Peak Paddle Performance Podcast

In this podcast episode I catch up with Carter Johnson, Race Director for the Gorge Downwind Festival.   In just four years this race has become the single biggest downwind event in the world.   With 750 participants, featuring equal numbers of Outrigger Canoe and Surfski paddlers, plus a good contingent of Stand Up Paddle Boarders.   But more than just a race, this has become a week long festival celebrating paddling, downwind, beer, Rivers for Change, and loads of camaraderie. In this episode Carter provides some interesting insights into how the race has evolved and what to expect for 2018.   We touch on the following key areas and much more: Beyond race week, growth in the downwind paddle scene throughout the summer and Carter's downwind retreat compoundA breakdown of the number of racers signed up this year across the different paddle disciplines as well as where they are coming from geographicallyHow the Gorge Downwind Festival may ultimately bring surfski paddling the recognition it deserves in t

In this podcast I have the opportunity to sit down with one of  the best surfski paddler in the world right now,  Cory Hill aka Chill Hill.  Like most surfski paddlers, Cory is incredibly humble and seems mature beyond his years.   Balancing relationships and a full time career,  Cory does an unimaginable  job competing at the very top of his game.   We have a  casual discussion covering a range of topics  as I work to extract what makes Cory tick and how he does it.   I can’t claim to be anywhere near the level Cory is at, but I felt that I really connected with his philosophy on life, paddling, competition, and what makes him tick.   I found it especially interesting to hear him describe the stories that can crop up in his mind both while racing and while working his day job.   I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did   Just a brief sample of the topic areas we covered:   Cory’s start in Surf Life Saving and a detailed discussion around what exactly the sport entailsWhat drew Cory away from

Today's podcast guest is the legendary Ivan Lawler.   Ivan is regarded as Britain’s greatest canoe paddler of all time, and many argue the world’s greatest marathon paddler. Ivan has also been recognized internationally for sportsmanship when in the 1990 world championship he and his partner stopped to wait for the Danish team who were having rudder trouble They could have won, but instead finished in second place by one second. Those who know Ivan, would not be at all surprised by this. Following his competitive years Ivan has given back tremendously to the sport. He was recently elected president of the British Canoeing Association and is Chairman of the Elmbridge Canoe Club where he has coached across the spectrum from new kids to world champions. Ivan has only recently caught the surfski bug. Many of you will recognize his voice as the commentator at the Gorge Downwind Champs and the Surfski World Championships in Hong Kong. Ivan has also become a legend with his hour and 15 minute forward stroke ma

In this podcast we catch up with Oscar to get a front row view of the racing at the ICF World Surfski Championships in Hong Kong (check out the link for great live footage)  and the infamous Doctor downwind race in Perth, Australia. This is a relatively short podcast at just over 30 minutes,  but as usual, it is always very informative to catch up with Oscar and get his perspective on the racing and the conditions.  Beyond just the race discussion, I jumped at the opportunity to pick his brain for some tips and tricks to successfully paddling a tandem downwind, which is something that can be very humbling and challenges many of us.  We also chat briefly about plans for the 2018 TC SURFSKI Immersion.  Below is a short recap of key topics: The week leading up to the ICF World Surfski Championships, a key item of note is the number of countries represented,  I believe roughly 27, which speaks to the global growth of the sportRace conditions through the course and Oscar's strategy to optimizeA detailed desc

2018 Gorge Downwind Champs Registration Opens Nov 1st In today's podcast we welcome back Carter Johnson,  the affable and infamous creator and director of the Gorge Downwind Champs.   In this casual chat we recap highlights from the 2017 Gorge Festival and discuss lessons learned and improvement plans for the 2018 event. If you've been to the Gorge, then you know what its all about, and I'm certain you'll be excited to hear from Carter about the plans for 2018.   If you have not yet experienced the Gorge Downwind Champs I highly recommend listening to this podcast to get a great understanding of what its all about.    Some of the items we cover include: Plans for more live bands throughout the weekPlans to keep the beer tent open laterA firm and detailed schedule of the various beer tent presentations and discussions published in advanceDedicated volunteer teams responsible for each of the key aspects of the event (i.e. lots of delegation so  Carter isn't running around like a mad man)A better system

In this podcast I get a chance to chat for the first time with the great American surfski champion Austin Kieffer. In just 5 short years, Austin has gone from paddling a surfski for the first time, to battling it out for podium finishes with the greatest paddlers in the world. He is now a force to be reckoned with and a podium contender in any of the biggest surfski races in the world. In this podcast we cover the story of how the last five years unfolded.  Austin is both candid and eloquent in describing the journey. I am certain that you will absolutely love this podcast as much as I enjoyed recording it. Austin’s story is both fascinating and inspirational.  He has a knack for articulating of the art of downwind paddling and the science of training (stolen from his website tagline).   In roughly an hour we cover the following key elements in Austin's journey: First introduction to the world of white water kayaking at age 11What whitewater training entails at the Olympic Development levelWhat transfer

In today’s podcast we sit down with Dr Brendan O’Neill the Chief Operating Officer of Vaaka Cadence based out of New Zealand.    Brendan grew up in competitive kayaking starting at the age of 15.  He competed at very high levels in the UK during his peak years and then transitioned into coaching.   As a paddler, coach, and Doctor of Sports Medicine, Brendan found his true passion exploring the realm of physiology and related metrics to drive optimal performance.   This is a great discussion centered around the benefits of training with real time cadence and distance per stroke feedback.   And specifically how to both drive continuous improvement in your paddling as well as find the sweet spot where you operate most efficiently.  Some of the key topics we cover include:   The very beginnings of the Vaaka Cadence sensor and how it was used in the lead up to a very successful 2012 Olympics for the NZ teamWhy cadence can often be a better metric to focus on than heart rate or speedWhy power is a challenging m

In today's podcast we catch up with Boyan Zlatarev of the Tarifa, Spain Surfski Center.   Boyan recently executed a spoof on Social Media known as the Surfski 600 Project.   The goal was to get the attention of the paddling community and ultimately drive a mindset shift into how we view the capabilities of boats that have traditionally been labeled as  "beginner" craft. While the feedback and support was overwhelmingly positive, there were some who were not thrilled with the spoof. In this podcast we go deep to understand what was behind the inspiration and motivation for Boyan to do this. "Stability before Ability" is a term first coined by Oscar Chalupsky and while many of us have been preaching it solidly for a few years now,  Boyan felt there was still more that could be done.   In addition to the stability discussion, comes the discussion around recognizing that surfski paddling is not all about racing and statistics, and we should all do more to attract and welcome those who simply want to be o

Today we connect for a second podcast with the red hot Sean Rice. Sean may well be the fastest surfski paddler in the world right now. He started off the year with a win and course record at the Amsterdam Waterland Marathon, then took his first win at Molokai and just recently won the Nelo Summer Challenge. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a win this weekend at the the Canadian Surfski Champs and next weekend at the Gorge Downwind Festival. Below is just a highlight of some of the key topics we cover in this 1 hour conversation: Relocating to the UK and getting back to structured trainingThe difference between being K1 fit and Surfski fitBreakdown of a week of training for SeanWorking with Haylie Nixon, doing paddle specific training &  gym workSean's favorite cross training activity and whyRacing the Amsterdam Waterland Marathon as an unknown and getting the victory and course record.  Here is a link to the very short but well done video Sean mentionsSean's first ever Molokai win (choosing a good line

In today's podcast we have the honor of sitting down with Dr. Kelly Starrett—waterman, coach, physiotherapist, and author of multiple New York Times bestsellers including Becoming a Supple Leopard and Ready to Run, as well as his most recent book Deskbound: Standing Up to a Sitting World Kelly and his wife Juliet started one of the first ever Cross Fit Gyms (#30 to be exact) in San Francisco out of a couple of shipping containers sitting in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge.    Kelly Worked on site as a PT watching and studying closely the movement patterns of the athletes.   The observations and learning from this experience then led to the founding of MobilityWOD a website dedicated to becoming the ultimate guide for eliminating pain, preventing injury and maximizing athletic performance. The idea was to produce a video every day that explained proper movement mechanics as well as tips and tricks for achieving them. Through all the invaluable content Kelly has produced, he has quickly become recogn

Joining us on the podcast today is Matt Myers.   Husband, father of 2 young boys, co-founder of Broneah Kiteboarding, co-founder of the hugely successful Northern Michigan lifestyle brand M22 and co-founder of the now infamous M22 Challenge. If all that wasn’t enough, Matt is a 5 year Chordoma Cancer survivor, an accomplished kite surfer, motocross racer, mountain biker, and stand up paddle boarder. Matt and I became friends over 9 years ago when his then fiancé Stephanie and my wife Kim started working together. Over the years we’ve had many dinner party conversations and he has inspired me with an  infusion of entrepreneurial spirit.   In fact, Matt wife's Stephanie created my first TC SURFSKI Logo which was instrumental in getting the business off the ground. Matt and his brother Keegan were two of the first pioneers to realize how phenomenal the wind and waves are in our special spot along Lake Michigan. They saw and promoted the world class potential, much as I have tried to do with surfski. The M2

Joining us on the podcast today is Pat Langley founder of Vaikobi. Pat left a successful career building a large Sailing technical apparel brand to strike out on his own and address what he saw as a big gap in the paddle sports market. Designing technical apparel for the paddle sports athlete. Pat recognized that most of the major brands were focused on either white water or touring gear and no one was  serious about developing clothing that was optimized for paddle athletes pushing their heart rates to the max on the water. When I first laid eyes on the Vaikobi gear in late summer of 2013 I knew immediately that this was a brand TC SURFSKI would get behind. Without having a chance to try the gear, the style alone was in a league of its own.  But of course, upon using the gear I quickly realized the function was even better. Pat and his team have done an amazing job evolving the line-up and as we go into our 5th season representing Vaikobi I’m more excited than ever. While it is great to talk about the gear,

In this podcast I sit down with Oscar Chalupsky in his home in Porto Portugal on the last night of a three day visit.   The primary focus of the discussion is for Oscar to provide coaching and guidance to prepare me to have the best race possible at the Gorge Downwind Champs in July.    We certainly get into this discussion and Oscar provides some excellent and specific training guidelines for me to follow. There was a bit of  delay between recording this podcast and now getting it published, which gave me a chance to reflect more on the three days that I spent with Oscar.   In the podcast intro I share 2 of the key insights I came away with that begin to explain how Oscar has become the master of downwind. A couple of minor technique tips that I need to makeMAF Training method / conceptsDrills for building downwind explosivenessKey downwind paddling skills that will be required at the GorgeOscar's outlook for Molokai 2017A little off topic, but I mention a podcast I recently heard with Mark Allen one o

Today I sit down with Andre Santos CEO of Nelo Kayaks one of the world largest and leading manufacturers of performance kayaks.   While Nelo is a relatively new brand to the US market,  on the world stage it has been highly regarded for over a decade as the leading innovator and pioneer in building the boats that own the Olympic podium.   In 2016 Nelo boats won over 75% of the sprint kayak medals in Rio.   While Nelo has built a few surfskis over the years, they got very serious about expanding into surfskis when they brought on Oscar Chalupsky as CEO of Nelo SURFSKI.    Oscar has been working closely with Andre and the Nelo team  applying their deep expertise in producing the fastest boats in the world, to very quickly launch an entire line-up of new and innovative surfskis. This is my first ever in person Podcast.   Andre and I grabbed a quite space at the Douro Academy after the 510 Winter Cup race, to catch up and discuss all the latest and greatest happenings at Nelo.  We cover a wide range of topics

Today’s podcast guest Kenny Howell might just be the ultimate renaissance paddler. In his 38 years of paddling Kenny has been in virtually every type of kayak in every type of condition. A long time Californian with blue eyes, blond hair, and aura of a man who knows adventure,  his backyard includes the infamous Mavericks break in Half Moon Bay, so suffice it to say, Kenny has seen seen a few. Kenny has decades of sea kayak and white water experience, but his passion for the past several years has been all surfski. Kenny currently works as the West Coast sales and marketing rep for Epic Kayaks.   In addition to his work with the Epic Team,  Kenny has been working with the American Canoe Association to have surfski recognized as a unique paddling discipline, a critical step to pave the way for future growth of the sport. In this podcast we try to cover the full 38 years of Kenny’s paddling life and wild experiences on the ocean including: His introduction to paddling at the age of 17Paddling the Sea o

Today we catch up with the legendary Oscar Chalupsky, just a week after he scared the world with a FB post of him in a hospital bed surrounded by nurses and doctors. In our discussion today, Oscar gives us the blow by blow detail leading up to his episode of Arterial Fibrillation. While the incident was not life threatening it was a serious wake up call that has forced Oscar to considerably cut back his alcohol consumption. Beyond discussing A-Fib we also took this opportunity to catch up with Oscar on what is new at Nelo. Lots of great stuff happening there including a new tandem and some plastic boats coming out very soon. And of course a podcast with Oscar is not complete if we don’t dive deep into downwind paddling. Today Oscar discusses some new concepts that I haven’t heard before including how he catches waves on the shoulder first then maneuvers into the steeper power zone of the wave. This had me scratching my head and contemplating for a long time, it isn’t easy to articulate, but I have to wo

Today’s podcast guest is the always affable, ever insightful, and fun loving Carter Johnson. Carter is now best known as the founder and organizer of the Gorge Downwind Paddle Festival in Hood River, OR. After just two year this festival has established itself as the biggest SUP, Outrigger, and SURFSKI event in the US and is drawing a significant international crowd. 2017 is already 2/3 sold out and may well be completely sold out before the end of the year. A little less known is the fact that Carter holds two Guinness world records for distance paddled in 24 hours on an inland water and distance paddled in 24 hours on flowing water, and at one point he even held the record in every major  long distance race in the US.   Not too shabby for a self described "technique hack" In this podcast we have a lot of fun as we cover: Carter’s early days growing up in Indiana as a wiry kid and how he landed in gymnasticsCompeting, traveling the country, and most importantly partying on the Purdue gymnastics circuit

Today’s guest, Zsolt Szadovszki started paddling at the young age of 7 years old in Budapest Hungary, in the heart  of a country that takes it’s paddling very serious.   Zsolt was a semi-pro at the age of 14 and continued accelerating up the ranks to the national team at age 17.   Unfortunately the team he had to beat to make it to the olympics was the best in the world and he just missed his shot at olympic competition.     Burned out from 10 years of highly stressful competitive sprint kayaking, Zsolt decided it was time for something new and left Hungary to travel and visit family in Chicago.   From there he landed in San Francisco where he was first intrigued by open water paddling watching OC-6 paddlers.   It wasn’t long before he laid eyes on his first surf ski and immediately knew that was something he had to experience.    Zsolt connected with Carter Johnson and the rest is history.   Zsolt eventually moved to Hawaii where he has been coaching paddling, working with Epic Kayaks, and continually being

In today’s episode I sit down with the ever humble, focused, and driven Greg Barton, founder of Epic Kayaks (originally Epic Paddles)  and the most decorated US paddler in history.   Greg won Bronze in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics then  broke a 52 year drought for the US when he won back to back gold medals in the 1000 meter K1 and 1000 meter K2 disciplines in the 88 Seoul Olympics.   Never one to rest on his laurels, Greg came back 4 years later and took another Bronze in Barcelona at his final olympics in 1992   I’ve had the fortune of spending time with Greg on multiple occassions and even paddling in a tandem surf ski with him, but never knew all the details of his early beginning and his path to being the fastest paddler in the world.   It is quite an amazing story of focus, dedication, persistence, and humility.   Greg and I cover extensive ground in this 1 hour 40 minute discussion including, but certainly not limited to, the following: How a kid growing up on a pig farm in southern Michigan got i

Follow your passion and it will lead you to your purpose In this episode of Peak Paddle Performance we catch up with Dawid Mocke in Hood River just before he heads out to race the Gorge Downwind Championships.   This interview comes right  on the heels of a victory at the Canadian Surfski Championship where Dawid proved that despite having extensive life commitments, he still can still compete and win at the world class level.   Dawid is recognized by paddlers around the world as one of the most accomplished open ocean racers of all time, as well as a passionate teacher and entrepreneur.   In addition to winning races all over the world, Dawid runs a surfski school in Cape Town, SA and manages a rapidly growing brand of paddling products he hopes will transcend surfski and become go to products for all paddlers wanting to outfit themselves with proven gear for their next adventure, whatever that might be.   We ran short on time, so we didn’t go super deep in all the areas we could have covered,  but despit