Latest / Adventure Sports Podcast / Ep. 1208: Paddleboarding From the Bahamas to Florida Revisited with Casey Kiernan

Transcript

Ep. 1208: Paddleboarding From the Bahamas to Florida Revisited with Casey Kiernan · Adventure Sports Podcast

• 0:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: You're listening to the Adventure Sports Podcast.
• 0:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: We talk with adventurers from around the globe to bring you the inspiration and motivation you need to get started in the outdoors or to keep you moving if you're already there.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Hello everyone and welcome to the Adventure Sports Podcast.
• 0:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: This is Caleb.
• 0:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've got a fun episode for you today, as we round that corner into warmer weather.
• 0:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: In today's revisited episode, Mason interviews Casey Keirnan, a Casey grew up as a Abbott's skin border and surfer, and in 2021, she had the opportunity to race an annual 80-mile crossing for cystic fibrosis race.
• 0:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: She knew she had trained well, she was well-prepared, but she was not expecting to actually win the race.
• 0:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: And that's what this episode is about, about her journey from skimboarding as a girl and surfing to winning not only the women's division of the race, but the race overall.
• 1:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: I hope you enjoyed the episode.
• 1:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: Here's Mason.
• 1:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: Casey Kieran and welcome to the show.
• 1:13
  [SPEAKER_03]: Hey, thank you so much for having me.
• 1:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm super excited.
• 1:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, where are you coming from today and is that home for you?
• 1:20
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I am in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
• 1:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: So southeast side of Florida.
• 1:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: So are you from that area originally?
• 1:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: Was that where your born and raised or is it kind of new to you?
• 1:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I'm a South Florida native.
• 1:34
  [SPEAKER_03]: I've ever since I was born in West Palm Beach.
• 1:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: I've kind of lived all over the county.
• 1:39
  [SPEAKER_03]: Went to school in Jacksonville, Florida, lived in California for six months and decided I wanted to come back home because South Florida's the best place ever.
• 1:47
  [SPEAKER_02]: So have you always been in the water, you know, where did I know we didn't talk about this before but like what was your introduction into the things you do now and did it start off this way or did you have to kind of grow into it.
• 2:03
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, so I've always been around the water.
• 2:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: My parents were always around the water too, growing up.
• 2:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: So they both fished and my mom was a marine biologist.
• 2:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: So her job would literally take place some days at the beach or on a boat.
• 2:21
  [SPEAKER_03]: And my dad was a boat captain.
• 2:22
  [SPEAKER_03]: So
• 2:23
  [SPEAKER_03]: I would be out on the water fishing with him like when I would get to go to work with him and play on the boat kind of thing.
• 2:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: And so naturally, I saw people surfing and doing other things other than fishing what I was doing all the time and I really got interested in surfing and skin boarding as well.
• 2:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: When I go to the beach with my parents or kind of going to work with them.
• 2:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: So when I was nine, I asked for,
• 2:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: Sir Ford for Christmas and I had a skimboard too and ever since I kind of got my beach toys I took that a little bit further and further each year once I was in high school and got more serious on the sports Because I was pretty athletic growing up too, so you know, I just ended up combining my love for sports and being an athlete and the water and that's kind of how I got to where I am today.
• 3:14
  [SPEAKER_02]: Oh that's awesome.
• 3:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: So what is the surfing in Florida like?
• 3:19
  [SPEAKER_02]: I know that I always felt it's relatively calm compared to other parts of the country, but what were you finding is a good way to get introduced to surfing or is there some pretty serious waves?
• 3:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's definitely a good way to get introduced to surfing here because we do have good waves, but they're just not consistent.
• 3:39
  [SPEAKER_03]: So, you know, you think of California and Hawaii, you know, pretty much every day you can surf, you know.
• 3:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: somewhere in one of those places, but here in Florida especially South Florida, we get our waves blocked by the Bahamas.
• 3:57
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it's pretty interesting because up north like in Jacksonville or St. Augustine.
• 4:02
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know, you can surf most days of the year there, but down here the waves coming off of Africa get blocked by the Bahamas.
• 4:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: So we don't get waves as much, but sometimes we end up getting really good swells, depending on the storm that comes through whether it's a hurricane or cold front, because the way the Bahamas block us and kind of refract waves.
• 4:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it works in our favor
• 4:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: really good swells, you know, like, like I remember last month we had every single weekend and almost every day during a week for like three weeks straight.
• 4:41
  [SPEAKER_03]: We had amazing waves.
• 4:42
  [SPEAKER_03]: But now it's been flat for two weeks.
• 4:44
  [SPEAKER_02]: So you do you switch over to skimboarding if the waves are a little bit flatter.
• 4:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I do.
• 4:52
  [SPEAKER_03]: That's the beauty of it.
• 4:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: And that's why I started skimboarding too was because I learned how to skimboard, like, you know, just playing around with that when I was pretty young, like, 10.
• 5:03
  [SPEAKER_03]: But then I really got into surfing when I was 13, 14, 15.
• 5:08
  [SPEAKER_03]: But then I realized it's South Florida and, you know, we don't get waves all the time.
• 5:13
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that's when I started bringing my skimboard to the beach more and I realized I can do that every day.
• 5:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: And then I realized
• 5:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: The potential that sport has to be other than just sliding across the wet sand because when we do get a little bit of a wave it's nice because you can basically Translate your maneuvers from surfing to skimboarding and on those waves that are closer to shore.
• 5:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it's nice being able to do both sports because, you know, usually every day it's better for one or the other and someday it's best for both.
• 5:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: So you kind of get like the full scope of things and it makes it really fun.
• 5:53
  [SPEAKER_02]: And that, you know, you don't only just enjoy it for recreation, you're a professional too.
• 5:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: You turned pro at 19 on kind of the surfing and skimboarding circuit.
• 6:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: But what is it like to be a professional skimboarder?
• 6:09
  [SPEAKER_02]: Where are these events taking place?
• 6:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: And also, what was it like to win your first title?
• 6:14
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, so professional skimboarding has been an amazing opportunity for me when I started getting into skimboarding when I was like 15, 16, you know, that's when I realized that it has potential to be similar to surfing and it's like really awesome and.
• 6:34
  [SPEAKER_03]: And it's really more of an extreme sport than most people think.
• 6:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: So with that, I was progressing pretty quickly within the sport and my friends told me that I should go do a skateboarding contest and I was like, no, I'm never going to do that.
• 6:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, I'm just doing this for fun.
• 6:49
  [SPEAKER_03]: But eventually I gave in, went to my first skateboarding contest, there was a lot of fun, went to another one, still super fun, and I got like second place, so it was cool that I'm like, oh, I'm in this new sport and I'm doing super well in it, and then you meet all of the awesome people that are associated.
• 7:02
  [SPEAKER_03]: So then I just came into a new community with all these friends and I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
• 7:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: you know, when you come into a new community, you meet new people, you enjoy new experiences, there's other opportunities that arise.
• 7:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: So with that came, skimboarding contest that were in other places or just going on weekend trips with friends to, you know, a good skimboarding spot a few hours away.
• 7:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: And that really just helped build my love and experience within this sport.
• 7:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: And then I realized that I can take it even a step further and compete on the professional circuit.
• 7:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: So with that, I started competing pro when I was 19 like you said, but you had to meet certain qualifications.
• 7:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it's like,
• 7:54
  [SPEAKER_03]: you have to get third place or better in three events over a number of years.
• 8:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that was pretty easy to obtain when I first started and within that I just continued to compete and go to other contests and so that would go anywhere from a St. Augustine Florida to or Volano Beach, I should say, Volano Beach Florida, which is right by St. Augustine,
• 8:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: to the outer banks in North Carolina up to do a beach in Delaware.
• 8:23
  [SPEAKER_03]: There's some contest in New Jersey in on in Panama City Beach, Florida.
• 8:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: But the biggest contest of the year are out in California.
• 8:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: So we have a couple out there, one in Laguna Beach, and one in Newport Beach.
• 8:35
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that's where the sport, you see the more extreme side of the sport because the waves are bigger and more powerful and so that was where I did claim my first world title and that was I believe when I was 20 back in 2014.
• 8:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that was really awesome and an crazy experience because I remember the first year I started skimboarding.
• 8:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: One of my very first sponsor, he helped to get me skimboards, because I was like, you know, it's 16 when I first started, and I could in a floor to nice board or any of that, and getting to contest, so it was funny because when he first started sponsoring,
• 9:13
  [SPEAKER_03]: me.
• 9:13
  [SPEAKER_03]: He said that he couldn't be being the world champion in a couple years and I was like a, like, that's crazy talk.
• 9:21
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, who tell someone they're going to be a world champion?
• 9:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: And like, how do you even say that?
• 9:26
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, you know, that was just so hard to wrap me around.
• 9:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: And then I did it.
• 9:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: And in that moment, like,
• 9:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: when they called my name as World Champion for that year.
• 9:35
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I got the trophy and got to hold it high above my head.
• 9:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: I was like, wow, like, this is like a dream come true.
• 9:41
  [SPEAKER_03]: It actually happened.
• 9:42
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I kind of, you know, I worked really hard for it.
• 9:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: But I almost didn't see it as a possibility sometimes, because it seemed so far fetched.
• 9:52
  [SPEAKER_03]: But it makes you realize that, you know, putting in that work in dedication, not enough.
• 9:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: And not only that, you did it twice.
• 9:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, the second time, the second time was a more amazing story though because that year I only got to attend a couple of the contest that were on tour because the first one I went to was a great contest in North Carolina.
• 10:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: I got first place there.
• 10:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: I was in North Carolina, I was so long ago, but anyway, the second contest, which was in North Carolina, I didn't get to go to because I had broken my ankle, skimboarding the day after I moved to California.
• 10:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that was like a triple bummer in itself.
• 10:35
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know, it's like, oh, I just moved to the new place.
• 10:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, bummer, I just broke my ankle and I can't go to a contest and I have to heal and all that stuff.
• 10:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: So, you know, I did what I had to do and I went through the process of just trying to be like super healthy and giving at the time that it needed and taking care of it.
• 10:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I broke my ankle, but I had to get surgery, but I had to wait a whole month before I could get surgery.
• 10:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: because of like insurance stuff with moving from Florida to California within that few days.
• 11:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that was crazy within itself, but anyway, my healing process went a lot quicker than anticipated, and it was a few days before the last contest of the season, which was in California.
• 11:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: and I went to my doctors for the checkup and I had gotten my cast off and he said, looks great, healed a month quicker than I anticipated so you can start jogging and swimming, but don't go back to skin boarding or doing any of that crazy stuff.
• 11:35
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I was just like, okay, you know, but I had already been jogging and swimming and kind of trying to
• 11:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: So anyway, that evening, I actually went into the beach and tried skimboarding a little bit, like easing myself into it.
• 11:55
  [SPEAKER_03]: And it felt pretty decent.
• 11:57
  [SPEAKER_03]: So a few days later, I had the last contest of the season.
• 12:02
  [SPEAKER_03]: So, and I was still looking at a shop for the world title.
• 12:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I said, you know what?
• 12:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to enter, I'm going to wrap it up, put a brace on, try to be as safe as I can with it, but I really want this world title.
• 12:14
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I did what I had to do and I ended up placing high enough in that contest that I did end up claiming the world title.
• 12:24
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that was just like an epic comeback and that boosted my confidence so much and also just reinforce the idea that
• 12:33
  [SPEAKER_03]: whatever you want, you can attenuate, you know, so just like continue to work towards that and don't get defeated because of what your circumstances bring you.
• 12:43
  [SPEAKER_02]: Holy cow, I did cheese.
• 12:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: Did you ever go tell the doctor that?
• 12:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: Hey, by the way.
• 12:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: No, I want your face.
• 12:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: That is crazy, so you weren't even supposed to be competing and you ended up winning.
• 12:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, yeah, I did a man in your confidence at that.
• 13:03
  [SPEAKER_03]: He said, you know, he said I could start jogging.
• 13:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I was like, well, let's just push it a little bit more than jogging.
• 13:09
  [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I'm already jogging, Doc.
• 13:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know if I told you or not, but I'm going to go win the world championship, the skin boarding world championship.
• 13:19
  [SPEAKER_02]: Can I do that while?
• 13:22
  [SPEAKER_02]: So so, you know, I didn't actually realize that that was the story behind that when we first started research in this.
• 13:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: So winning is kind of
• 13:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: you kind of used to that feeling of overcoming and being, you know, being on top despite really being an underdog or are kind of not supposed to be there for whatever reason.
• 13:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: So gosh, so from skimboarding to paddleboarding, what was kind of, what was it the crossing for cystic fibrosis specifically that got you into paddleboarding or was it something else?
• 13:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I'd love to talk about
• 13:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: That challenge recently.
• 14:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, definitely.
• 14:02
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's my like most favorite thing to talk about.
• 14:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I could go on forever.
• 14:06
  [SPEAKER_03]: So yeah, so anyway, I'm a dietitian.
• 14:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I started working for the cystic fibrosis clinic back in the end of 2019.
• 14:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: So like two years ago.
• 14:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I met the people from Piper's Angels Foundation, which is the foundation that hosts the crossing for cystic fibrosis.
• 14:26
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I heard about this epic endurance paddle challenge 80 miles across the ocean from the Bahamas to Florida and it's funny because the landing place is actually the place where I grew up surfing so I was like that's pretty awesome, you know, to paddle from the Bahamas and like,
• 14:45
  [SPEAKER_03]: land on the beach at home like where all my friends like our lifeguards basically so So I was like yeah, all right, let's do this, you know, so I started getting into the cystic fibrosis community and really Understanding the disease and understanding the whole community behind that and in the whole mission
• 15:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: of Piper's Angels Foundation and how they support individuals and families that are battling this disease and just help to enhance their lives and empower them to live a better life.
• 15:20
  [SPEAKER_03]: So between that and then my competitive nature and my curiosity of wanting to explore new opportunities and adventures, I was all in.
• 15:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I signed up, like a month after I had heard about it,
• 15:37
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I knew, I knew from the day I heard about it, I was going to do it.
• 15:40
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I signed up and then I said, okay, well, now I got to go buy a paddle board.
• 15:45
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I had paddle board at a handful of times, but I had no idea what I was doing.
• 15:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I bought a paddle board and I just started training.
• 15:55
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I started training January 1st of last year.
• 15:59
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it's almost two years now that I've been paddling.
• 16:02
  [SPEAKER_03]: I started training and then a couple months later,
• 16:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: All of our beaches got shut down.
• 16:09
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I was not able to go skimboarding.
• 16:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: So then my only other option to get a time in the water was to go paddle boarding on my inner coastal because I kept my paddle board at my fiance's dad's house who had a house on my inner coastal.
• 16:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: So luckily for me, like I had that access to a water sport when our beaches were closed.
• 16:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I just continued to paddle and, you know, just find my piece when I was out on the water.
• 16:42
  [SPEAKER_03]: And that, you know, I didn't necessarily love the training of it, you know, when you train for surfing or skimboarding, it's a lot more fun, but it's a little bit harder work when it's for paddle boarding, and especially if you're by yourself.
• 17:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: But I kept paddling, I kept working through it
• 17:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: I came to a point where it went from having to do it to wanting to do it and like jonesing for that time on the water and being on my paddleboard.
• 17:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: And it's so funny because I remember you know someone had told me that he's like you know right now it's like hard work for you because you haven't developed that love and that passion for it but it's going to come soon and you're going to find yourself needing to get on the water.
• 17:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I remember when it changed for me and you know, so that's where I'm at now it's like, you know, two years later I'm still like wanting to get on the water as much as I can for paddling and yeah, so then for 2021 the crossing was going to happen so.
• 17:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: This year, January 1st, I decided that I would really start my whole training routine and get down dirty with that and put a lot into it because at that point I had a year of paddling experience under my belt, so I felt pretty confident.
• 18:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: three, two, 12 miles from South Carolina to Key West.
• 18:22
  [SPEAKER_03]: So now I've got the competitive aspect of it, but also I've grown so much within this five versus community that my passion is there also and just wanting to do something for such a great cause.
• 18:35
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I continue to train for the crossing for 2021.
• 18:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: Wow.
• 18:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: That is awesome.
• 18:42
  [SPEAKER_02]: And for folks that don't know, you know, it's, it's, you're, you're paddling from the Bahamas to Florida, like you mentioned, 80 miles across the freaking ocean.
• 18:53
  [SPEAKER_02]: And you mentioned, you know, the waves aren't as big as they could be because the Bahamas, but there still is the chance of really being with it.
• 19:01
  [SPEAKER_02]: So take us through the experience like going from skin boarding where you're literally,
• 19:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: you know gliding on water that's up against the coast like it's up against the shore you're never in that deep of water take us to what it was like to literally be in the middle of the ocean on a board.
• 19:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: Having not really been in the sport very long at all what were you thinking that first day leading up to it and how nervous were you or were you feeling about
• 19:33
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, so it was a whole, like, super exciting event, you know, leading up to it and being there and then launching off the beach and being in the middle of the ocean.
• 19:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: So leading up to it, I felt really confident just because I trained so hard and I trained in all types of conditions.
• 19:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: I trained in the ocean a lot.
• 19:52
  [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, I didn't go any further than not even a mile off shore.
• 19:57
  [SPEAKER_03]: But,
• 19:59
  [SPEAKER_03]: I trained in all types of waters and I just got comfortable with, you know, what's out there, you know, I wasn't scared by any kind of sea creatures like, you know, sharks or anything because you rarely even see them.
• 20:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that's, you know, a fear that a lot of people have or say like what about sharks and it's like, you know, there's a lot of things that you don't think about when you're there.
• 20:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: So,
• 20:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: going over to the Bahamas, you're so excited because you're like, okay, I'm going for this awesome place and like you have all these adventures and things in mind that you're going to do like I knew I was going to go fishing and diving and jump off ship racks and go play with the nurse sharks, you know, and feed the stingrays.
• 20:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that was all exciting and then being there and being
• 20:42
  [SPEAKER_03]: in a foreign place with familiar people is so incredible and with a community of people that are rallying for the same cause that you are and about to do the same halfway crazy thing that you're going to do, you know, so you feel more confident in that because you know you're not alone.
• 21:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: I was so confident that I felt I could definitely get third place and hopefully better in the women's division for the crossing for the 80 miles solo cattle because you know, you can do a relay, you could do two people or four people so you won't be doing the full 80 miles.
• 21:27
  [SPEAKER_03]: But I knew that I wanted to go beach to beach so at that point you're not allowed to get onto the boat or anything.
• 21:34
  [SPEAKER_03]: You have to stay on your board or in the water.
• 21:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I knew that I wanted to complete that full 80 miles by myself and get third place or better.
• 21:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: So in the middle of the night, wasn't scary at all because I was so focused on, just paddling and staying behind the boat because you have a support boat and you paddle behind it.
• 21:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: So you can catch the draft and it assists you and essentially helps you to go faster on your way across from the Bahamas.
• 22:06
  [SPEAKER_03]: I was just so focused on staying on the draft and trying not to fall off my board because it was it was pretty choppy, you know, there were some rough waters out there at certain points.
• 22:19
  [SPEAKER_03]: But I didn't even realize that until the sun came up because.
• 22:23
  [SPEAKER_03]: you know, then I could see the waves around me and I could see that there was nothing around me.
• 22:27
  [SPEAKER_03]: In the middle of the ocean with over 2,000 feet of water beneath me and I don't even know what kind of sea creatures are fish but it was it was pretty incredible because it was so calming because I knew that I had one task at that time.
• 22:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: and it was just to continue to paddle, you know, I didn't have to worry about work or anything at home or you know, there was nothing to worry about.
• 22:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: It was just me paddling, making the most of it and really trying to get the full experience and enjoying it.
• 23:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it was more, um,
• 23:08
  [SPEAKER_03]: It was just more relaxing and more enjoyable than it was scary or, you know, or any other kind of like adverse feeling that you think you might get being in the middle of the ocean with, you know, no land and sight.
• 23:23
  [SPEAKER_02]: For you, baby.
• 23:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: For the rest of me.
• 23:26
  [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe, yeah.
• 23:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: No, I mean, you've mentioned to in our last talk that when we first were talking about this that yeah like oh yeah, I got there.
• 23:34
  [SPEAKER_02]: I wasn't even so we're like I wasn't even that tired.
• 23:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: I'm thinking you're you're wild.
• 23:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: You're you're a wild child like every one of us would be laying there just
• 23:44
  [SPEAKER_02]: it completely exhausted, just spent and you're like, I got more energy.
• 23:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: Tell us, you know, that part wasn't scary or that part wasn't as challenging, like the animals and a lot of things, a lot of people might bring up, but what would you say was maybe something that was unexpectedly challenging about paddling a paddleboard from the Bahamas to Florida?
• 24:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I definitely had one, one part of my paddle, which probably lasted about an hour that was pretty challenging.
• 24:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I expected some point of it to be challenging because one of my mentors, he told me there's gonna come a point and you're going to need to use all of your mental strength.
• 24:27
  [SPEAKER_03]: Everything you've been training for and all of the strength that you've built mentally to,
• 24:33
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know, push you through when it gets tough like you're going to need to use it.
• 24:37
  [SPEAKER_03]: So be prepared.
• 24:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I thought that was going to happen towards the end of my paddle when I was exhausted.
• 24:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: but it actually happened after the first hour, because I launched off the beach in Bimmie at 12.50 a.m. And it was super exciting.
• 24:55
  [SPEAKER_03]: Had a bunch of adrenaline, but that were all after about an hour.
• 25:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I took a nap the day before at about one in the afternoon, but that's just a whole different schedule than what I was used to.
• 25:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I was pretty tired.
• 25:11
  [SPEAKER_03]: when it came to be like 2 a.m. to a, yeah, like around 2 a.m., and now we're off.
• 25:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: I started my paddle and I felt like I was getting like mesmerized by like watching the wash come off the propellers and then boat with the lights underneath and I was just so exhausted and I didn't want to have to turn to caffeine, you know, an hour into my paddle, but
• 25:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, but I did, um, I had some, uh, sport jelly beans and that helped give me a little bit of a boost and then I started talking to my captain and my fiancee and crew and, you know, that just kind of helped to get the energy going.
• 25:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, and then a flying fish flew onto my paddleboard and it's so funny because the paddleboard bring in that I use.
• 25:54
  [SPEAKER_03]: The name is flying fish board company.
• 25:57
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it was pretty like awesome for a flying fish to land on my flying fish.
• 26:02
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that excited me a lot too.
• 26:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, you know, so it was like in that that time though, that hour that I'm like, this is exhausting.
• 26:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: I feel like I can fall asleep as I'm paddling.
• 26:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: But I knew I had to be strong.
• 26:17
  [SPEAKER_03]: I knew this sun would come up, you know, in a few hours.
• 26:20
  [SPEAKER_03]: And then I'd have all that energy.
• 26:22
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it was just about like pushing myself through and then also utilizing my resources instead of, you know, just trying to stay too strong through it.
• 26:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that was definitely really helpful to get me through that.
• 26:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: And that was all in the first hour.
• 26:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: Did that were you at all about the remaining 12 hours that or 14, wherever you thought, you know, the amount of hours that were left, did that were you at all?
• 26:47
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
• 26:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, um, you know, I really didn't think about that because I was just like so in the moment of wanting to feel more energy, um, I was just focused on like moment by moment really and then I ended up asking my captain what time it was.
• 27:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: And he said it was 430 and I was like, oh cool, like it's gonna start getting light in an hour and then the sun's gonna come off and then I'm gonna be like halfway there.
• 27:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know, so I ended up just kind of breaking it up like that and having things to look forward to.
• 27:22
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I packed my favorite snacks.
• 27:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: One of my favorite snacks that I never have because I know it's not good for me is
• 27:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: the little Debbie like chocolate chip muffins a little bit.
• 27:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: So like I knew, you know, that every hour and a half I was going to take a break.
• 27:40
  [SPEAKER_03]: So if I started feeling tired or like, oh my gosh, like, I don't know if I'm going to make it.
• 27:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm like, no, I'm going to make it to my next break.
• 27:47
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to have my snack and.
• 27:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: you know, refuel and refresh and just reset my mind and then go for another hour and a half.
• 27:54
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it made it a lot easier to look at it like that instead of just the grand picture of what you have to do like in total.
• 28:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it helps to make it more enjoyable by breaking it up for sure.
• 28:09
  [SPEAKER_02]: When did you realize you were going to win?
• 28:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: And not just yet third place in the women's division, which was your original like hopeful goal, but like were you at all aware that you were in the lead or was going to win the whole thing?
• 28:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, so that's the one thing about this year.
• 28:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know if a communication might change a little bit.
• 28:35
  [SPEAKER_03]: So people so paddlers start to know like what place they're in or kind of where other voters and paddlers are, but we didn't know the location of any other paddlers.
• 28:47
  [SPEAKER_03]: So people at home, they can track you because you have a GPS tracker on yourself and on the boat.
• 28:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: So they can go on an app.
• 28:55
  [SPEAKER_03]: and they can see where in the ocean you are.
• 28:58
  [SPEAKER_03]: But you can't see that because you're in the middle of the ocean and there's no cell phones service out there.
• 29:03
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I had no idea until I got to Lake Worth Pier.
• 29:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like I was paddling like a long-side Lake Worth Pier coming in, which
• 29:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: It's such an amazing, an inspiring experience in itself, just that those moments of you paddling in and landing, because it's just like it's a very grand homecoming, but
• 29:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: when I was paddling in over the microphone, the DJ, he had said, you know, here's Kacey Keenan, she's in first place for women.
• 29:40
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I was like, oh, that's super cool.
• 29:42
  [SPEAKER_03]: I'm the first girl to come in, like, which means that like, I've won the Women's Division, that's awesome, you know?
• 29:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I didn't know that, you know, until a couple of minutes before I landed on the beach and went through the finish line,
• 29:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: But it wasn't until I went through the finish line when my friend came up to me and hugged me and she said, you won.
• 30:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I said, I know I heard that I got one of the women's.
• 30:08
  [SPEAKER_03]: And she said, no, you'd be all the guys too.
• 30:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: Your first overall.
• 30:12
  [SPEAKER_03]: And I was like, are you kidding me?
• 30:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, how is that even possible?
• 30:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: That is so.
• 30:20
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, yeah, it was so wild and like, you know, so when people bring it up today, I think about it.
• 30:26
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, I think it's crazy because there's people that have this was like their fourth time doing the crossing or their third time and, you know, their mentors for other people.
• 30:36
  [SPEAKER_03]: They were my mentors and they race often and they're faster than me in short distance races and they're stronger than me, but, you know,
• 30:47
  [SPEAKER_03]: I just attribute it to the way that I trained and the equipment that I used and the strategy of the breaks that I took, yeah, and that happened.
• 30:59
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I was just really happy that like my training and my my whole plan.
• 31:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: ended up working out because going into it.
• 31:08
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, you know, it was my first crossing and I was still kind of new to paddling so I didn't really feel super confident and knowing what I was doing.
• 31:16
  [SPEAKER_03]: I was just executing what seemed right to me.
• 31:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: You struck the nail in the head with with planning.
• 31:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: I know you had you took scheduled breaks that were really short But you know, you had those to look forward to had snacks.
• 31:31
  [SPEAKER_02]: I mean there's so many things that you did that it were so I felt like veteran moves.
• 31:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: You know what I mean?
• 31:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: Like oh, she knows what she's doing But this was your first time you'd only been out of boarding for six months like
• 31:42
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.
• 31:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I asked lots of questions to previous crusaders to get all their input.
• 31:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, what did you do that you wish you didn't do?
• 31:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: What did you wish that you would have done?
• 31:55
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know, like, I like to prepare.
• 31:56
  [SPEAKER_03]: I like to learn from other people's mistakes.
• 31:59
  [SPEAKER_03]: So that's what helped me there.
• 32:01
  [SPEAKER_02]: That is awesome.
• 32:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: Now, how much of a surprise that come to everyone else that you want?
• 32:07
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, it's really funny because I heard that there were a number of bets going on that I was going to beat certain guys or that I was going to win, you know, the women's division at least.
• 32:22
  [SPEAKER_03]: When I would say to people like, I can't believe it, you know, a lot of those people would say, well, I can believe it.
• 32:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: You trained so hard.
• 32:29
  [SPEAKER_03]: You put so much time and effort into it.
• 32:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, they watched me in that journey of the way I trained and everything that I had done leading up to the crossing.
• 32:40
  [SPEAKER_03]: that for them, they're just kind of like, oh yeah, of course you won, like you trained so hard or you're so strong and, you know, like you're mentally strong too.
• 32:49
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it was really awesome to have that kind of support and, you know, people believing in me that, like, I would win or that they weren't surprised that I won, but I'm still surprised by it.
• 33:04
  [SPEAKER_02]: that's so cool, gosh, yeah, what an experience to leave in the middle of the night, you know, you mentioned you didn't, you know, there's not a ton of danger out there of the things people think about, but how difficult was it to navigate the ocean itself and the waves?
• 33:22
  [SPEAKER_02]: And did you ever see any animals out there?
• 33:27
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, so it was like I said before, it's pretty choppy, um, some of the waves are kind of big, but the waves would just pretty much roll under your board.
• 33:38
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it's not like it was a big, like beach wave that would crash on top of you or anything like that.
• 33:43
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it was just a lot of balance.
• 33:46
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, so a lot of legwork trying to keep your balance on the board.
• 33:51
  [SPEAKER_03]: So navigating that, you know, it's just one paddle, one stroke after another, and that's what you have to think about it the whole time you know, and if you fall, you get back up, you know, and just just try not to fall as much.
• 34:04
  [SPEAKER_03]: So you won't lose as much energy, but yeah, being in the middle of the ocean.
• 34:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: I did not see one sea creature any signs of life other than that flying fish that landed on my board.
• 34:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: You know, so for that full 80 miles I saw that one flying fish in Melvinite and then throughout the day like I was hoping I'd see sharks or fish or a whale, you know, anything to make it more exciting.
• 34:35
  [SPEAKER_03]: But then I saw a sea turtle like right when I got to Lake Ruth Beach.
• 34:39
  [SPEAKER_03]: So I was like, oh, now I see something, you know, I didn't even see any birds out there or anything.
• 34:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it was pretty crazy, but it made it pretty peaceful too.
• 34:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: Gosh, well, congratulations on winning and, you know, it reminds me a lot of your second skimboarding victory of this like you didn't really, you know, no one was expecting that out of you necessarily, but you get, and you weren't even expecting it necessarily, but you gave it your shot, your best shot and you ended up winning between the two championships.
• 35:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: What would you say was the most, uh, I don't know, against the odds between the two.
• 35:20
  [SPEAKER_03]: Most against the odds, I would say definitely was the skimboarding championship, that second world title, because people didn't even think that I was going to be competing.
• 35:32
  [SPEAKER_03]: Like, I kind of just popped up like, oh, hey, I'm going to compete now and everyone's like, that your ankle is broken.
• 35:37
  [SPEAKER_03]: So yeah, it was, I don't think it would now.
• 35:41
  [SPEAKER_03]: Should be good kind of thing.
• 35:43
  [SPEAKER_02]: I do want to give you a chance to talk about the reason y'all do the crossing for cystic fibrosis, and we talked about that it's an annual crossing from the Bahamas de Florida.
• 35:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: It caught my eye a few years ago when I started researching kayaking from Cuba de Florida.
• 36:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: So I'll just do an actual annual ride from the Bahamas that has like
• 36:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: You know, people organizing, who prioritize safety, you know, that it's like, okay, maybe this is a great way to get into these kind of mini ocean crossings.
• 36:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: So that this is how I found out about it.
• 36:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: And you just happen to be an athlete with athletic brewing now.
• 36:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: Tell us about like what the crossing is for it and why and how people can get involved.
• 36:28
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, so the crossing for cystic fibrosis is the flagship fundraiser that Piper's Angel's Foundation has and what the crossing supports is it supports all the programs that help to enhance the lives of those are that that are affected by cystic fibrosis so this fundraising goes to help.
• 36:52
  [SPEAKER_03]: families afford anything from medical bills to different expenses for whether it be equipment that they need to do breathing treatments or medications.
• 37:05
  [SPEAKER_03]: It could also be used for other other expenses that they have that are directly related to it being a medical necessity.
• 37:15
  [SPEAKER_03]: We also give forever stoke scholarship.
• 37:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: So this is pretty awesome because being outdoors in the salt air and doing salt water activities actually helps to improve the lung function of people with cystic fibrosis.
• 37:30
  [SPEAKER_03]: So, if you get someone with CS out paddle boarding or skin boarding or surfing or, you know, even out riding jet skis or parasailing on the ocean, all these things are going to help improve their health.
• 37:44
  [SPEAKER_03]: So, these forever stoked scholarships, they help to get these individuals out on the water or the equipment they need so they can do those activities that are going to benefit their health.
• 37:57
  [SPEAKER_03]: And then we also have an unmasking mindfulness program and this will walk them through meditation and mindfulness and you know just dealing with their daily struggles and in the involvement of their diagnosis and
• 38:13
  [SPEAKER_03]: and even the involvement of the things that happen through the medical field and how that evolves because there's a new drug called Trichasta and this actually is like nearly a miracle drug for people with CS.
• 38:31
  [SPEAKER_03]: And it's not available to everyone, but this is actually given hope for a longer life.
• 38:37
  [SPEAKER_03]: So a lot of people at CES, you know, now have to plan to, you know, have a job or go to school or get married and sort of family and all these things that they didn't plan for before.
• 38:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: So, you know, there's other struggles that come along with it.
• 38:53
  [SPEAKER_03]: So, you know, everything got the crossing does essentially helps to enhance the lives of those with CES.
• 39:01
  [SPEAKER_02]: it's fantastic.
• 39:03
  [SPEAKER_02]: Awesome work and I know that Florida or any salty region, you know, the tracks folks with CF because it helps with the conditions is, I just talked with someone recently as CF, who moved Miami from, you know, somewhere up in the Northeast just because of the warm salty air.
• 39:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 39:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: and so this is such a cool way to we've all what we love on the show when adventure is combined with making a positive change in the world.
• 39:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: So what you are doing is awesome.
• 39:32
  [SPEAKER_02]: And so how do people, if people want to look into doing this themselves, where do they go?
• 39:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: It can they just Google crossing versus tick fibrosis?
• 39:40
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, so you can go to crossing for cs.com or you can just type it in Google, crossing for cystic fibrosis.
• 39:48
  [SPEAKER_03]: You'll see our website and we have all the information that you need there.
• 39:52
  [SPEAKER_03]: If you're ready to sign up, you can sign up, but there's all the information if you want to be a solo paddler, if you want to do a relay team with a couple of friends, you know, it talks about fundraising and the aspect of that and walking you through all the logistics
• 40:10
  [SPEAKER_03]: finding your bow or, you know, the accommodations, like everything that goes into it that you have questions about we have a crusaders guide.
• 40:18
  [SPEAKER_03]: So, and you know, there's also links to message us and with any questions you have.
• 40:23
  [SPEAKER_03]: So we are definitely happy to help with that.
• 40:25
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, but yeah, go to a crossing for CF and we'd love to have more paddlers out there and get more people involved and, you know, to if you can't necessarily paddle for 2022, you can also be a virtual paddler.
• 40:40
  [SPEAKER_03]: So you can paddle those miles throughout the year on your own and log them and just be involved in that way.
• 40:47
  [SPEAKER_03]: Um, and then or you could be a volunteer, um, or even a sponsor.
• 40:52
  [SPEAKER_03]: So it's pretty cool.
• 40:54
  [SPEAKER_03]: You can be involved in multiple ways.
• 40:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: Or he can come to the beach and cheer people on that her winning.
• 41:00
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yes, if you can get, if you can get to Lake Worth Beach and be there for the beach landing, you will be inspired and excited and it's an amazing experience there too.
• 41:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's awesome, that is too cool.
• 41:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: Well, sweet, well, I'm making a commitment.
• 41:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: I want to be there, I want to do it, and I think it's great that y'all are combining adventure with purpose and providing a really cool outlet to just, you know, have a real adventure.
• 41:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: Like this is you're out on the ocean, you are doing the paddling, yeah, there's a support boat, yeah, there's maybe other people, but just like with anything else, with that big of a space.
• 41:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: You spread out and it can be a really isolating experience, I'm sure, and you really feel exposed in a good way, you know, like this is true adventure.
• 41:50
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, you grow a lot during that time and it's truly life-changing and the best possible way.
• 41:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's fantastic.
• 41:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: Awesome.
• 41:58
  [SPEAKER_02]: Casey, thank you so much for being on the podcast.
• 42:01
  [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, thank you so much for having me and I can't wait to see you paddle.