Can you be both average and extraordinary? | Lucas J. Carbonaro | TEDxHECParis

On his third, and final attempt, Lucas J. Carbonaro joined an elite group of 2,500 elite athletes that have swum the English Channel in the last 150 years. But there was one big difference - Lucas is not an elite athlete. A completely average swimmer, Lucas discovered average can be extraordinary in the right environment. Lucas J. Carbonaro is half Italian and half Scottish and self-identifies as European. He grew up in Sicily and graduated in Mathematics from Catania. He pursued his Master's in Statistics at LSE before completing three years of research on computational finance at the University of Oxford. After completing his MBA at HEC Paris, Lucas continued his finance journey and currently works for the European Investment Bank. Between 2010 and 2015, Lucas helped raise $150k for charity, supporting educational causes through various sports challenges. In 2016, he took a sabbatical to set up a Luxembourgish fund supporting low-income students gain access to best-in-class universities.

Lucas enjoys sports and believes in life-long learning, taking weekly lessons in Russian and chess. As Lucas likes to say, "It is well known that humans can do amazing things, and in my opinion, this is easier when one has a clear goal, a step-by-step approach and is surrounded by people sharing the same objective."

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

What is the true meaning of average?

Let me tell you my story.

In 2010, I had some back problems,
and I went to see a physician.

The physician told me,
"Swimming is good for your back."

So, what did I do?

I started swimming.

And I was, and I'm still ...

an average swimmer.

Can you raise a hand, how many of you
can swim a lap in the pool?

So, why?

Because I swim three kilometers per hour,

and this is an average speed.

But even though I was an average swimmer,

in 2015, I had a dream.

I had the dream of swimming
the English Channel:

the strip of water
which goes from England to France,

and its shortest part is 33 kilometers,

and it's known for its cold water
and strong currents.

And last summer,

after two failed attempts,

I was lucky, and I managed
to swim across it.

(Applause)

Thanks.

(Applause)

Let me describe what happened that day.

I went at 11 o'clock at night
to the harbor.

Departure time was midnight.

I met my crew in the harbor:

the crew from my support boat.

It was cold, it was dark,

and I knew that was going to be
my third and last attempt.

I knew it's either now or never.

I jumped into the water
without wearing a wet suit -

just a swimming cap,
the goggles and the costume

because that's how the tradition
wants us to do the swim.

If you wear a wet suit, it doesn't count.

During the night, I started having cramps,

and after five hours,
I was thinking about giving up.

This is a picture of me

when I saw the sun rise,
and I started feeling better.

But it was not over -

I still had to swim
across blooms of jellyfish,

against the currents

and who knows how many hours
left to finish.

After 13 hours,

I was one mile away from France,

but the waves started pulling me
back into the Channel.

I spent four hours to swim to finish.

I spent four hours swimming
in front of the same rock.

And after 17 hours,

eventually, I managed to arrive to France.

And I was lucky, because not many people -

less than 2,000 people -
managed to do the swim

in the last 150 years.

And that's not many

if you compare with the number of people
who finished an Ironman only last year:

50,000 people.

Or if you compare with the people
who finished a marathon last year

only in the US:

500,000 people.

So I realized

under perfect conditions,
in the swimming pool,

I was an average swimmer.

But under extreme conditions,

although doing the same thing,

swimming,

I achieved the extraordinary.

So, how is it possible

that an average swimmer can manage
to swim the English Channel?

Let's think about the difference

between the swimming pool
and the open water.

In my opinion, it's the same difference
as between theory and practice.

Swimming in the pool is the theory.

I can focus on my technique,

I have no distraction,

I can swim straight,

the water is comfortable,

and visibility is great.

Practice is like the English Channel.

You never go straight

because of the waves, because of the wind

because of the current.

The water is cold,
and everything can happen,

like meeting the jellyfish

or swimming at night with no visibility.

So, pool and open water
are two totally different games.

So, how did I manage to swim
across the English Channel?

Well, I was persistent,

I had a training plan,

and I was surrounded by people
sharing the same passion.

But that's not the real question.

The real question is,

How is it possible
that an average-skilled person

manages to belong to the 99.99th quantile?

And in my opinion, with my story,

we can excel when doing something
under a challenging environment.

So, for example, I can be extraordinary

doing the same job but in another country.

I can be extraordinary doing the same job
but in another company.

So, this is a message
that I want to share with you tonight.

It's a misconception
that we have in real life

that to excel one needs
to be the best, without flaws.

So, what's the true meaning of average?

For me, being average was enough,

and under extreme conditions,
it was extraordinary.

Thank you.

(Applause)