Скачать или смотреть Canoe and kayak racing in 2019: athletes' perspectives

Okay, this sounds really corny, but I consider this film sort of a love letter to the sport of canoe and kayak racing.

The interviewees here are all people I admire. Some of them are elite-level athletes, and some aren’t; what they have in common is that they’ve embraced the sport and made it an integral part of who they are. If you ask people who know them, one of the first things you’ll hear is “He’s a paddler” or “She’s into canoe and kayak racing.” In this film I ask them all the same questions, and while each of them provides unique answers, they all convey a motivation rooted in a journey of self-discovery and fulfillment.

This film focuses on flatwater and open-water racing in boats like surf skis, marathon canoes, sprint K1s, outrigger canoes, and touring kayaks. But having competed in whitewater disciplines like slalom and wildwater in the past, I know that the passion and desire on display here is shared by those athletes as well.

In 2019 I participated in nine events, and the interviews in this film were conducted at eight of these events. I regret that I did not conduct any interviews at the Oyster City race at Apalachicola, Florida, on April 6. It was my second race of the year and I hadn’t yet settled into the habit of getting out my camera. After the race I got busy socializing and drinking beer and so on, and I simply forgot. And so that event is not included here, and I’m sorry about that. There certainly were racers there I would have liked to include here, and if I dream up a new project in the future I’ll go the extra mile to include them then.

Just so you know: a couple of the still photos displayed in the film are from the 2019 season, but most of them aren’t. They’re just a bunch of shots I’ve accumulated on my hard drive over the years and I decided this was a good place to share them with a wider audience. I can speak for nobody but myself, but they certainly make ME want to start cheering.

Anyway… thanks to everybody who watches all 27 and a half minutes of this production. For best results, watch it in full-screen mode! Turn on those surround-sound speakers!!