Equipment Outfitters

Swimming long distances for sport is a challenge that only the most fit and determined extreme athletes pursue. Its roots can be traced back to1875 when Captain Matthew Webb became the first swimmer to cross the English Channel. Since then, crossing the channel has been one of the more defining feats of long distance, or open water, swimming. Open water is the appropriate term, since races and crossings are never held in a pool that would be too easy and lacking danger.

Open Water Swimming races are held globally, and were included in many of the early Olympic Games. Course lengths are usually 5, 10, 15, or 25 kilometers (3-15.5 miles) and require several hours to complete. The courses are set between two points on any large body of water. Some races require athletes to do several laps to complete a given distance, while others may consist of one very long lap.

Open water swimming may seem like an individual achievement, however open water swimmers always work with a coach, who travels nearby in a boat. The coach’s job is to monitor the swimmer’s performance, give feedback, and insure the swimmer doesn’t get into danger while competing. The coach’s boat also doubles as a rescue craft.

Swimmers can come across several natural hazards during the course of an event, ranging from life-threatening sea creatures to debris and rough water. The coach endeavors to guide the swimmer around any hazards. A common hazard is jellyfish. The threat of being stung is ever present, and given that most stings occur directly on the face and neck, a most unpleasant event. Another is sharks.

When a shark is sighted, swimmers naturally react by swimming faster out of added adrenaline. Attacks, however, are not common, and it is the coach’s duty to assess any shark presence for signs of aggressive behavior.

Swimmers are not allowed to wear any kind of wetsuit, so hypothermia (becoming supercold) is a key concern during any event. Again, it is the duty of the coach to determine if the swimmer is becoming hypothermic, and if so to encourage them to work harder to boost their body temperature. If the swimmer is unable to combat hypothermia, it is the coach’s job to get them out of the water and retire from the race, a task that is not always as easy as it sounds.

Physical demands

Open water swimmers must be in tremendous physical condition in order to deal with thedemands these events put upon them. Athletes must train constantly, with little opportunity for diversity. The stamina and pain thresholds for each athlete must be at maximum for them to be competitive. Swimmers must maintain effort through rough and cold water, persevere in difficult currents, tidal surges, and wind-driven waves. Any one of these can cause the contestant to lose way, even lose some of the distance they’ve worked so hard to cover.

Open water swimming is an extreme endurance event in which only the most determined succeed.

Kiteboarding

For years, pioneering sailors have played with the concept of winglike sails in the never ending pursuit of greater performance. Early designs utilized hang-glider-like sails in an effort to reharness the sideways forces a sail’s winglike shape generates. This sideways force known as lift, pushes sailcraft sideways as well as propelling them forward. The basic theory is to generate upward lift and forward thrust which would allow for lighter, faster, and more efficient hull designs.

These efforts lead to the use of ram air type parachutes designed for skydivers seeking maneuverability, speed, and lift. The impressive lift generated by these chutes coupled with their ability to be steered and stability at speed made them ideal for designs capable of attaining high speeds. On the list of obvious candidates were windsurfers and the sport of kiteboarding was born.

Kiteboarding required further development of the ram air design, including the ability to deploy the wing from a standing start in the water. The high lift generated by the kites allowed sailors to get pulled up out of the water. Kite and board designs got better and smaller, and soon innovators were using wakeboards and new designs with little to no bouyancy.

Soon, top boardsailors like Robby Naish, five-times World Boardsailing Champion and 2000 World Kiteboarding Champion, joined in the effort to push kiteboard design further. Today, kiteboarders continue to redefine the limits of performance in this new sport.

Spectacular jumps make the biggest airsachieved by boardsailors look small in comparison.

Known as “Big Steps”, kiteboarding jumps are augmented by the tremendous lift the kites generate. Kiteboarders can steer their kites forward and use the lift to pull them ahead at great speeds. As they hit a big wave, or even in smaller “choppy” waves, boarders can steer their kites up into “neutral” position where only upward lift is generated. The result is that kiteboarders then have massive vertical jumping capabilities and long, long, long hang time.

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