Survivor season 35 cast: Katrina Radke wants things to go swimmingly
The will of a warrior is needed to best the elements, and Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers’ Katrina Radke certain has what it takes to persevere.
At 46 years old, Katrina Radke is tied in age as the oldest contestant on Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers with one other player. If it’s any consolation, she’s one of two players on the season to have a Wikipedia page before her season makes it to air.
Katrina Radke is an Olympian, having competed in the 1988 Olympics in the 200-meter butterfly event as a United States athlete. Right from the get-go, you can see how Katrina is primed for this game, even when she’s part of a cast that skews very decidedly young this time around. You can’t have a Survivor season without a ton of swimming competitions!
An underlying factor in becoming an Olympian is determination; an excellent quality to embody in this game. Having to practice six hours a day, six days a week, at something you excel at just to be able to compete with the best in the world will be important. Continuing the drive and not giving up on Day 22 would help her get through the second half of the game without snapping.
More important than strength (most of the time) is a good social game. Katrina Radke comes off as a confident person, and her Olympic experience seems to have given her a better recognition on how to connect with people. That includes those who don’t even speak her language, as indicated in her talk to Hollywood Reporter.
“Athletes in the village, we’ll all sit down in the cafeteria together that way. Everybody is thrilled to meet each other. The politics of the world don’t exist there. Or they do, but they don’t. You’re in a place where I really appreciated that everyone there had their own story about the journey they took to be there.”
More from Heroes Vs Healers Vs Hustlers
- Most memorable moments from Survivor: Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers
- Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers DVD set now on Amazon
- Big Brother 21’s cast pre-show ties harken back to Survivor season 35
- Survivor season 35’s Simone Nguyen is now married
- Survivor’s Ashley Nolan is now teaching kids to surf
Being able to connect with others on an inherent level is key to leveraging your position in Survivor, so it’s great to see Katrina have that skill tucked in her back pocket. It will be the key to surviving past the first few rounds, where players designated as slowest, oldest or socially apart from the main core of tribes will get picked off first.
That said, Katrina Radke doesn’t enter the game without some red flags. In that THR interview, she does mention that she mentions she’s “more of a truth person. I tend to be blunt. I tend to say it like it is, and then it’s done.” Even if she recognizes she’ll have to keep her mouth shut, once you go without food and water for long enough your guard will go down.
Another factor that could be to her detriment is her eccentricity. There’s little video out there of Katrina on the island, but I do notice a heightened level of fire in her eyes and her cadence, and her fellow castaways have taken notice. Of the 17 other players, eight of them have given their first impression that she’s either quirky, a wild card, is vicious, is someone to look out for or has “crazy” elements about her presence.
Related Story: Survivor Athletes: Ranking The Best To Play The Game
Finally, and this is more of a wild card because I don’t know the extent of her ailments, but Katrina Radke does have chronic fatigue syndrome. It affects people in different ways, and she certainly had it worse when she was a young adult to the point where she couldn’t compete at an Olympic level until the 2000s once again.
Regardless, going with limited food and water as part of a game show with competitions most days, Survivor will be exceedingly more difficult because of her condition. I’m proud of her willingness to push through and give it her all in this game. People have been on this show while missing limbs, showing there’s no limit to what can be accomplished.
Next: Survivor season 35 cast: Devon Pinto is a post-merge threat
All in all, Katrina Radke has some obstacles to overcome in Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers. However, she’s also well equipped to tackle them head on and come out on top. It will be interesting to see how well she gels with the other Heroes, even if she doesn’t get that 10 minutes she needs to meditate first.