Water

Art Underwater

June 5, 2019 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

For Art may err, but Nature cannot missJohn Dryden, The Cock and the Fox, Line 452

Underwater public arts projects created by the visionary Jason deCaires Taylor are not just unique exhibition spaces for divers and snorkelers to enjoy. They’re also examples of successful marine conservation efforts as the sculptures serve as habitats for all sorts of sea life which transform Taylor’s work into living, constantly evolving art that inspires an appreciation for the natural beauty of the mysterious world underwater. This video takes you there.

He had a very big idea — create giant cement sculptures and place them on the ocean floor in areas with barren sea beds. Then, in 2006, Jason deCaires Taylor founded and created the world’s first underwater sculpture park off the west coast of Grenada in the West Indies. It was a great success, and has been listed as one of the Top 25 Wonders of the World by National Geographic. In 2009, he co-founded an underwater sculpture museum, Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA), that includes a collection of over 500 of his art works in the waters of Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Punta Nizuc, Mexico. More underwater sculpture gardens followed in the Bahamas and Spain, and he’s currently working on a new project in the Maldives. In this TED Talk, Taylor shares his story and breathtakingly beautiful photography.

Jason DeCaires Taylor talk is courtesy of TED, CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International

Information/Resources:
Gallery: The sculpture garden at the bottom of the sea, by Kate Torgovnick May, Ted.com blog article (December 23, 2015)
Locations Map of the underwater sculpture exhibits around the world (Jason DeCaires Taylor Projects)

Underwater Sculpture Park – Granada, West Indies, Molinere Beauséjour Marine Protected Area

(listed as one of the Top 25 Wonders of the World by National Geographic)
Bahamas Reef Environment Education Foundation (BREEF) Sir Nicholas Nuttall Coral Reef Sculpture Garden (Included in the sculpture garden is, Ocean Atlas, a young Bahamian girl who appears to be holding up the ocean, and at 60 tons/18 ft tall, it’s the largest underwater sculpture in the world.)

Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA), Museum of art under the waters of Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Punta Nizuc (Viewing via glass bottom boat, scuba and snorkeling)
Museo Atlántico, Located near the south coast of Lanzarote, in the Bahía de Las Coloradas, Spain
Alluvia, Sculpture lies at bottom of the river Stour running through city of Canterbury in Kent, UK
Pemuteran Temple Garden (statues of Buddha, Ganesha, Turtles behind an ornate Balinese gateway, constructed as one of three Bali Reef Foundation/Australian Aid funded projects)

Dive In2 deep waters and explore the otherworldly beauty of ocean life Watch: Underwater Discoveries, an On2In2™ collection of short videos, Free-to-Watch, On-Demand

BIG, POWERFUL (sometimes dangerous), and a beautiful BLUE, the Ocean does more than its share to sustain life on Planet Earth. Saving Our Ocean

We’d love to hear from you! If you’d like to comment on this post, join the conversation, or share your inspiration, and you have not yet registered as an On2In2™ playmaker, please sign up via the ‘Engage page’. Don’t worry, it’s pretty quick and easy.

Feature photo is a screen shot taken from the Jason DeCaires Taylor Ted Talk video

Windsurfing Comp LIVE

April 15, 2019 By Zola Zeester 1 Comment

Windsurfing (also known as ‘sailboarding’) is a dynamic, challenging water sport, sometimes described as a cross between surfing and sailing, but the experience of riding a board powered by wind feels more like flying.

It’s fun to watch, too. Experienced windsurfers can perform jumps, inverted loops, spins, and other “freestyle” moves as well as ride the world’s ‘Big Waves’ in lightening fast speeds.

There are 5 main disciplines of competitive windsurfing events held by the Professional Windsurfers Association (PWA): Wave, Freestyle, Racing, Super X and Indoor. Freestyle and Wave are judged competitions. Olympic Boardsailing, Formula windsurfing, Slalom and SuperX are group races on a course, and Speed Racing is an individual timed race on a straight 500 meter course.

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Located just off the French coastline of the Mediterranean, Le Jaï, Marignane is a renowned location for slalom windsurfing, and the perfect venue for the 2019 PWA World Cup. If you missed the 2019 Marignane PWA Windsurfing World Cup live stream broadcast, there’s still time to watch video recordings of the competition. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button or select from the video posts located in the upper right corner of the media player below ↓

If you missed the live stream broadcast of the 2019 PWA World Cup freestyle competition hosted on the Dutch Caribbean island, Bonaire, April 9-13, there’s still time to watch video recordings of the event. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button or select from video posts in the top right corner located on the media player below ↓

Watch more great surfing and personal stories on the “Cranking Surf” video channel, a collection of On2In2™ favorite short videos FREE To WATCH, On-Demand

FREE To WATCH big wave surfing videos, including the amazing world record Big Wave towed-in ride on an 80′ (24m) wave by Rodrigo Koxa (Guaruja, São Paulo, Brazil) at Nazaré, Portugal on November 8, 2017.

We’d love to hear from you! If you’d like to comment on this article, join the conversation, or share your inspiration, and you have not yet registered as an On2In2™ playmaker, please sign up via the ‘Engage page’. Don’t worry, it’s pretty quick and easy (unless you’re a robot).

Photo is courtesy of George Desipris/Unsplash CC0

BOLDNESS

April 14, 2019 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

Lose this day loitering—’twill be the same story
To-morrow–and the next more dilatory;
Then indecision brings its own delays,
And days are lost lamenting o’er lost days.
Are you in earnest? seize this very minute–
What you can do, or dream you can, begin it,
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it,
Only engage, and then the mind grows heated—
Begin it, and the work will be completed!

—– John Anster*

After eight months of preparation and training, the USA Men’s Rafting Team launched an attempt to beat Orkin’s record on January 13, 2017. The Time Travelers short documentary video chronicles the journey with “a dose of inspiration” for all of us.

However you go, it’s a wild and dangerous ride through the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River. The first to do it was geologist/explorer, John Wesley Powell, and his team during a three month expedition in 1869. A hundred and fourteen years later, the river had changed, but remained a formidable challenge when three river guides in a small wooden boat rowed the 277 miles from Lee’s Ferry to the Grand Wash Cliffs in 36 hours and 38 minutes. No one much cared about their accomplishment until the story was told by Kevin Fedarko in his book, The Emerald Mile (2013)**, inspiring more paddlers to make an attempt to break the record. The current record (34 hours, 2 minutes) was set in 2016 by Ben Orkin in a sea kayak.

Information/Resources:
Grand Canyon Private River Trip Planning and River Trips and Permits, US National Park Service
10 Peaceful Places To Paddle by By Bill O’Brian, US Fish and Wildlife Service (for paddlers looking for an easy, scenic ride in a canoe, a kayak, a rowboat, or on a paddleboard through natural beauty of America’s wildlife refuges)

*Boldness has genius quote is taken from 1835 publication by Irish poet, John Anster, whose words were inspired by translation of “Faust”, Part One, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Feature photo is a screen shot taken from video, “The Time Travelers”, Gnarly Bay Productions, Inc.

**Editor’s Note: Zeester Media LLC may receive a small commission for a book purchase you make via the Amazon link within this page. This in no way affects the price you pay for the purchase.

More stories of great adventure are available on-demand at Watch: Tours de Force, an On2In2™ collection of favorite videos

Surfing the Greats

April 13, 2019 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

It’s certainly not easy to surf Toronto. Some would say impossible. When you’ve got the passion and the right attitude, you really can do just about anything, and at the same time, have fun, make friends and inspire.

See what it takes to catch a wave in the icy cold waters of the Great Lakes in this short documentary On Days Like These We Must Surf by Jake Kovnat.

NASA photo of Great Lakes covered in snow and ice shows how brutal surfing the lakes is during the winter months. — Great Lakes 1/27/2005, NASA Visible Earth, PD

The Great Lakes are a series of five interconnected freshwater lakes (Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron aka Michigan-Huron, Erie, and Ontario) located primarily in the upper mid-east region of North America on the Canada-US border. By total surface area, the Great Lakes are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth, and they are often referred to as ‘inland seas’ because they look much like oceans with rolling waves, winds, currents, great depths, and distant horizons.

Think you’d like to give lake surfing a try? Surfing the Great Lakes any time of year is difficult. Add the freezing cold winter elements, and it becomes brutal. The best surfing, however, is during the winter months because winter storms generate strong winds that produce the biggest waves that come in super fast. Other challenges involved with lake surfing include wind forecasting, getting the proper gear and board, and avoiding debris in the lake. Not for everybody, and getting images of a sunny beach out of your head is another big challenge.

Information/Resources:
Surf the Greats surf shop, sells gear and boards specifically designed for lake surfing, offers classes on lake surfing and wave forecasting, and organizes meetups and competitions.
NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory – Scientists study, monitor, and predict ice coverage on the Great Lakes
The Alliance for the Great Lakes, a non-profit organization that works to protect the Great Lakes

Nordurland is about surfing in the harsh, cold waters of the North Atlantic. Watch as three friends from the subtropical northern rivers of NSW Australia travel to isolated, snow covered coastlines in search of remote waves, and discover the great challenges and rewards of a northern adventure. Filmmaker Ishka Folkwell beautifully captures the vast and stunning landscapes, and you’ll see glaciers, mountains and powerful icy surf come to life on screen.

Big wave surfing is an extremely dangerous sport. So, who does it and why? — Free 2 Watch video documentaries capture epic rides as well as personal stories of big waves surfers, including Rodrigo Koxa’s record breaking ride on an 80 foot (24 meter) wave at Nazaré on November 8, 2017.

FREE 2 WATCH – On Demand Great surfing action and stories on the Cranking Surf video channel, an On2In2™️ selection of favorite videos.

Featured image of surfer by George Nietsch/Unsplash CC0

FREEDIVING

April 5, 2019 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

Underwater activities that challenge the ability to hold a breath until resurfacing is called freediving or ‘apnea’, and people have been freediving for thousands of years to hunt and gather food, harvest sponges and pearls, search for sunken treasure and assist navies in battles at sea.

Today, there are recreational freediving activities to enjoy — snorkeling, spearfishing, and underwater photography as well as competitions, including competitive apnea disciplines, underwater rugby, underwater hockey, underwater target shooting, competitive spearfishing, and synchronized swimming.

In “competitive apnea” disciplines of freediving, athletes attempt to attain great depths, times, or distances in a single breath. Competitions are governed by two international organizations: the International Association for Development of Apnea (AIDA International) and the CMAS (Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques – World Underwater Federation), each with separate rules governing the recognition of world records in the competitive apnea disciplines. There are also ‘record disciplines’ that are free dives not held in competition, but performed strictly for the purpose of setting world records, and the Guinness World Records along with AIDA and CMAS preside over the record attempts.

Breath-holding ability is really just a function of oxygen stores in blood & muscle, efficient oxygen utilization, metabolic rate reduction, and hypoxia (oxygen deficiency) tolerance. Most freedivers train to increase lung capacity in order to improve breath-holding efficiencies, and it takes practice and good technique to be able to control and relax the body for a freedive.

OK, now try a simple breath-holding test on dry land. You’ll need something to measure the time —Use the stop-watch on your smart phone or sit next to a clock with a second hand. Take a deep breath, hold, and watch the clock. How long could you hold your breath? Most of us struggle to hold a breath for more than a minute. By comparison, the AIDA International-recognized world record for Static Apnea (breath-hold endurance while floating on the surface or standing on the bottom) is an astonishing 11 minutes, 35 seconds by French free diver, Stéphane Mifsud.

What motivates a freediver to push the limits for world records, and how do they do it? Watch these videos, and you’ll learn about the demands and motivations of the sport as three very different freedivers tell their stories.

Information/Resources:
About Freediving – history, competition, physiology, recreational, education, CMAS website
What is Freediving? – introduction, education, sport, AIDA International website
8 Tips For Beginner Freedivers by Emily Bates, PADI (March 20, 2017)
The 4 Best Groups and Forums for Freedivers by Sarah Russell, PADI (April 5, 2019)

Feature photo ‘One Breath’, courtesy of Marco Assmann/Unsplash CC0

Synchronized Swimming

March 27, 2019 By Zola Zeester 2 Comments

Don’t be fooled by the showy costuming, heavy makeup and incessant smiles. Originally known as ‘water ballet’, synchronized swimming is an aquatic sport and art form requiring a combination of exceptional water skills, strength, endurance, flexibility, artistry and precise timing, as well as extraordinary breath control.

In 1891, the first recorded synchronized swimming competition was held in Berlin, Germany (at the time, a male-only event). The sport began to breakthrough in Europe and North America in the early 20th century when it became a women’s sport and popular entertainment at large halls and theaters equipped with big water tanks on stage. Katherine Curtis, an American synchronized swimming pioneer and educator, organized and trained the ‘Kay Curtis Modern Mermaids’, a water ballet act that performed at the Chicago ‘Century of Progress’ World’s Fair (1933-1934), and during the 40’s and 50’s, Hollywood movies starring swimming sensation, Esther Williams, boosted the interest in synchronized swimming with elaborately produced routines.

Six decades following those big synchronized swimming movie productions, the film, Breathless, presents a very different approach with a dramatic story shot entirely underwater. Totally captivating.

Depending on the level of competition, synchronized swimming includes solo, duet and team events, and begins with a “technical” routine or “figures” with predetermined elements performed in a specific order without touching the bottom of the pool. Then, swimmers perform a longer “free” routine, requiring no specific technical elements and allowing more creative choreography (but, again– no touching the bottom). Routines are scored on a scale of 100, with points for artistic impression, execution, and difficulty.

The first Olympic demonstration of the sport was at the 1952 Olympic Games, but synchronized swimming did not gain acceptance as an Olympic sport until the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. In 2017, FINA, the international governing body for aquatic disciplines, renamed the sport of synchronized swimming to ‘artistic swimming’ for the stated purpose of clarifying the nature of the sport and enhancing its popularity; however, the decision has been criticized by some swimmers and coaches.

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Canada Artistic Swimming is on a mission — to pioneer the sport of synchronized swimming…. “transform what is expected, what is possible, and what people around the world think about artistic swimming”. And, it started things off with the 2019 National Qualifier (March 26 -31). If you missed the live stream broadcast of the competition, there’s still time to watch video recordings. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button or select from the video posts located right top corner of the media player below ↓

The 2019 Canadian Championships are scheduled May 6-12, so please check back with us for live stream updates.

More than 225 athletes from across Canada competed in the 2018 Artistic Swimming Canadian Championships (April 24-28) at the state-of-the-art Windsor International Aquatic and Training Centre, Windsor, Ontario, all vying for national titles in over 18 events. If you missed the live stream broadcast of the competition, there’s still time to watch video recordings. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button or select from the video posts located on the media player below ↓

The 2018 Canadian Artistic Swimming Qualifier is a huge event! Over 570 Canadian athletes, coaches and officials converged at the Repsol Sport Centre, Calgary to take part in this year’s Canadian Artistic Swimming (formerly synchronized swimming) Qualifier, a 6-day competition featuring 18 different events in 13-15, junior and senior age groups. Athletes in junior and senior age groups have a chance to qualify for the 2018 Canadian National Championships, April 24-28 in Windsor, Ontario.

If you missed the live stream broadcast of the Qualifier, there’s still time to watch video recordings of the competition. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button or select a specific event from the video posts located on the media player below ↓

If you missed the live broadcast of the 2017 Open Synchronized Swimming Canadian Championships, a recorded video is available here. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” tab on the video player to see event highlights.

Not For Women Only? It’s a bit ironic that synchronized swimming started out as a male-only swimming competition, and now the sport excludes men. Pau Ribes, a professional artistic swimmer from Barcelona, Spain, first saw a synchronized swimming show when he was a child, and was immediately hooked on the sport. But, there was a problem. Synchronized swimming was, and still is, considered a sport for women, and men have been excluded from amateur and professional competitions. It was only after Pau discovered Panteres Grogues (Yellow Panthers) [a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping LGBT community members succeed in sports] that he found acceptance and was able to train. In 2015, Pau made history by participating in an international competition that included male swimmers for the first time. But, his dreams and goals didn’t end with that accomplishment. Watch him tell his story in this short video Synch or Swim by Great Big Story.

Synchronized swimming, however, is not just about competition these days. It’s a sport that can be enjoyed by everyone at any age.

Information/Resources:
Synchronized Swimming Lessons For Adults, Swim England Synchro
The Los Angeles Synchronized Swim Club offers free monthly “Synchro Basic Clinics” and other programs
Why Doesn’t the US Have a Synchronized Swimming Team in Rio? by Vicki Valsik, The Atlantic (August 19, 2016) [Americans once dominated the sport, but things changed after 1996, and you guessed it — money is a big factor] Synchronized Swimming Has a History that Dates Back to Ancient Rome, by Vicki Valosik, Smithsonian.com (August 12, 2016) – Before it reached the Olympics, the sport was a spectacle of the circus and vaudeville
Wikipedia: Synchronized Swimming

Don’t know how to swim?
It’s never too late to learn this life-saving skill.

Feature photo by Flickr user, Voxsports Voxer, CC BY-NC 2.0

Rowing Regatta LIVE

February 28, 2019 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

The competitive sport of rowing (‘crew’ in the US) is one of the oldest Olympic sports, and has a history dating back to early 10th century when races were held between professional watermen on the River Thames in London. At the end of the 18th century, amateur competition began with the organization of “boat clubs” at British public schools and universities. Inter-colonial racing began in Australia in 1833 when a Sydney crew raced against a Hobart crew in whalers. The first rowing club in the US was the Detroit Boat Club, founded in 1839, and the first American college rowing club was formed in 1843 at Yale University. Rowing in New Zealand has been a competitive sport since the 1850’s.

Competitive rowing events are divided into two disciplines: sweep rowing and sculling.

Rowers with two oars, one in each hand, are called ‘scullers’. There are three sculling events: the single – 1x (one person), the double – 2x (two), and the quad – 4x (four).

Rowers with just one oar are ‘sweep rowers’. Sweep boats sometimes include a ‘coxswain’ to steer the boat, and those without, are steered by one of the rowers moving the rudder with a foot. Sweep rowers come in pairs with a coxswain (2+) and without (2-), fours with a coxswain (4+) and without (4-), and the eight (8+) always have a coxswain. The eight is the fastest boat on the water, capable of moving almost 14 miles per hour.

When watching a race and the graceful rowing of the competitors, many of us don’t see the physical and mental demands of the sport. A 2,000-meter (approx 1.25 miles) rowing race, demands extraordinary athletic capabilities: “aerobic ability, technical talent, exceptional mental discipline, ability to utilize oxygen efficiently and in huge amounts, balance, pain tolerance, and the ability to continue to work when the body is demanding that you stop.” (US Rowing) Just try it sometime, and you’ll understand soon enough what it takes.

RACE WATCHING – What To Look For

While you’re watching, look for a continuous, fluid motion of the rowers, with no discernible end or beginning. The crew making it look easy will likely be the winner of the race.
Synchronization. Rowers strive for perfect synchronization in the boat.
Clean catches of the oarblade. If you see a lot of splash, the oarblades aren’t entering the water correctly. The ‘catch’ (oarblade is placed in water) should happen at the end of the recovery, when the hands are as far ahead of the rower as possible. Rowers who uncoil before they drop the oarblades do not get a complete drive, and that sacrifices speed.
Even oarblade feathering. When the blades are brought out of the water, they should all move horizontally close to the water and at the same height. It’s not easy, especially if the water is rough.
The most consistent speed. Shells are slowest at the catch (when oarblade is placed in the water) , quickest at the release (when oarblade is removed from water). Good crews time the catch at exactly the right moment to maintain speed.

RACE WATCHING TIPS

Race times vary depending upon the course and weather conditions. Tailwinds will improve times, while headwinds and crosswinds will slow down a boat.
If a crew “catches a crab,” it means the oarblade has entered the water at an angle instead of perpendicularly. The oarblade gets caught under the surface and will slow or even stop a shell.
A “Power 10” is a call by the coxswain for 10 of the crew’s best, most powerful strokes. Good coxswains read the course to know how many strokes remain for their crew to count down to the finish.
Crews are identified by their oarblade design. The USA blades are red on top and blue on the bottom, with a white triangle at the tip. List of national team oars
It doesn’t matter whether you’ve won an Olympic medal or don’t make the finals, each and every crew carries the boat back to the rack.
A worldwide tradition – coxswains from first-place boats are thrown into the water by their crews.
Coxswains don’t yell out “stroke! stroke!”, and probably never did. Their job is to steer the boat, implement the coach’s strategy during the race, and keep rowers aware of where they stand in the race and what they need to do to win.

Information/Resources:
Viewers Guide, US Rowing
Rowing 101, US Rowing (quick facts, glossary of terms, fundamentals, and equipment)
International Rowing Rule Book, World Rowing Federation (‘FISA’ from the French, Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d’Aviron), governing body of the international sport of rowing
Rowing development projects and Training Camps, FISA website
Find a rowing club in US, (search tool and club information)
Rowing New Zealand, The New Zealand Rowing Association

⇒ ⇒ Recommended Reading: The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown – It’s the poignant story of personal and physical struggles faced by a University of Washington eight-oared crew during the Depression, and triumph as the team made it to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Regardless of your experience or interest in rowing, it’s a compelling read and Zola favorite. Sure to inspire as well as give you some history and understanding of the commitment required in the sport of competitive rowing. [Editor’s Note: Zeester Media LLC may receive a small commission for the purchase of a book made via the Amazon link within this page. This in no way affects the price you pay for the purchase.]

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Southern California teams competed in the beautiful Newport Harbour at the 54th Annual Newport Regatta on Sunday, March 24, 2019. If you missed the live stream broadcast of the event, there’s still time to watch a video recording. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button located on the media player below ↓

If you missed the big season opener on March 2 as teams from UC Irvine, Berkeley, Davis, UCLA, San Diego and Santa Barbara competed at the 2019 UC Challenge Cup, there’s still time to watch video recordings of the races. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button located on the media player below ↓

Southern California teams will compete in the 54th Annual Newport Regatta on Sunday, March 24, 10am -2pm EDT.

First organized in 1965, the Head Of The Charles Regatta, also known as HOCR, is a rowing head race* held each October on the Charles River, separating Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, and it’s the largest 2-day regatta in the world, with 11,000 athletes rowing in over 1,900 boats in 61 events.

A *head race is a time-trial competition in the sport of rowing. Rowers race against the clock where the crew or rower completing the course in the shortest time in their age, ability and boat-class category is deemed the winner.

The challenging 3-mile course (4,800 meters) of the HOCR starts at Boston University’s DeWolfe Boathouse near the Charles River Basin and finishes just after the Eliot Bridge and before Northeastern University’s Henderson Boathouse.

If you missed the live stream broadcast of the 2018 HOCR, there’s still time to watch video recordings of the races. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button or select from the video posts on the media player below ↓

The Aon Maadi Cup Regatta is the National Championships for school rowing in New Zealand, and is the country’s largest rowing regatta with over 2,000 athletes from 120 schools competing while about 10,000 people watch from the banks Lake Ruataniwha. It’s a super fast & exciting race competition!

If you missed the live stream broadcast of the 2018 Maadi Cup Regatta or want to see the races again, there’s still time to watch video recordings. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button or select from the video posts located on the media players below ↓

If you missed the live broadcast of the 2017 Western Intercollegiate Rowing Championships held in California at Lake Natoma (April 29 – 30), there’s still time to watch a video recording — just Click/Tap ‘Watch Again’ on the video player ↓. The Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association will post race results HERE.

Watch as 8 paddlers set out to break the rafting speed record through the Grand Canyon on the wild and dangerous Colorado River in The Time Travelers video

Feature sculling race photo, by Flickr user, Annie C, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Canoe Team Racing

February 25, 2019 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

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The Sydney Harbour Challenge is Australia’s biggest international, competitive 6-man outrigger canoe race – mixed crews, women and men. If you missed the live stream broadcast of the 2019 Sydney Harbour Challenge (February 22-23), there’s still time to watch all the racing. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button located on the media player below ↓

Every year over a thousand paddlers in teams of six from around the world test the limits of their strength and endurance against extreme elements over the 41 miles of the Kaiwi Channel between the islands of Molokai and Oahu at the Moloka‘i Hoe, men’s World Championships of Outrigger Canoe.

If you missed the live stream broadcast of the 2018 Hawaiian Airlines Moloka‘i Hoe , there’s still time to watch a video recording of this historic race. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button on the media player below ↓

Red Bull Wa’a, a crew of paddlers from Hawaii and Tahiti, won the 2017 Hawaiian Airlines Molokai Hoe with a finishing time of 4:50:02. It was the first win at Moloka’I Hoe by a home based crew since 2005. If you missed the live broadcast of this prestigious competition, there’s still time to watch a video recording. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button or the post on the video player below ↓

Weather created some challenges, but the race was on and ultra-competitive. If you missed the live broadcast of the 2017 Sydney Harbour Challenge, there’s still time to watch a video recording of the competition. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button on the video player below ↓

A team of paddlers set out to break the rafting speed record through the Grand Canyon on the wild and dangerous Colorado River in The Time Travelers video

Watch the 2017 Western Intercollegiate Rowing Championships

Feature photo is courtesy of Nelson Pigossi Jr/Unsplash CC0

Swim Competition

December 14, 2018 By Zola Zeester 1 Comment

Recreational swimming can be traced back to prehistoric times. It became a competitive activity starting in 1830s England, and today, competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic sports.

In competitive swimming, the goal is to break personal or world records while beating competitors in an event. There are varied distance individual events in competition, including the butterfly, backstroke, freestyle, and individual medley as well as freestyle or medley relay (teams of four swimmers), and each swim stroke requires specific technique with rules governing the acceptable form. There are also regulations concerning athlete’s swimsuits, caps, jewelry, and injury tape and competition pool requirements. The international governing body for competitive swimming is the Fédération Internationale de Natation (“International Swimming Federation”), aka ‘FINA’, and there are a large number of recognized national federations throughout the world.

Training for competitive swimming requires many hours working out in the pool (usually twice a day, 6 days a week) and outside the pool (serious gym time lifting weights, running, yoga, pilates, etc). Prior to a competition, athletes typically decrease their training workload in order to rest their bodies.

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More than 25 teams and 14 countries, including Olympic medalists and World Champions, compete at the 2018 Lausanne Swim Cup. If you missed the December 20-21 live stream broadcast, there’s still time to watch video recording of the competition. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button or select from the video posts located on the media player below ↓

Since 1973, the North Sea Swim Meet has become a popular competition among Norwegian as well as international swimmers, and a number of Norwegian, Nordic and international records have been set over the years, among them a world record and several IPC (World Para Swimming) world records.

If you missed the live stream broadcast of 2018 North Sea Swim Meet (November 2-4), there’s still time to watch video recordings of the competition. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button or select from the video posts on the media player below ↓

If you missed the live stream broadcast of the University of Aberdeen International Open Swim Meet (April 28 – 29), there’s still time to watch video recordings of the competition. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button or select from the video posts on the media player below ↓

If you missed the live broadcast of 2017 Queensland Championships, there’s still time to watch a video recording of the swimming competition. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button on the media player below ↓

WATCH 2018 Artistic Swimming Canadian Championships

Can’t swim? Why Not Now? Find inspiration and information on where and how you can learn this life saving skill and have fun doing it!

Feature photo is courtesy of Pixabay/Pexels CC0

SURFING Contest

September 12, 2018 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

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The Tiger’s Milk Winter Classic is held each year at Surfers Corner in Muizenberg, South Africa, and it’s a wildly popular longboarding contest with plenty of action expected at this year’s event (June 8-10, 2018), including various categories of Open Men’s & Women’s Longboard, Open Men’s & Women’s Shortboard, Over 40 Longboard, and U23 Men’s & Women’s Longboard.

If you missed the live stream broadcast of the 2018 Tiger’s Milk Winter Classic, you can watch video recordings of the competition. Just click/tap the “Watch Again” button or select from video posts on the media player below ↓

See what it takes to catch a wave in the icy cold waters of the Great Lakes in this short video documentary “On Days Like These We Must Surf”.

WATCH great surfing and stories on the “Cranking Surf” video channel, a collection of On2In2™ favorite short videos FREE & On-Demand

Feature photo courtesy of Unsplash CC0

Water

Art Underwater

Windsurfing Comp LIVE

BOLDNESS

Surfing the Greats

FREEDIVING

Synchronized Swimming

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Rowing Regatta LIVE

Canoe Team Racing

Swim Competition

SURFING Contest

MUCH 2 SEE

THINGS 2 DO

PLACES 2 GO

PEOPLE 2 MEET

FOOD & DRINKS

JUST LAUGHS

Water

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Footer

MUCH 2 SEE

THINGS 2 DO

PLACES 2 GO

PEOPLE 2 MEET

FOOD & DRINKS

JUST LAUGHS