It’s our own private church,
our own private temple. It just feels like
you're being pulled home. Its forces are so
much bigger than us. At some point you feel like you
become part of it, not apart from it. ( water lapping gently ) Man: I was a good swimmer. I was swimming in the ocean
before I was five. We just took a breath
and looked down. The water was glass clear. The spires of light
came down like a cathedral. It was like in another world,
and I never forgot it. So I was hooked.
I tell you, I was hooked. Man: That was such a magic time
for me as a kid. I mean, I can’t even
really describe it. Woman: I just remember
thinking it was so cool
how weightless I was. Man: Its forces
are so much bigger than us. Woman: At some point,
you feel like you become part of it,
not apart from it. Man: It’s like therapy for me
when I have problems. Man: For each of us,
it’s our own private church, our own private temple. ♪ If I didn’t go diving,
we didn’t have food. I mean, really,
that’s the truth. So it was like pay a babysitter
or take her with me. Fishing and diving have been
like the main activities that my dad and I would
do together since I was little, and even when it became
something where, like, our family didn’t depend
on it to put food on the table, it was just always our favorite
way of spending time together. Yeah, hard to argue
when you’re underwater, huh? ( both laugh ) Well, when she was little,
you know, she could only go down maybe
six or seven feet, you know, and I could dive,
like, 50 feet. And so she wanted to do
everything I could do, you know, as I think most kids do,
and I just kept pressing until it’s just about relaxing. It always mesmerized me
how my dad could dive deep and just go-- go get these fish
and hold his breath for so long. And so I would just practice
holding my breath. I’d watch him go down, and I would see if I could hold
my breath on the surface. There were definitely times
where I would feel scared, where I would realize
how deep I was and realize how small I felt, and I would get freaked out,
but the minute I saw my dad, like, just the minute I just saw
his silhouette in the distance, I just knew I was safe. I used to dive down
and be at the bottom and wave at her,
and when she got in her 20s, we went diving together
and she-- we both swan down about 20 feet,
and then she waved goodbye and swam down
another 50 or 60. ( laughs )
I couldn’t do it anymore. Kimi: It was just
an incredible world to be introduced to. It was a world
where I could fly. Just being able to watch
all the fish down below me and for once,
I was the bird in this world. ♪ Man: Kimi is best known
for her spearfishing, and what a lot of people
don’t realize is it takes an actual
incredible amount of knowledge, and there’s a lot
of different variables. There’s that physiological side,
just trying to get your body under control and actually
almost rewire your body in a lot of ways
and take things that are supposed
to be involuntary reflexes and being able to control them, like getting your
heart rate low and actually changing
the way that your body distributes oxygen and blood. Then you have to have
the CO2 tolerance. Kimi: As I take a drop, I have to
kind of break through this first barrier
of atmosphere, but I get to this point
where that buoyancy changes and it becomes
negatively buoyant, and once that happens,
I just start to sink, and that was a feeling that,
you know, when I first started doing
these deeper drops, it kind of scared me
because you feel like you’re getting pulled,
pulled somewhere that you might not
be ready to go yet. But the more
that I would surrender to it, it just feels like-- it just feels like
you’re being pulled home. Mark: And then when you hit
the bottom, that’s when you start,
you know, looking at the chessboard. You’re looking for,
you know, cover. You’re seeing
what other small fish that usually hang around
something that you like, or you see something--
a fish off in the distance you want to target. She has a way of acting like... "I’m just another fish
down here. Don’t worry about me," until she brings her spear gun
up and nails it. Most of us are obvious humans
down there. Kimi’s not. Kimi: There is always mixed
emotions that come with it. There’s part of me that feels
the victory of the catch, the victory of securing
this food, and there’s another part of me
that will always feel compassion and a bit
of sorrow for my prey. I think that
when she figured out she could go out
and feed herself, that was a life-changing
moment for her. She was always a cook. From like six years old,
she wanted to cook, and to go out and get
the fish she wants to get and then cook them,
it just opened up a whole new world for her. Kimi: To me, there’s no better
way to honor my catch than to share it with others. I mean,
I can see it with in people. It makes every single bite
mean that much more to them when I tell them how deep
I had to dive or what the ocean looked like
or how many fish there were, swimming through a cave or the shark
that almost took it, whatever the case is,
I know that when I share that story,
it becomes an experience. It becomes something
worth honoring. I mean, I--
I’d never been really been, like, afraid of sharks. But I wouldn’t--
when I would see one, I would just act like,
you know, you’re over there. I’m over here,
I’m doing my on thing. But I’d pull my fish in
so they couldn’t get them. And then if they’d come at me,
I would push them away. Well, Kimi,
as soon as she sees one, she’ll swim right towards it. That’s-- I never got
to that point, you know? Kimi: When I first started
spearfishing on my own as an adult, I would get pretty terrified
if I saw shark. I think slowly,
I just started to get more comfortable with them. And then one day,
I just remember something changed in me
where I was pulling in a nice fish that I was gonna
bring home for dinner, and this big shark
came up to take it, and I just swam faster
towards my catch, pulled it in faster,
closer to me, everything that was bringing
this shark much closer to me, but I got my hands on it
and just pulled in towards me and swam at that shark
just to tell it like, "Not today, buddy, like,
like go get your own dinner. This one’s mine." And the minute I did that,
that shark took off. And that just taught me a lot. It taught me
the energy I put out there, the confidence
and the courage that I show in holding my ground,
it’s gonna communicate to the sharks
what kind of animal I am. ♪ She’s miles ahead of where
I ever dreamed of being. I mean,
you hear people say, "Oh, you taught
her how to dive." I couldn’t teach her
how to do what she does. That’s just nuts. All I take credit for is I got her comfortable
in the water, and that’s really it. Kimi: When you’re underwater,
there’s no street signs. There’s no way telling you
which way to turn or which way to go,
but in the same respect, the signs are everywhere. Everything all of a sudden
just goes quiet, and now that it’s quiet,
I open my eyes, and all I hear
is my dad’s voice saying, "Just relax
and remember how to swim." Man: I love it. I don’t know
how to describe it. It’s really scary
but so good at the same time. And that’s why I do it. ( speaking native language ) Man: You have
to be in the ocean. Whatever you do,
it has to be ocean-related. So, uh... sooner or later, it’s surfing. ( man speaking native language ) Matahi: Waves from underwater,
it’s totally different. It looks really nice,
like friendly. You think it’s not
really power, but once you get in it, it just bring you
straight on the reef. Man: Coming from Hawaii,
I’ve surfed some pipeline, I’ve surfed
some heavy waves here, but the difference in Tahiti
and the wave is how much more perfect
it is than any other wave
I’ve ever seen. The thing
was just surreal looking, and it looked like
it would kill you if you fell. Matahi: My grandfather,
my dad always told me to be humble in the water. First you have to show respect
to nature and the ocean. When I go surf,
I always make sure I’m 100% with good health, and especially
when there’s big waves. I mean,
it’s razor-sharp reef. If you fall,
you’re gonna get cut to shit. Bjorn: I like surfing, Mostly the fun part,
like six feet, you know, like, it’s fun. There’s some danger
but minimal. It’s a different thing. And you see your kids
on much bigger waves. Uh, I feel like sometime like I’m not doing
my job as a parent. Surfing big waves, it’s more like waiting
the big swell, sometime they come,
sometime they don’t, and the stress
is always there. You go check the waves,
and you know it’s gonna get bigger,
and there’s always that thing in your mind telling you, oh, you’re gonna have to go
for the big one. I don’t know,
that’s how I think every time, every time right before I sleep. Kohl: If you know it’s gonna big
the night before, you’re not sleeping much
unless you’re good at sleeping. It feels like the whole ocean
is sucking up and the sea level’s changing. When it’s on... there’s nothing like it. And here’s this local kid,
Matahi, surfing this wave better or as good
as anybody else in the world. Two years ago when I was 16,
tried to tell us to not surf. We didn’t listen,
and we went surfing, and that was the best day
of my life. ( crowd cheering ) So big and so massive
and so effed up... just kind of blew
everyone’s minds. To this date, that’s,
in my mind, gotta be the biggest wave
anyone’s ever ridden out there. I didn’t realize how big it was,
like, at the moment. I made the drop. Uh, for a moment,
I thought I was gonna die, but that’s when you feel
so alive. Bjorn: Didn’t really feel
uncomfortable. Sometimes you feel like
you’re just melting in your boat watching them.
( laughs ) I really think, like,
if you tried to go at least one time of day
to the ocean, it makes you--
your life better. Every time I come back
and after good session, even a bad session,
I am always feel better. ♪ Woman: I played piano
for a while and it’s like you learn
chord structure and you learn moving
your fingers up and down, and you learn all that stuff, and then there’s a moment
where you actually get to play. And swimming is like playing. And you don’t know
what the music’s gonna be until you’re out there. She-- she represents doing
things at the limit of human achievement,
like what-- people say, "Why would you swim
in Antarctica?" She’s been studied in the past
and has been shown to have a remarkable adaptation. Lynn: The scientists figured out
that I’m able to close the blood flow to
the peripheral area of my body really quickly and take that
blood and put it into my core. We were able to confirm
that she can maintain stable body temperature
with her head out of the water and in water temperatures
as low as 44 Fahrenheit. We’ve got one other person
that we know can do that. Lynn: I swam the English Channel
when I was 15 and 16 years old
from England to France, and I broke the men’s and
women’s world record each time. I was the first person to swim
across the Straits of Magellan at the tip of South America,
Chile. I was the first person
to swim around the Cape of Good Hope
from the Atlantic around to the Indian Ocean. Let’s see. First woman to swim from
the North Island to the South Island across
Cook Straits, New Zealand. My folks started us swimming
when we were so young, and it was something we did
before we could even walk. Coach Garbrill noticed
right away that at the end of the workout
when everyone else was tired, I was just picking up my pace. I heard about a group of kids
that were gonna swim across the Catalina channel, so I thought maybe
if I can swim Catalina with them that I can maybe do
the English Channel. There were times
throughout the swim where it hurt so much
and I wondered if I’d make it, but after I succeeded
on that swim I just knew that I wanted
to do it more. It was where everything began. In open-water swimming,
because you don’t have a wall that you have to push off of,
you don’t have to worry. You’re even more disconnected
from the world and even more internal. I’ve always loved
just to go in the ocean because I think that
the quiet of being in the water, just you are suddenly
in your own think tank, and you can let in whatever
noise you want or not. I think that one of the coolest
parts of being in the ocean is being able to swim
through a changing sea, a place where you can feel
all the energy surrounding you. It’s a place
where there are no limits so it makes you think big. A California woman
has managed to cross the gap
between the United States and the Soviet Union
quite literally. Lynne Cox, an endurance swimmer
from California, today became
the first person ever to swim across the Bering Strait
from Alaska to the Soviet Union. The water temperature
was 39 degrees. ( speaking Russian ) ( applause ) You know, and it’s beautiful
and it’s hard, and you want to stop, and you have people
on board the boat that urge you on
and keep you going because it may change
the way the United States and Soviet Union deal
with each other, and maybe we’ll be able
to see each other as neighbors and not as enemies. No matter where I go
in the world, going into the water
I feel like I’m at home. I could be anywhere anytime
the day or night, it’s like I’m home. Man: I’m imagining
I’m bringing someone, like, almost who’s blind
to the ocean. It’s so powerful
when I’m in the water You just go where it kind of--
it pushes you to go. It enhances all the power
of ocean and-- from the deep water
to almost bone dry in a second. So it’s like
an underwater mountain. It’s so heavy.
It’s so heavy, yeah. I’d say it’s,
like, eight feet. That one looks really big. Yeah, so, it’s gonna be on.
And it’s a rising swell So it’s gonna be certainly
interesting, to say the least. Photography
kind of fell in my lap. And that was through
a workplace incident. Employment options are
pretty limited in this area. Mining is a huge employer
of everyone, really. It’s not like you’re trapped, but it’s just the
well-worn path. So you-- people follow it.
You’re a miner for life. You’re having rock falls. You’re having gas-outs,
explosions, crush injuries. I just heard
this sickening crunch. And it was my knee.
And I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t drive,
and then I realized that I’m gonna get into
a hole here. So I bought a camera, you know,
kind of started working out the way that you can manipulate
the image to how you want it to be. It felt so natural,
and by the time I’d been doing that
for, say, eight weeks, my physio recommended
that I start swimming. So I had a camera. I was allowed
to go in the ocean, and I bought a water housing. It was kind of a crazy purchase
because, you know, it’s like several
thousand dollars and, you know, you’re kind of trying
to make ends meet ’cause you’re injured
and you can’t really do much, and uh, and it was single-handedly the best decision
I’ve made in my life. ♪ The journey
of photography for me started as a surf photographer. Phil: What really sets him
apart for me is that he went
and shot the same places at the same time
as loads of different other photographers,
even myself included, and we’d come away
with something different. As a photographer
you notice that, when someone’s got that eye and they something
that you didn’t see. Whenever you put a surfer
in frame in a surfing picture, you have a literal portrayal
of what’s happening there. Take the surfer out, and you’re gonna lose
the reference point. Rather than having
a factual representation, you kind of have
a fictional one. You don’t--
you come to it. You bring things to it,
and that’s where-- that’s what I find
in Ray’s work. He leaves a lot of space there for people to bring things
to his work. Ray: The shot is the last thing
in a chain of events. It comes from looking
at weather maps, wind, tide, where the sun
is gonna line up. Sometimes I’ll plan
a single shot for... six weeks. I quit coal mining, um... nine months ago. The reason I kind of held
onto it for so long because it offered like
a financial safety net, and it was a big scary
thing to-- to turn my back
on a weekly paycheck. I rang my boss, and I thanked him
for having me, and I told him that I’m not
gonna go back to the mine. I’m not gonna get my tools.
I’m not gonna get my helmet. I’m not gonna get... I’m not gonna get anything. I’m gonna leave
that whole life there, and I’m never going back. And I’m gonna-- I’m gonna shoot photos
of the ocean. ( chuckles ) ♪ Eddie: You know, I needed
an escape when I was a kid. It gave me this,
like, amazing... place to experience life. I was raised by my mom, and my mom always
taught me to... really, really share any joy
that you have in your life. I make it a point. It’s kind of like my duty
to do what I’m doing now. He is exceptionally smart. Over and beyond. But he’s still 11 years old. You see a woman
like Grandma Shirley. You know, she took in Anthony
when he was six months old, and you think
about what the reasons were for her to do that, that hits me like an arrow
in the heart. I really don’t know
what happened, but I think my grandma knows. Do you know? Him and the mother
got into it. And what they--
they were separated, and she was trying to get him
and he wasn’t letting him go, and she approached him in-- in an altercation. And then after
it was over with, she called the police on him,
and they took him. And while he was there,
he had an asthma attack, and they didn’t go see
about him. And that’s where he passed. In a cell
on the floor by himself. And that’s what happened
to big Anthony. Eddie: And if I can do anything,
one thing to help that family, you know,
that’s why I do what I do. She works really hard, huh? Anthony: Works real hard to take
care of me and grandpa Ray. He can’t take get out
of bed anymore. I help him get his water,
his pills, - his drink, his food.
- Yeah. And I do all of that
and my homework. How’s your grades? - My grades are great.
- That’s what grandma said. One A+, A-, - and a regular A.
- Wow. A lot of our kids don’t have
male figures in their lives or certainly don’t have
consistent male figures. They don’t have a lot of people
in their life who really, you know, will say something
and then will deliver. You know, if Eddie promised
to take you surfing, he’s gonna take you surfing, and he’ll do anything he can
to make it happen. - Anthony: Mr. Eddie.
- Yeah. So when you’re trying
to turn the board, - and they say to use the tail--
- Yeah, use the tail. So you use the tail
to steer it, too? Yeah, you put your--
so you put... You know, these kids,
more so than most, need that extra love, right? Care. Support. ♪ Man: He’s really made
a difference in a lot of kids’ lives. I got to Edgewood 17 years ago When I got here,
Eddie was already here. I mean, I’ve seen kids
sort of before and after and that sense of connection
to the ocean, that sense of belonging and that sense of sort of calm
that comes over them after they’ve been able
to sort of master or at least begin to master
surfing is really incredible. Eddie really knows how to
connect with the kids in ways that, say,
their formal therapist might not be able to or their psychiatrist
might not be able to. I mean, we don’t turn down kids. I really try not
to turn down kids, and it’s almost
like my dream would be to drive through
the neighborhood with this van just like, "Come on, let’s go,"
get the kids to go surfing. These are kids who have had
disruptive upbringings. They live in
really poor neighborhoods. They are exposed to
a lot of trauma, trauma that comes from parents
being incarcerated, drug use, a lot of community violence. So, you know,
that really impacts a lot of the kids’
behaviors and moods, which is what we’re treating
’cause a lot of social skills are worked on
when you’re outside. Most of the kids
have never been to the beach, not even seen the ocean. I will often show up like,
"All right, you guys. Let’s do this.
I know a lot of you can’t swim. But we’re gonna be there
with you. You’re gonna put on a wetsuit. If you want to play
in the sand and roll around
and be comfortable in the wetsuit for the first
time, you can do that. If you want to build
sand castles, great. If you want to boogie,
right on. Hand planes, body surf,
if you want to go out the back, and get some bombs,
that’s you." They can do whatever you want
at the beach with us. The sun’s on your face.
The wind’s in your hair. The ocean is at your feet,
it’s incredible. And it is very therapeutic. Got a couple girls
who have never surfed before, never been in a wetsuit. They’re having the time
of their lives. Girl: It’s nice when you get
into the water. You feel free. Boy: I like surfing because
it’s another thing I can do in the day instead of
sitting home or watching TV. It’s fun, but it kind of hurts when you get wiped out
by the waves. I feel like all of them
are my best friend. I can’t pick one. ♪ Shana: We’re going
from concrete jungle... to nature. Here, the sky’s big. There’s nothing
really impeding your view. No big ships, no bridges,
no buildings, just gorgeous. Brandon: It’s exhilarating.
It’s a sense of freedom. You know, it’s kind of
a no-boundaries kind of area. You can go as far as your mind
will allow you to go. You can kind of let go
of all the stress, things that you may experience out of this type
of environment. It’s the same opportunity
that I was given as a kid that I want, and I hope that when I share it
with these kids that it’s that escape. It’s an escape
from where your life is and to be able to get away
for whatever reason. Allow these kids to get
outside of their world and experience something new,
and surfing is the vehicle. ♪ Dave: I don’t-- I don’t like
to get too esoteric when I’m talking about
the surfing experience. The idea
that wavelengths stop and the energy of a wave
that’s traveled-- you know, started perhaps
in solar winds between the sun and Earth
and then created pressure above our atmosphere
and then moved through-- the upper atmosphere
down to create downward pressure
which makes the wind, which the wind then makes
enough pressure to create waves
and then we ride these waves and that all stops there,
um, is not something that everyone thinks happens,
that the wave and the energy of the wave
a stops at the shoreline. ♪ Joel: It’s-- I mean,
it’s his path. You know,
he’s taken his own way. And it didn’t matter with him. He was probably--
he was too talented. I didn’t think it mattered which
direction he was gonna go. Even from a young age,
I could see that surfing is something
that is intrinsic in living an amazing and blessed
and healthy, stoked life. And that’s come from literally
sitting with people in their 60s and 70s
who are still surfing and have that crazy sparkle
in their eye and just saying "What up,"
and going, "Hey, how’d you do that?" Dick: Me and my wife walking
on the beach one day, and I said, "That’s
Dave Rastovich surfing there." So we stood there
and watched him, and he come out of the water
and he was riding an EPS board and he didn’t have a clue
who I was, right? So I said, "Nice board,"
and he was looking at us going, "Who are these fucking idiots,"
you know? ( laughs ) And I said-- you know,
talked to him, and he was-- you could see
he was uncomfortable, right? And he wanted to go home
on his push bike, And I said-- I said,
"My name’s Dick van Straalen." And he went, "What?"
I said, "Yeah." And I said, "Oh, hey,
you want some boards?" And he said, "Yes." I said, "Well, just come round
the factory tomorrow." Next day, he come round
to the factory with his father,
and that was the start of it. He was 15.
Now he’s 35, nearly 20 years. I make surfboards
that challenge people so they think about themselves
and think about where they’re going in surfing,
and Dave really liked that. Every board I’ve ever made,
I just challenge him. Dave: One-fin, two-fin,
three-thin, no-fin, short, long, fat, flat,
wide, skinny, you name it. Just learning from elders and those who have come
before us and you see
that most stoked surfers have diversity in their life. and specifically diversity
in the way they ride waves. He took me under his wing
when I was a 14-year-old sort of wondering what
I wanted to be doing with surfing in life
and, you know, just forming my ideas
around that. Joel: Dave and I got picked up
at the same time and next thing you know, we were kind of thick
as thieves together, and he was such
a talented surfer that we’d all kind of
heard this kid from Bulli who was an amazing tube rider. People ask me who’s the best
surfer you’ve ever surfed with, and who’s the best
you’ve ever seen surf? And I think it’s him. ♪ Dick: Everyone’s unique, but it’s all got to do
with your build. Like, he’s got a very low
center of gravity. You look at his body.
His legs are short. He’s got a long upper thing.
He’s got a concave chest. That’s why he body surfs
so well. ♪ Joel: I remember when he said he
was never gonna compete again and then he was like,
"This is it. I’m done. I’m finished."
And he was probably-- I guess he wasn’t one
for competing. I saw him having trouble
way back in the early days
with professional surfing. I said, "You don’t really like
doing this, do you?"
He said, "No." In surfing,
it’s just a matter of opinion. And I remember
just as a little tacker even going
into surfing contests and going out
and having a blast and feeling like, man,
that was a really good time. I really enjoyed that,
coming in, and then having someone say "No, you’re a loser.
You just lost," and then coming
home and being bummed. I remember feeling like
what’s going on with this? Like, I just spent
a day at the beach. And then, you know,
when someone’s like, "Man, you should be riding
3-fins and 6 feet of foam," and it’s like fuck you,
there’s no way. You got no right
how to tell me how to surf or how to experience
the ocean. ♪ My partner Lauren just has
such a way with words where she talks about
meaningful play. I really feel like
that’s what surfing is. It’s just this feeling
of it being kind of pointless in the same way art
on the wall of your house is not really serving
any purpose, but, hey, for some reason, it feels good
to have art on the wall. And surfing’s kind of the same,
you know, like, we’re not getting a meal
or anything to show at the end of writing a wave. Any time in my life where something
challenging has happened, it’s changed everything. It’s soothed pains
that are really real. When my dad died,
I just kept going to the ocean, and it made a huge difference. You know, so that’s why
it’s not just play. It’s not just this
silly thing we go do. It’s more meaningful than that. Man: When you see the beauty
of nature like that like I did it,
it was like out of a clear sky, it just sticks with you
for the rest of your life. And I always refresh them
in my mind so I never forget them,
those memories, and I kind of relive
a little bit of it. ( "Tallest Sky" Playing ) ♪ ♪ Tallest sky
I’ve ever felt ♪ ♪ The tallest sky
I’ve ever felt ♪ ♪ Dreamt about the place
that I’ve never been ♪ ♪ Walked the line ♪ ♪ Limb by limb ♪ ♪ It’s the reason
why I am ♪ ♪ It’s the reason
why I am ♪ ♪ Tallest sky
I’ve ever felt ♪ ♪ The tallest sky
I’ve ever felt ♪
