Coastal Athlete Program
When most people are faced with a life-threatening event like being stranded by massive storms out at sea, intuition says to travel as far away to safety as possible. A select few make the conscious decision to overcome fear, face danger head-on, and help those who are unable or unwilling to evacuate. These are the incredible and sometimes almost cinematic stories George “Schepp” Scheppler brings to life through his Coastal Athlete Program (CAP) podcast.
As an honorably discharged Navy Search and Rescue Swimmer and a Tactical Strength and Conditioning Facilitator (TSAC-F), Schepp is dedicating his life to both increasing the survivability of athletes through the Coastal Athlete Program and providing a voice for the often overlooked heroes in our first responder community via the Coastal Athlete Program Podcast.
At age 25, he woke up one day, walked away from his job, moved back home to Napa, California, built a 16-foot boat from scratch with his father, and left for basic training in the Navy. He was given an opportunity to enter Search and Rescue (SAR) school but would have to work from the bottom up. Ultimately, he landed on a warship in Hawaii where he spent 45 days in training to prepare to enter SAR’s school.
Upon completion of his training, Schepp herniated his discs in his lower back. Not wanting to lose his opportunity, he made it through 14 days of training before being hospitalized when his right leg completely gave out during a run. He managed to push through the nauseating pain and complete SAR school, becoming the primary SAR swimmer during his deployment throughout the Pacific. While deployed, Schepp did his best to ignore the constant pain in his back but was eventually sent for emergency surgery. That’s when he was told he’d be lucky to walk within a week and would never be deployed again.
Schepp walked that day and redeployed six and a half months later. Eighteen months later, he raced in the Waikiki Rough Water Swim.
It was at this time that Schepp started looking for a change of pace. He enrolled at California State, Monterey Bay to study kinesiology, interested in learning why his own body had broken down. To satisfy his taste for adventure and the love he still had for the ocean, he took up endurance swimming. Then in 2017, he founded the Coastal Athlete Program.
CAP began as water survival training geared toward active military personnel entering Naval Postgraduate School. But soon, local lifeguards became interested in the training and now the program includes all interested military personnel, safety personnel, and civilians alike. And his CAP podcast exists to increase the survivability of its listeners as well.
“It’s exciting for me to share my passion for the ocean and also empower people who might be a little afraid of pushing their limits,” he says.
CAP class is on demand. If there are five people enrolled, Schepp says he’ll make it happen. Below is an idea of what a typical CAP training session may look like:
Warm-up on Beach:
Sometimes this is martial arts influenced and sometimes it’s more traditional field-style sprints or calisthenic movements.
Water Training:
“This is largely dependent on the conditions,” explains Schepp. “If it’s really flat, it may be an underwater grappling day, a.k.a. Subsurface Fight Club. Similar to a martial art, we begin with explaining the seriousness of the risks and the importance of respecting one another. Not all athletes choose to participate in this. We go out to either waist deep or overhead and the goal is to tap-out your opponent. For lifeguards and firefighters, this creates an extreme environment where the athlete is forced to manage both their energy and breathing, which they soon learn are linked. On big wave days, we mix it up. An example is Surf Torture, where athletes are challenged to manage their breathing in the transitional section of the surf zone. They may enter the surf while linked at the arms, or perform push-ups or walking lunges into the surf.”
What I find most interesting about Schepp and the Coastal Athlete Program is the integration between the outdoors, fitness, and rescue. I think all outdoor athletes can agree that intentionally placing ourselves in extreme environments develops an intimate relationship with nature and within ourselves. In understanding this, the outdoor athlete also develops a deep appreciation for the safety of the community that supports it all, which includes our brothers and sisters who join in these risks. Having a program developed by a Navy Search and Rescue Swimmer with so much first-hand knowledge is invaluable. In Schepp’s own words, “train today to survive tomorrow.”
“I would consider two additional goals of the CAP Podcast are to both educate the public on practical ways we can provide assistance to various first responders and enlighten the public on the various groups involved with such events,” he says. This includes both local and national government organizations, and non-government organizations (NGOs). NGOs often consist of volunteers with emergency specializations and experience who dedicate their time and lives on a part-time basis to assist in natural disasters and emergency response events.
“Ever since I was little I’ve always wanted to help people,” says Zac James, Member of the NGO Salty Water Rescue Crew and a guest on Schepp’s CAP podcast. “My first job was in ocean rescue for four years. I started at the bottom as a rookie and worked my way up to Lieutenant.”
Although it certainly takes a special breed to fill the fins of a rescue swimmer like Schepp or James, we can all relate to the connection with nature, most notably the ocean, the desire to help others, and the search for adventure.
