Ashley Semmens is a former Royal Australian Navy Clearance Diver who served for 18 years, specialising in explosive ordnance disposal. He has deployed multiple times, including to Afghanistan, and participated in Australia's military withdrawal in 2021. After surviving trauma from an IED attack, a sniper incident, and a horrific shark attack aftermath in Sydney Harbour, Ashley was medically discharged due to PTSD. Now, he's preparing to swim the English Channel — not just any swim, but on his back, using fins. It's a fundraising mission for the Navy Clearance Diver Trust and a deeply personal journey into fear, resilience, and purpose.

In this episode, Ash opens up about overcoming fear of the water, losing close mates, post-service mental health, and how he’s turning pain into a platform for support and recovery.

00:00 – Ben and Tim intro the episode and Ash’s unique goal: finning across the English Channel 01:14 – Comparison to Sam Penny’s Channel swim (Season 1, Episode 27) 01:40 – Ash’s clearance diving background and fear of water after trauma 02:45 – Military and Afghanistan service; PTSD and recovery journey 04:00 – Ash joins the conversation, starts with early life and growing up in Adelaide 06:00 – Competitive swimming as a teen; early struggles and successes 07:45 – 2003: Racing against Grant Hackett at Nationals 09:18 – Backstroke vs freestyle debate; Ash’s short course gold medal (with caveats) 10:00 – Natural transition to the Navy from competitive sport 11:01 – Joining as a direct entry diver and diver vs boatswain's mate decision 12:01 – Clearance Diver selection process explained — 10 days of being wet, sandy, and psychologically tested 14:07 – What Ash learned about focus, fatigue, and resilience during selection 15:00 – 2009 shark attack incident: Ash explains what happened to Paul de Gelder 17:34 – Ash’s role in the aftermath: trauma from cleaning the boat, psychological impact 18:29 – Lingering fear of large bodies of water, even lakes 20:00 – Later incident at Jervis Bay: panic before dive leads to difficult team moment 21:12 – Realisation of responsibility and shame around not seeking help 22:30 – Stigma and lack of psychological support during service 23:45 – What clearance divers do: diving, EOD, underwater repair, and land-based ops 25:16 – How Ash ended up doing EOD work in Afghanistan despite being too junior 27:22 – Becoming the most junior sailor to deploy for combat operations in Afghanistan 28:46 – Motivation to deploy: “It’s like a footballer wanting to play a grand final” 29:00 – Getting targeted by an IED during deployment

31:30 About the Bushmaster

34:42 Pressure builds up

39:30 PTSD, cracks, symptoms and care

44:00 ‘More to live for’ – side story

49:10 Medical discharge… and there are no protective factors in the military uniform

51:00 Role identity fusion

54:30 Finning the channel- breaking it down

• Navy Clearance Diver Trust
• Paul de Gelder – Shark Attack Survivor & Advocate
• S1E27 – Sam Penny swims the English Channel

www.unforgiving60.com Email: debrief@unforgiving60.com Instagram & Twitter: @Unforgiving60

With thanks to: The Externals – available on Spotify

Jade MacDonald Razvi is a prominent Australian free diver and occupational therapist. She holds the second deepest dive in Australian history and recently won a bronze medal at the Free Diving World Cup. On this episode we talk about Jade’s growing up and freediving- how it works and how she trains.

As well as EH4AR (‘everything happens for a reason').

00:40 Starts with Ben’s hijack!

04:15 Jade on her lineage and growing up.

07:15 Sign language demonstration for the podcast audience

11:45 Jade’s swimming background- swimming into life! And swim times. And injuries.

19:00 What is an OT?

23:58 What is freediving?

25:20 Mermaids and Merbutlers

30:05 How Jade got into freediving and explaining competitions

39:00 How Jade rains for freediving…. without deep water.

46:30 Professional freedivers- are they a thing?

48:45 Breaking records!

1:01:33 How does Jade get herself through profound discomfort?

1:04:20 Applying a mantra and meditation in her diving

1:10:15 Can you lose the edge?

1:12:15 What is Jade’s limit?

1:14:00 EH4AR… Jade explains

1:18:20 Book recommendations and audiobook

1:20:45 Jade’s Power song and country music

1:23:25 Underwater predators

External Links

Jade’s Insta

Martin McPhilimey episode is here

Contact Us

www.unforgiving60.com

Email us at debrief@unforgiving60.com

Instagram, Twitter: @Unforgiving60

Music …. With thanks to:

The Externals – available on Spotify

Mitchell Martin - available on Spotify

We first had the privilege of meeting Leigh Anderson on the 2022 Resilience Retreat and have been stoked to stay in touch from there – particularly so given the recent publication of his book, ‘The Paramedic Mindset’. In this episode, Leigh talk with us about that book, as well as his 14+ years as a paramedic. Leigh discusses the ups and downs of the role including not only the amazing lifesaving assistance he has provided on countless occasions, but also those rare moments when his best wasn’t good enough. Along the way, he’s developed some impressive practical tools for grappling with pressure, trauma and failure, which he shares with us as well.

06:00 Leigh’s backstory – paramedicine via a close brush with professional rugby league!

11:15 Ben reveals his ignorance and asks ‘what exactly is a paramedic?!’

15:30 The human side of paramedicine

17:20 What DON’T you learn at paramedic school?!

19:20 What technique does Leigh recommend to stay calm and think clearly during high stress situations?

23:20 How partners can assist in high pressure situations

29:00 The (often unspoken) excitement of a really nasty job…and how paramedics can deal with continued exposure to trauma

34:00 An alternate (and brilliant) definition of success

37:00 Dealing with failure – and growth from trauma

40:00 The perils of role/identity fusion within paramedicine

46:00 Leigh’s experience on the 2022 Resilience Retreat (on a related note, sign up now for the 2024 Resilience Retreat – 24-27 Oct 2024 in the Gold Coast hinterland!)

48:15 How does Leigh put trauma behind him?

52:00 What is Leigh’s powersong?! (Maybe not what you’d expect – check it out!)

External Links

Leigh’s website and Insta

Buy Leigh’s book or audiobook

Monica Lewinsky’s TED talk on shame

Contact Us

www.unforgiving60.com

Email us at debrief@unforgiving60.com

Instagram, Twitter: @Unforgiving60

Music …. With thanks to:

The Externals – available on Spotify