Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
Simon Dominguez will do the heavy lifting by attempting a 30-mile swim from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Farallon Islands while Vito Bialla will take the helm of his escort boat and the Night Train Swimmers will provide the crew support.
But it will be film makers Jack Bushell [shown on left] and Alex Herz who will change the face and image of open water swimming.
18-year-old Herz and 19-year-old Bushell are producing a 30-minute documentary film of Dominguez’s attempt that they describe as “arguably one of the toughest marathon swims in the world.”
The young film makers gained prominence when they produced an music video that went viral. As Herz has written and directed several short films that have been accepted to film festivals, they both saw something in Dominguez’s tenacity to become the first person to swim to the Farallon Islands.
“Marathon swimmers don’t get much public recognition. They swim because they love to swim,” Herz told the Marin Independent Journal. “I love telling stories about people who don’t often get their stories told. In fact, as far as I’m concerned, that’s the job of a documentary filmmaker. That moment was an inspiring one for me, and really reiterated why I was doing this film: not for me, but for Simon and the larger swimming community.”
“We have pretty high hopes for the film,” explained Bushell who will be filming from the water as part of the shooting process. “We are planning on a screening at a Marin County theatre sometime later in the year. We also want to send the film out to a bunch of film festivals around the country and hopefully internationally, as well.”
In order to capture some swimmer’s-eye perspective, Bushell will dive overboard and be in the water with Dominguez. “It’s a little nerve-wracking, but we want some underwater shots. We want to capture the shark’s eye view.”
The pair will use underwater cameras and a remote-control drone to capture some slow motion visuals. “Something about watching a swimmer in his element in slow motion is just mesmerizing. On top of that, we’re working on finding new and interesting ways to light Simon’s surroundings so as to help convey the mood of the swim.”
The mood will undoubtedly show concern etched on the faces of the pilot and crew and discomfort plastered on Dominguez’ countenance. Capturing his pain and suffering, the dark abyss of his effort and the joy of his success will make this swim and its film special.
Copyright © 2015 by World Open Water Swimming Association