Episodes
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PPP Episode 47: Crossing Lake Michigan with Rob Hartman
Rob joins the Peak Paddle Performance podcast for the second time. But this time, it's all about an epic 80 mile adventure crossing Lake Michigan this past August. Now in his mid fifties, Rob continues to paddle and race at a very high level. I'm not sure he has ever been beat in the Great Lakes...
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PPP Episode 46: Unstoppable with Oscar Chalupsky
It's been way too long since we had a chance to catch up with Oscar Chalupsky on the Peak Paddle Performance Podcast. Although battling an incurable cancer, Oscar hasn't slowed down a single bit. He remains a man in perpetual motion. Despite being read his last rights twice in the last two years,...
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PPP Episode 45: Surfski Development through Competition with Matt Drayer
In this podcast I sit down with Matt Drayer who is part of a small team including Greg Barton, Jesse Lishchuk, and Geoff Pearson who are dedicated to promoting surfski development in the US via the Ocean Racing Committee (ORC) which is part of the competition arm of the American Canoe Association...
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PPP Episode 44: Coaching Session #2 with Dr Brendan O'Neill
In this podcast I check in with Brendan to review how the past 10 weeks of training have gone and what I need to focus on in the final four weeks leading up to the Gorge Downwind Champs. If you missed Podcast Episode 43, I would recommend checking it out, and don't forget you can download the...
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PPP Episode 43: Coaching Session #1 with Dr Brendan O'Neill
In this episode of the Peak Paddle Performance Podcast, I reconnect with Dr Brendan O'Neill creator of the Vaaka Cadence Sensor. In 2019 Brendan graciously put together a 14 week cadence based training plan to prepare an intermediate level paddler for racing the 14 mile Gorge Downwind Champs.…
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PPP Episode 42: Leveling Up with Giant Fish founder Scott Darling
In this podcast I interview Giant Fish founder Scott Darling. Scott launched the initial Giant Fish collection of paddling shorts, pants, and tops in the summer of 2020. Right at the height of the Covid pandemic. Of course it wasn't planned that way, but despite all the obstacles, the product…
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PPP Episode 40: Breaking the Mould with Oscar Chalupsky
We're back with our most frequent and popular podcast guest, the infamous Oscar Chalupsky. It's always informative and exciting to catch up with Oscar and this podcast is not exception. If you haven't read Oscar's book, order it now, it is an absolute must read. If you're like me, you won't put…
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PPP Episode 40: Tragedy on Lake Michigan
On October 8th the Great Lakes paddling community suffered on incomprehensible loss when Nick Walton succumbed to hypothermia in a downwind race on Lake Michigan. Nick was a professional canoe racer and over the past couple of years had discovered a love for surfski racing. You can read his full...
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PPP Episode 39: Downwind Jam Session
This podcast was an experimental downwind jam session. The idea was to setup a Zoom call open to any and all paddlers to join and share their stories and experiences around downwind paddling. I was hopeful that we could share video over the Zoom call and narrate the paddling. That sort of worked,...
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PPP Episode 38: Doing the Work with Rob Hartman
My guest on the podcast today is long time friend and paddler Rob Hartman. Rob is a husband and father of three girls. He works full time as a software developer, plays the Upright Bass as an accomplished jazz musician, and has long been one of the top masters paddlers in the US. In recent years...
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PPP 037: ACA Surfski Instruction with Matt Murphy
My guest on this podcast is Matt Murphy. Matt is a Naval Architect and Ocean Engineer by trade, who grew up in and on the waters of Northeastern Canada. After school, Matt made his way to Houston, Texas where he currently lives with his wife and four kids. Matt has a very diverse paddling...
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PPP Episode 36: Downwinding the Carolina Coast with Rod and Barry
In this podcast episode I had a chance to connect with Rod and Barry of ThePaddleChannel. Rod and Barry have progressed from SUP to OC to SURFSKI and their YouTube channel documents, in full transparency, the trials and tribulations of their journey along the way. They are both super passionate...
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PPP Episode 35: Bellingham Downwind, and Creating a Paddling Community
In this podcast I'm joined by Reivers Dustin, who at 70 years old, is still every bit as passionate about downwind paddling as anyone I've met. Reivers is highly regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Bellingham surfski community. This story started out with my intent to explore the...
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PPP Episode 34: Exploring Cape Town and Durban Downwind Routes with Oscar Chalupsky
It has been a long hiatus, but the Peak Paddle Performance Podcast is back in action. We're going to try out a new format where we find paddlers enthusiastic about sharing their local downwind routes for the world to see. We'll record via a Zoom meeting with screen share where the guest can walk…
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PPP Episode 33: Starting a Surfski Journey in Middle Age With Greg Greene
In this podcast I sit down with one of the many dear friends I've met through Surfski Paddling. Greg Greene and I first crossed paths when we battled it out in my first surski race ever in Duluth, Minnesota. Although 20 years my senior Greg managed to take me at the line and we've been great...
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PPP Episode 32: Surfski On the Great Lakes with Nick Murray
In this podcast, the tables are turned and I'm in the hot seat as Buzz Burrell (a long time endurance sports athlete and entrepreneur and new surfski addict) interviews me. We cover a wide range of topics from paddling the Great Lakes through the winter months, to trying to make a surfski…
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PPP Episode 31: Calm Intense, Silly Songs, and Finding your Flow with Jasper Mocke
Today's podcast guest may be best known as the younger brother of paddling legend Dawid Mocke, but Jasper Mocke is in every way a legend in his own right. Jasper is an incredibly talented athlete with several notable accomplishments including World Surfski Champion in 2014, World Champion in K2...
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PPP Episode 30: You Regret More The Things you Didn't Do, with Michele Eray
In today's podcast I managed to catch up with Olympic athlete and coach, and co-founder of Paddle California, Michele Eray. I somehow coerced her into sitting still just long enough to record a great podcast session. The title of this episode and Michele's personal mantra says it all, "You regret...
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PPP Episode 29: Early Days of Racing with Oscar Chalupsky
In early December the guys @CarbonologySport shared some vintage footage of the 1983 Port Elizabeth to East London (PE2LE) 4 Day Stage Race. It generated a lot of intrigue on Facebook, and I thought it would be great to sit down with Oscar and have him walk us through what it was like to race...
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PPP Episode 28: 20 Years of ERG Training with Erik Borgnes
Today's podcast guest is good friend and fellow Great Lakes paddler Erik Borgnes. Many of you may recognize Erik as the guy who has dominated the Chattajack 32 race for the past several years. He has also contributed several great blog posts to the surfski universe including boat reviews…
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PPP Episode 027: Safety In Extreme Conditions With Rob Mousley
In this podcast episode we chat all things safety in extreme conditions with Rob Mousley. Rob founded surfski.info based out of Cape Town SA, which is well known as the de-facto global website for surfski information. It is probably best known for the forums which provide an excellent global...
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PPP Episode 026: Crossing the Molokai Channel in SUP, OC1, & SKI with Jen Lee
In today's podcast we connect with Jen Lee to hear the story of how she crossed the Molokai Channel in a SUP, OC1, and Surfski all in one season. If that isn't impressive enough, she only started surfski paddling two years prior and conquered the channel on a properly big day. Jen is an...
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PPP Episode 25: Prepping for the 2018 Gorge Downwind Festival With Race Director Carter Johnson
In this podcast episode I catch up with Carter Johnson Race Director for the Gorge Downwind Festival. In just four years this race has become the single biggest downwind event in the world. Featuring equal numbers of Outrigger Canoe and Surfski paddlers, but a good contingent of Stand Up Paddle...
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PPP Episode 24: Chasing Bumps with Cory Hill
In this podcast I have the opportunity to sit down with one of the best surfski paddler in the world right now, Cory Hill aka Chill Hill. Like most surfski paddlers, Cory is incredibly humble and seems mature beyond his years. Balancing relationships and a full time career, Cory does an...
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PPP Episode 23: Learn to Love the Load With Ivan Lawler
Today's podcast guest is the legendary Ivan Lawler. Ivan is regarded as Britain's greatest canoe paddler of all time, and many argue the world's greatest marathon paddler. Ivan has also been recognized internationally for sportsmanship when in the 1990 world championship he and his partner…
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PPP Episode 022: Oscar Chalupsky Provides a Recap of the ICF World Surfski Championship
In this podcast we catch up with Oscar to get a front row view of the racing at the ICF World Surfski Championships in Hong Kong (i.e The Dragon Run) and the infamous Doctor downwind race in Perth, Australia. This is a relatively short podcast at just over 30 minutes, but as usual, it is always...
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PPP Episode 21: Gorge Downwind Festival 2018 with Carter Johnson
In today's podcast we welcome back Carter Johnson, the affable and infamous creator and director of the Gorge Downwind Champs. In this casual chat we recap highlights from the 2017 Gorge Festival and discuss lessons learned and improvement plans for the 2018 event. If you've been to the Gorge…
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PPP Episode 20: A Journey to the Top with Austin Kieffer
In this podcast I get a chance to chat for the first time with the great American surfski champion Austin Kieffer. In just 5 short years, Austin has gone from paddling a surfski for the first time, to battling it out for podium finishes with the greatest paddlers in the world. He is now a force…
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PPP Episode 19 - All things Cadence with Dr Brendan O'Neill
In today's podcast we sit down with Dr Brendan O'Neill the Chief Operating Officer of Vaaka Cadence based out of New Zealand. As is the case with all the Kiwis I know, it is hard to get Brendan to speak about himself and his credentials, but I did manage to get a little bit out of him. Brendan…
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PPP Episode 18 - Surfski 600 Revealed with Boyan Z
In today's podcast we catch up with Boyan Zlatarev of the Tarifa, Spain Surfski Center. Boyan recently executed a spoof on Social Media known as the Surfski 600 Project. The goal was to get the attention of the paddling community and ultimately drive a mindset shift into how we view the...
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PPP Episode 17: A Return to Structured Training with Sean Rice
Today we connect for a second podcast with the red hot Sean Rice. Sean may well be the fastest surfski paddler in the world right now. He started off the year with a win and course record at the Amsterdam Waterland Marathon, then took his first win at Molokai and just recently won the Nelo Summer...
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PPP Episode 16: Baseline Mobility for Optimal Paddling with Dr Kelly Starrett
In today's podcast we a have the honor of sitting down with Dr. Kelly Starrett—waterman, coach, physiotherapist, and author of multiple New York Times bestsellers including Becoming a Supple Leopard and Ready to Run, as well as his most recent book Deskbound: Standing Up to a Sitting World Kelly...
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PPP Episode 015: Leading through Action with M22 Co-Founder Matt Myers
Joining us on the podcast today is Matt Myers - Husband, father of 2 young boys, co-founder of Broneah Kiteboarding, co-founder of the Hugely successful Northern Michigan lifestyle brand M22 and co-founder of the now infamous M22 Challenge. If all that wasn't enough, Matt is a 5 year Chordoma...
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PPP Episode 14 - Listen, Adapt, Evolve with Pat Langley, Founder of Vaikobi
Joining us on the podcast today is Pat Langley founder of Vaikobi. Pat left a successful career building a large Sailing technical apparel brand to strike out on his own and address what he saw as a big gap in the paddle sports market. Designing technical apparel for the paddle sports athlete.…
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PPP Episode 13 - Gorge Training with Oscar Chalupsky
We recorded this podcast in Oscar's home in Porto Portugal on the last night of a three day visit. In this podcast I ask Oscar to coach me through the training necessary to perform my best racing at the Gorge Downwind Champs. We cover the following: A couple of minor technique tips that I need to...
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PPP Episode 012 - Innovation, Creativity, and Passion with Nelo CEO Andre Santos
Today I sit down with Andre Santos CEO of Nelo Kayaks one of the world largest and leading manufacturers of performance kayaks. While Nelo is a relatively new brand to the US market, on the world stage it has been highly regarded for over a decade as the leading innovator and pioneer in building...
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PPP-Episode-11 - Kenny Howell A True Renaissance Paddler
Today's podcast guest Kenny Howell might just be the ultimate renaissance paddler. In his 38 years of paddling Kenny has been in virtually every type of kayak in every type of condition. A long time Californian with blue eyes, blond hair, and aura of a man who knows adventure, his backyard…
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PPP Episode 10 - Oscar Chalupsky talks AFib
Today we catch up with the infamous Oscar Chalupsky, just a week after he scared the world with a FB post of him in a hospital bed surrounded by nurses and doctors. In our discussion today, Oscar gives us the blow by blow detail leading up to his episode of Arterial Fibrillation. While the…
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PPP Episode 009 - Good but not too good, with Carter Johnson
Today's podcast guest is the always affable, ever insightful, and fun loving Carter Johnson. Carter is now best known as the founder and organizer of the Gorge Downwind Paddle Festival in Hood River, OR. After just two year this festival has established itself as the biggest SUP, Outrigger, and...
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From flat water sprinting to big ocean surfing with Zsolt Szadovski
Today's guest, Zsolt Szadovski started paddling at the young age of 7 years old in Budapest Hungary, in the heart of a country that takes it's paddling very serious. Zsolt was a semi-pro at the age of 14 and continued accelerating up the ranks to the national team at age 17. Unfortunately the…
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PPP Episode 007 - Winning Gold and Designing Great Boat with Greg Barton
In today's episode I sit down with the ever humble, focused, and driven Greg Barton, founder of Epic Kayaks (originally Epic Paddles) and the most decorated US paddler in history. Greg won Bronze in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics then broke a 52 year drought for the US when he won back to back…
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PPP Episode 006 - Passion Precedes Purpose, with Dawid Mocke
In this episode of Peak Paddle Performance we catch up with Dawid Mocke in Hood River just before he heads out to race the Gorge Downwind Championships. This interview comes right on the heels of a victory at the Canadian Surfski Championship where Dawid proved that despite having extensive life...
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Going Deep on Surfing Waves with Boyan Z from Tarifa
Humility Makes the Ultimate Student, which in Turn Makes the Ultimate Coach Today's podcast guest is Boyan Zlatarev from Tarifa. One of the conditions for getting Boyan to come on the show was that I not embarrass him with flattery. So with that, I will just say this… Boyan's humility makes him…
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PPP Episode 004
My guest today is Denny Paull. Denny is a good friend and northern Michigan endurance sports legend. In addition to being a devoted father, husband, and veterinarian, he is one of the most impressive masters class athletes I know. Now in his early 50s Denny continues to dominate xc ski,...
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PPP Episode 003 - Interview with Sean Rice
In this episode we go deep with with world champion and surfski ambassador extordinaire Sean Rice AKA Sean the Prawn For the past several years Sean has been owning the podium in all the biggest surfski races around the world with 3 consecutive wins at the US surfski championships, back to back...
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PPP Episode 002 - Interview with Oscar Chalupsky
In this Podcast, I interview Olympian and 12x Molokai world champion Oscar Chalupsky. Oscar is largely considered the greatest downind paddler of all time. He has been competing at a world class level for 40 years and shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. In fact… Oscar is now chasing bigger...
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Peak Paddle Performance Podcast Introduction
Welcome to the latest adventure at TC SURFSKI. I’ve decided to launch a Podcast series centered around achieving Peak Paddle Performance. I know many of us are on a constant journey to eek out that next bump in paddle performance, whether it be catching more runs, improving your flat water time...