs
00:51 Podcast Intro Mixtape
02:43 Catalina Throwback Setup
05:58 Community Growth Updates
08:07 Meet Amber and Aaron
08:55 Swimrun Origin Stories
11:19 Training and Partner Fit
15:31 Casco Bay Race Begins
19:16 Poop Suit Chaos
26:34 Fighting Back to Podium
29:55 Adversity and Teamwork
31:12 Hot Take on Partnering
32:28 Race Day Gut Prep
33:49 Swimrun vs Triathlon
36:25 Growing the Sport
37:31 Women and Equal Slots
39:36 Inclusion and Allyship
43:49 Community and Nature Vibes
45:31 Sponsors and Race Goals
50:19 Catalina Race Report
56:23 Lessons and Gear Fixes
59:23 Training for Worlds
01:01:50 Wrap Up and Outro