63MIX ROUTIN3S | TAI WOFFINDEN

Read the OCT ISSUE #106 of Athleisure Mag and see 63MIX ROUTIN3S | Tai Woffinden in mag.

63MIX ROUTIN3S | SYDNEY LEROUX

Read the OCT ISSUE #106 of Athleisure Mag and see 63MIX ROUTIN3S | Sydney Leroux in mag.

OMG SEASON | J.D. MARTINEZ

It was great to spend some time with NY Mets’ DH Slugger, J.D. Martinez to talk about his playing with the Mets; his nickname 'Flaco;' his go-to workout exercises; his music taste and the OMG team hit anthem; and more.

As a player with asthma, he also highlighted how important it is to consider having a vaccine for Pneumococcal Pneumonia, especially with certain risk factors, such as having asthma.

This conversation was brought to us by Pfizer, who informs that Pneumococcal Pneumonia is a potentially serious bacterial lung disease. Symptoms can hit without warning and take you out for weeks, possibly even landing people in the hospital. You are at higher risk being age 65 years or higher, or 19 and older with certain chronic health conditions, such as asthma, chronic lung disease, chronic heart disease, diabetes, and more, according to Pfizer. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist to see if pneumococcal vaccination is right for you.

Visit https://www.KnowPneumonia.com/ to learn more.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Your nickname is Flaco how did you get that nickname?

J.D. MARTINEZ: My hitting coach when I was in Little League growing up, he was my mentor, Paul Casanova. I was super skinny, and he just started calling me Flaco. That was my nickname. He'd call me Flaco. It's one of those things, through Miami. It was like my code word almost, where like you'd call me Flaco, you knew I hit with Cassie, and I worked with Cassie. (Editor's Note: Paul Casanova's teammates also called him 'Cazzie')

AM: You were diagnosed with Asthma posing challenges way back in Little League, what risks does having Asthma play in sports and what can people do about it?

JDM: Asthma was a big part of my childhood. I remember being in Little League, and I think I was maybe 3 year old when I was diagnosed with it, and being in Little League and trying to play baseball with asthma and constantly being in and out of the hospital, like once a week with my mom and my dad. Throughout my whole career it's just been managing it, and finding ways to manage it, like with medicines and stuff. That's why I'm here today and partnered with Pfizer to help spread the word about Pneumococcal Pneumonia, and how having asthma puts me at over 5x higher risk for the disease, compared to healthy adults age 18-64. So, I got vaccinated to help protect myself and I recommend that everyone with asthma to talk to your pharmacist or your doctor or go to KnowPneumonia.com. It's very important for me. I just know so many kids that should know this stuff playing with asthma.

AM: When working out, what are 3 go-to exercises for you?

JDM: For me, it's turning my hips on, doing a whole hip circuit - a routine that kind of loosens up my hips and strengthens them at the same time. Then from there, I really turn on my core and stabilize my trunk. Then I like to do legs, because they are my weakest part of my body, so for me, I feel so much strength, when my legs are strong, so I like to do legs as much as I can.

AM: What music do you listen to energizing for the game? This whole OMG song really took off!!

JDM: For me, it's kind of whatever is hot at the time. I know sometimes we're in the clubhouse and Winker's putting on some rap, and if we're riding with that, we're riding with that - and feeling like you're Eminem I guess, and you're having fun with it. And for me, EDM, like House Music, with a lot of beats, that's what gets me going. That's kind of what me and Mark Vientos listen to in the gym when we're warming up and activating. And then obviously you got Oh My God, OMG, our victory song, you know, and the whole Iggy thing that happened. (Editor's Note: Met's teammate José Iglesias is also a Latin Pop music artist who performs under the name Candelita). It was hilarious. It was just funny how that whole thing came about..

AM: Sure, well you said you had to hear it first - and then you were like Wow it's good right --

JDM: Yeah I was in Triple-A, and all of a sudden Iggy was like, "I got to show you this song, I got to show you this song." I was kind of making fun of him, I was like, "what are you like Marc Anthony now," because he was being represented by Marc Anthony for some time now, coming up with all of these songs. And he was like, "you got to hear this song," and then he played it for me in the speaker, and he was like, "I think this one is going to be the one that really blows up, like really helps me." I said, "dude, this is really good, I kind of like this! If you get called up to play for the Mets, we're playing this, so you gotta send it to me..' He wanted to play it for the walk up song, and so when he got called up I got it played on the speaker for everyone, kind of in honor of Iggy coming up. And the team was in a fragile state at that point, we weren't playing very well, and we kind of all jumped on board and it became our team anthem I would say. We made it a joke that every time we hit a home run we would play it.. so then they did it, and it kind of caught all of the fans off guard.

AM: We also see you like Reggae music a lot?

JDM: I also love reggae when I'm on my boat!

IG @jdmartinez28

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 52, 56 - 63 + 9DRIP STORI3S PG 60 - 63 NY Mets | PG 54 - 55 Pfizer |

Read the SEP ISSUE #105 of Athleisure Mag and see OMG SEASON | J.D. Martinez in mag.

9PLAYLIST | KELLY CHENG

Read the AUG ISSUE #104 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST Kelly Cheng in mag.

9LIST STORI3S | JORDAN CHILES

Read the AUG ISSUE #104 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LIST STORI3S Jordan Chiles in mag.

TRUE JORDAN | JORDAN CHILES

As we're all enjoying our favorite teams and sports that are taking place at Paris 2024, we have a series of interviews with Olympians that are in this issue that we participated in when we were within the 100 days of the games. We're kicking it off with 2X Team USA Olympics Gymnastics, Jordan Chiles (G1, S1) who competed in Tokyo 2020 and is competing in Paris alongside her teammates Simone Biles (G5, S1, B2), Suni Lee (G2, S1, B1), Jade Carey (G2), and Hezly Rivera (G1), known as The Golden Girls! They have already won a Gold medal from the Paris 2024 games!

We sat down with Jordan to talk about the sport, becoming an Olympian, how much she is looking forward to this year's Summer Games which will have an audience in attendance as well as being able to meet other athletes, and how she maintains self-care! We have enjoyed seeing her floor routines which mix Hip-Hop, Beyoncé, and more. She also has fans that include Megan Thee Stallion, 2X Gold Medalist + 6X NBA Champion Michael Jordan, and Queen Bee herself, Beyoncé.

ATHLEISURE MAG: We have enjoyed seeing you do and it’s great to chat with you!

JORDAN CHILES: Thank you so much for having me! I love opportunities like this and to have the ability to be able to speak with you about my goals and everything like that, this should be fun!

AM: What’s your earliest gymnastics memory that made you love this sport?

JC: I would probably say that I was around 9 or 10 years old and I had really bad ADHD when I was younger. So I always say that gymnastics saved me because I was able to get all of my energy out before I realized that I had a gift and talent and that I would be able to go somewhere with it. I just thought that it was all fun and games so I really just wanted to be able to take that energy to the next level around 9/10/11 years old so it was pretty cool to just take off and to see what else I could do.

AM: I love that!

Everyone has their specialty in the sport, what do you feel are your areas of things that you love to do?

JC: I kind of just love my sport in general. I don’t have a specialty in what I do. I’m just known as the hype woman a lot as people say! I give a lot of energy to the crowd and to my teammates. I just think that being a leader as well and kind of knowing and understanding each and every aspect of what it is to be an athlete – mentally, physically, and so I can say that it’s about me being myself and being authentic to who I am.

AM: You have been on the Women’s US National Gymnastic Team since 2013, what does it mean to you that you have represented your country from the Olympics to World Championships, NCAA Championships with UCLA, and just owning all of the spaces?

JC: Man, it’s been crazy! I can say knowing that I have been on the National Team since I was 12 years old it’s been a whirlwind, a crazy ride, it’s been up and down – the road wasn’t straight or smooth. It was very bumpy and curvy, but I am really proud to say that I represent Team USA and just being able to help the country understand that our sport is such a unique and different thing than it is to other sports in that it’s hard work, it’s dedication, and it’s a simplicity thing to who you want to be. I think that it’s pretty cool. I can say that representing Team USA wearing Red, White, and Blue and always having it wherever I go on my back is definitely something that I cherish for sure!

AM: I have always enjoyed watching your routines and I have literally had tears in my eyes just watching you perform. Whether it’s you in UCLA incorporating Hip-Hop, Beyoncé and all of these different things – what goes into creating these performances and obviously deciding the elements that are involved as well as the music and all of that?

JC: So when it comes to my floor routine, the first one that I had, I was really little and it was Michael Jackson and I did a tribute to him. I think that it’s really about the culture and the music and how pop culture has kind of changed the atmosphere into what it means to putting your own touch and taste to it – your own piece – like your cherry on top you know? It’s like you have this awesome sundae and you want to put that cherry on top to show who you are! So, when it came to my music, obviously I just want to be able to not only get the crowd involved, but also to take it back for them. Because they are watching and if they hear something that they’re like, “oh my gosh, I remember when I was in high school listening to this song,” that is what I do, whether it is Beyoncé, the 90s, taking it back to the Michael Jackson days, or even bring in superheroes! I’ve done that too! It’s pretty cool to put my own touch into everything.

AM: When you competed at the Summer Games in Tokyo and you came home with a medal, did you always imagine that you would be on that stage?

JC: I always imagined that I would be an Olympian for sure and go to the Olympics, but I didn’t believe whatsoever that it would be in Gymnastics! Back in 2008, I told my mom when we were watching the Olympic Games, “you know what? One day I want to go to the Olympics!” Back then, I didn’t know what sport I was doing, I was young. So, knowing that it was for Gymnastics and I was able to bring home a medal, being there in that position and being on that stage – not a lot of people get to experience that and I am beyond proud of myself for sure. I can just say that the little me would be very proud and to be able to continue on with something that I have always dreamed of.

AM: What are the challenges of being an Olympic Gymnast and what does an average day or week look like when you’re training and preparing for the upcoming Summer Games?

JC: Obviously, it’s a little different. My first Olympic Games, I was really a nobody! Knowing that I am going into this 2nd Olympic cycle with an Olympics under my belt, it’s different for sure! But, I am still doing everything that I was doing just like it would be my first. I have been taking it day by day and month by month. As we’re talking right now, we are under 100 days away! Knowing that makes me just like ahh – oh my gosh this is so crazy and I’m doing this all over again, but it definitely is a mental game and for someone like me who's kind of already been through it, I know what to do, but for others that maybe this is their first time trying out for the Olympics, just take this moment as this will always be something that you will be able to cherish. Just take it piece by piece, remember your why, and that’s how I always think of it every step of the way.

AM: With it being less than 100 days to Paris 2024, what does it look like in terms of your schedule for qualifying and other things on the Road to the Olympics.

JC: Knowing that we’re just a few days away as I will say it like that because it just sounds more reasonable! Right?

AM: Right!

JC: We have a competition this week which starts off with the Core Classics. Our season actually started at the beginning of Jan, but unfortunately, I was unable to compete due to a shoulder injury that I had. So this meet that is coming up this weekend is my first meet that will put me on the platform to show people where I am at, what I am doing, and to give our head people an understanding of where – if I am picked – where I can be on the team. Obviously, 2 weeks after that, we have Championships which is a really big meet as well and then about 2 and a half weeks after that, we have Olympic Trials. That will be where they pick the Olympic Team and the Olympic Alternates. It’s definitely a fast cycle for us. We are one of the last Team USA sports that do – besides Track & Field, that we are the last to find out who gets to go!

AM: Yeah, we’ve been watching other sports on Team USA that are already confirmed and we keep checking for you guys to see when those announcements will be.

JC: Yeah, us and Track & Field, we’re always the last to figure out what the team is. But I feel that that is the coolest part of it because it’s like, “ooo who is it going to be?” It’s also motivating to see other people that have already made it so it pushes you to think that you want to make it so that you can meet some of the other people who will also be there as well! It’s a great process and I think that the qualifying part is the biggest that you will ever experience.

AM: In terms of Paris, what are you looking forward to?

JC: Well, knowing that I have been to Paris already a few times, I still think that every single time that I get off the plane, it’s just beautiful. I love being out there! The culture, the atmosphere, the designers, everything fashion – it’s just amazing! I think that the biggest thing is just enjoying and having an Olympic Games that will be normal. In Tokyo there was COVID and we didn’t get to do a lot and just to be able to go around the Olympic Village with people and being able to have an audience and to enjoy the Olympic experience. So I am truly looking forward to that! Also being able to get to meet people we didn’t do that last time. I hope that I will be able to meet a basketball player or a volleyball player, golf or whatever it is and to be able to experience that!

AM: With that time being so close, you have partnered with Bliss. What is the synergy between you and the brand?

JC: So Bliss felt very natural to me. It felt like it fit in with who I am trying to be and especially with their commitment to self-care which is a very key thing to me whether it’s in your skincare, your beauty, taking a nap you know? Having the ability to just embrace who you are and with their Lemon Sage Body Butter, it’s definitely a game changer for sure. I feel very confident, elegant, and smooth who I am. It’s just a nourishment for sure and being able to have Bliss as a partner within my daily routine, makes me feel like a brand new person every single time!

AM: I have to say that I am a long time fan of this scent and that product and you get that luxury feeling when you put it on.

In terms of self-care, what do you do? I know that you’re always traveling and you have a schedule so what do you do to take that time so you have moments for yourself?

JC: A lot of times when it comes to self-care, it does come to beauty and you want to take that time to feel as beautiful as possible because you know that this world is very crucial and it does take a whirlwind on you. Within my self-care, I like to take time to myself. It could be sitting in my room and drawing, whether I’m looking at a Netflix show and binge watching and just being by myself because I am around a lot of people 24/7 so sometimes taking that sound and putting it away helps a lot. I take naps! I take naps all of the time! If you don’t know where I went, and you don’t see me at all – it’s because I’m asleep in my room napping. That’s how I do self-care for myself or sometimes I go shopping. Retail therapy is the best!

AM: How do you keep your skin looking and feeling hydrated especially when you think about travel, doing all of the movements when you have perspiration and the chalk you use? Looking at your skin right now, obviously you’ve got it down as your skin is glowing and it looks beautiful.

JC: Oh thank you! With the hydration part, I do a lot of intake of water because as a gymnast, we sweat a lot. I mean I’m not really a sweater but when it does come to working out, always grinding, we lose a lot of salt so, that does make our skin very dry and brittle. Also the magnesium we’re around in our chalk, it takes moisture out. So because of all of that, I drink a lot of water and I make sure that I am always moisturized no matter where I go! So whether it’s a lotion or a scrub or whatever it is, even for my lips, I keep everything hydrated because I am always in chalk! I don’t like chalk already because it’s nasty so that hydration, it really comes in to make you feel good. I wake up every morning, I wash my face, I do my whole skincare and if I forget to put my moisturizer on, oh I go crazy! I’m like my face is going to fall off! So I make sure that I am taking everything in for sure!

AM: Are there any kind of projects that you have that we should keep an eye out for as obviously you have an amazing schedule coming up and we can’t wait to see that! But is there anything else that we should know about?

JC: I can say that there is this one thing that is coming into play and I can’t really say a lot without saying a lot! It’s definitely going to give a perspective on when you feel you have done so much in your life that you can help others so I will leave it with that! So just keep an eye out on it and I feel that a lot of people will be able to take a lot from it. They will understand what it is like to be an athlete and to be someone that is more than just an athlete!

AM: What do you want your legacy to be whether it’s in the sport or outside of it? As you just stated it’s not just about being an athlete, it’s more than that.

JC: I think the legacy would be more so that I was always having fun, I always - I don’t like to say this, but I wasn’t always a rule follower. I always did things outside of the box and just enjoyed being the person that I was, being authentic to who I am as a person, and knowing that there is only one you and that nobody can change that. I think that the legacy is who you are, what you want to do in your life, and how can you control that within yourself!

IG @jordanchiles

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 66 Team USA Facebook | PG 71 + 9PLAYLIST PG 76 Team USA | PG 74 Bliss | PG 78 + 63MIX ROUTIN3S PG 80 Jordan Chiles |

Read the JUL ISSUE #103 of Athleisure Mag and see TRUE JORDAN | Jordan Chiles in mag.

COOKING FOR CHAMPIONS | CHEF ALEXANDRE MAZZIA

There are so many elements that surround the Olympics, each time the world's best athletes showcase their passion, dedication, and commitment to their sport. With a range of activities that take place, we love finding out more. We had the pleasure to chat with Chef Alexandre Mazzia who is the chef/owner of AM Par Alexandre Mazzia the hottest 3 MICHELIN Star restaurant in Marseille and a former professional basketball player, and he will be one of 3 top French chefs who will be preparing 40,000 meals in the Olympic Village during Paris 2024!

We wanted to find out more about his days as an athlete, his continued love of basketball, how he got into the culinary industry, AM Par, being at the Olympic Games and even being able to take part in running with the Olympic flame as a Torchbearer!

ATHLEISURE MAG: You spent your childhood in the Republic of Congo. What was that like and what about living there shaped the way that you looked at the world?

CHEF ALEXANDRE MAZZIA: I was born in Pointe-Noire in the Congo, at the Clinique des Manguiers. My cooking is neither Congolese nor Marseillaise, but it is inevitably somehow influenced by its environment, with most of the products coming from the Marseillaise environment. It's this Marseillaise and Congolese luminosity that is imprinted.

Spices and chilli are things that are now part of French cuisine that weren't there a few years ago (6-7 years ago). Today, people are a bit more assertive. I leaned on my roots, on the person I was, because it's true that I can't go against who I am. So it was important for me, in a natural way, to transcribe my cooking. And my cooking is described through the roasting, through the chillies, through the spices that are fundamentally who I am.

So, I'd say that my cooking is sparkling, distinctive, sincere, transparent, but yes, it's influenced by my childhood, my entire career, and, above all, by a great intensity.

AM: You graduated with a science degree, but for a time, you were a professional basketball player while you were navigating working in the culinary industry! When did you realize that you wanted to be a chef?

CHEF AM: My journey into the culinary world isn't as straightforward as many might think. Initially, I pursued a science degree, which was a completely different path. Interestingly, during that time, I also had a stint as a professional basketball player. It was a unique period when I was balancing my passion for sports with an emerging interest in the culinary arts. The transition from being on the basketball court to standing behind a kitchen counter wasn't immediate. It evolved over time as I became more immersed in cooking, discovering it as my true calling.

My realization that I wanted to be a chef dawned on me gradually rather than as a sudden epiphany. While playing basketball, I started to explore cooking more seriously. It wasn't just a hobby; it was a passion that kept growing, compelling me to delve deeper into the culinary world. Despite the stark differences between the two fields, I found that both required a similar level of dedication, creativity, and perseverance.

AM: Where did you train and what were some of the kitchens that you worked in prior to opening AM Par Alexandre Mazzia?

CHEF AM: My career path is one that can be called atypical. Immediately after my baccalaureate, I was lucky to attend a cooking school where I learnt the basics of cooking and general knowledge of the Hospitality industry. It gave me a chance to master the practical skills of cooking. After that, I acquired several diplomas and certifications, with a specialisation in pastry, chocolate and candy manufacturing. I got those diplomas while alternating school classes and work. It allowed me to build experience very quickly while discovering a world I felt I belonged to.

From that time on, I started accepting myself more. Since I came from abroad and only arrived in France at the age of 15, in the beginning, I used to be very independent. Cooking allowed me to travel a lot and open up. And then my passion became more than a passion. It became the source of my inspiration and motivation from which I learnt all my knowledge - practical and theoretical. It helped me learn about general culture, people, and Chefs and understand better the different cultures present around the world. Not just on a country level but regionally too. I also got to understand a great deal about “savoir-faire” (know-how) varieties making the base of French cuisine. It allowed me to have a strong knowledge foundation on the matter. As I travelled, I got to discover new flavours and become more aware of the importance of textures in cooking.

AM: How do you define your style of cooking and what influences it?

CHEF AM: My cooking blends spice, smoke, and chilli, linking to my childhood in Pointe-Noir, Congo, to my life in Marseille. My signature spice mix includes galangal, ginger, and cumin, enhancing the flavour and depth of each dish. Smokey aromas from burnt woods like vine shoots and olive tree add complexity, while my knowledge of over 45 types of chillies introduces a dynamic tension and variety in heat and flavour. I wanted this culinary approach to celebrate a fusion of oceanic and smoky elements with a vibrant chilli kick.

AM: You opened AM Par Alexandre Mazzia in 2014 in Marseille. What do you love about Marseille and why did you want to open your own restaurant?

CHEF AM: AM Par Alexandre Mazzia is a glimpse of my soul. It is about discovering myself through my cuisine. There is a wordplay in the name of my restaurant, in all subtlety, is a display of transparency and authenticity. It is a place where I give the best of myself, as I am devoted to its guests.

AM: What does it mean to you to have received your first Michelin star in 2015 after your restaurant was open for a year, your second in 2019, and your third star in 2021 for AM Par Alexandre Mazzia?

CHEF AM: All awards that my restaurant has won are equally important to me. Each award represents a recognition of our hard work, dedication, and commitment to providing the best dining experience to our guests. The awards have also motivated my team to perform at their best and maintain the high standards that we have set for ourselves.

There's no real success here. It's just a continuation of work that's been going on for many years. And I think that the way of looking at things was a bit different before, or the way of operating was different before. Today it's part of a collective vision, in other words, we've opened doors. We've given the keys to a way of working, but also to a totally personal way of operating.

I'd say that success is the fact of being, of doing just what you are with complete transparency, but with passion. It's a unique cuisine, my cuisine. It's so personal that I don't think anyone else can do it. So that's why people from all over the world want to discover it, why we've won all these awards, and why these awards represent our know-how.

AM: For those that have yet to dine at your restaurant, tell us about the ambiance that we can expect when we walk through the doors?

CHEF AM: At our restaurant, we offer a unique and memorable experience with 8 tables that seat up to 22 people and a team of 26 dedicated individuals. Our cuisine is "transversal," bringing together the best of local produce from fishermen, farmers, and tableware designers. Our dishes are created using a personal "alphabet of taste" developed from my own experiences. It is an extraordinary experience that many guests have never experienced before.

AM: You believe in the Triangle of Tastes - tell us more about this and how it weaves into your dishes.

CHEF AM: My cooking blends spice, smoke, and chilli, linking to my childhood in Pointe-Noir, Congo, to my life in Marseille. My signature spice mix includes galangal, ginger, and cumin, enhancing the flavour and depth of each dish. Smoky aromas from burnt woods like vine shoots and olive tree add complexity, while my knowledge of over 45 types of chillies introduces a dynamic tension and variety in heat and flavour. I wanted this culinary approach to celebrate a fusion of oceanic and smoky elements with a vibrant chilli kick.

AM: You are 1 of 3 French Chefs that will be catering the Paris 2024 Olympic Games - this is such an honor, but as someone who has been an athlete, what does it mean to you to be able to serve your country and the world in this way?

CHEF AM: I think it's a source of pride, pride for me, for my family, pride for the people, to represent France for the duration of the Olympic Games. It's a way of showcasing expertise, a signature, and a career. I think that I'm always thinking of people transmitting everything that I've done, which showcases a whole range of skills that are, I would say, quite simply unique.

AM: How long have you been planning what you will make and can you tell us some of the items that you plan on cooking? When it comes to meeting the neuro-nutritional challenge of feeding athletes, what have you been keeping in mind?

CHEF AM: I'm first and foremost a chef, so our unique know-how is our ability to adapt. We adapt on a daily basis, we're there to serve our customers, it's our daily job to adapt to the allergies of diners who don't eat this or that product. But beyond that, when they came looking for me to take part in the Olympic Games, of course, I knew very well that I was going to be working for the athletes, so I needed all my work over the years with the nutritionist, sports doctor, physical trainer, mental trainer and a certain federation of different disciplines so that I could have as many skills as possible to satisfy the demands I was going to have. So it's true that I worked for the athletes. It wasn't necessarily more complicated. All I had to do was concentrate on the tastes and flavours and simply be myself, just as I am in my everyday life. What I think and what the OCOG and Sodexo Live! wanted to achieve was to find someone who represented their region and, above all, who had a sporting background and who was bound to be able to adapt in a simple way. It's about putting our expertise at the service of athletes, for their performance and recovery. It also means playing for a team, playing for the "Olympic Games" that are taking place in France.

IG @alexandremazzia

@jeuolympiques

@paris2024

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Chef Alexandre Mazzia

Read the JUN ISSUE #102 of Athleisure Mag and see COOKING FOR CHAMPIONS | Chef Alexandre Mazzia in mag.

63MIX ROUTIN3S | DIANA TAURASI

Read the JUN ISSUE #102 of Athleisure Mag and see 63MIX ROUTIN3S | Diana Taurasi in mag.

ATHLEISURE MAG ISSUE #102 | WALTER MENDEZ

In this month’s issue, our front and back cover story is with couture designer, Walter Mendez of Walter Mendez Atelier. He is known for his stunning creations that spans RTW, bespoke, and bridal collections that have been worn by Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, socialites, and more! We talked about how he got into the industry, his passion for his creations, his recent exhibit in Beverly Hills.  

We caught up with Supermodel Chanel Iman who attended Miami Swim Week to hear why she likes this season of shows, her favorite shows that she has attended recently, and where she's traveling to this summer.

We caught up with 3X WNBA Champion and 5X Team USA Women's Basketball Gold Medalist Diana Taurasi as we talked about how she fell in love with the sport, what it's like to prepare for her 6th Olympic appearance when she is currently in season with the Phoenix Mercury, and more.

We enjoyed seeing Reza Diako in The Diplomat and Tehran. We wanted to talk about playing Apostle Philip in S4 of The Chosen as well as upcoming projects. We also wanted to know how he came to acting, his approach to playing his characters, and upcoming projects.

We know that the Summer Games is only a few weeks away and as the athletes prepare, we caught up with 3 MICHELIN Star Chef Alexandre Mazzia who will be be at Paris 2024 bringing his culinary talents to the Olympic Village for the athletes. We talked about his background, how he defines his cuisine, being an Olympic Torch bearer and more.

Like many of you, we're so excited for S3 of FX's The Bear! We talked with castmembers from the show to talk about what we can expect as all episodes are streaming now!

If you have yet to watch MGM+'s Hotel Cocaine which takes viewers back to the late 70s/early 80s to The Mutiny Hotel which was considered the Studio 54 of Miami. We had the pleasure of talking with the Creator Chris Brancato and Director Guillermo Navarro as well as 2 of the leads from this show, Yul Vazquez and Danny Pino that focuses on the sex, drugs, disco, and drama of the era!

Fans of 9-1-1: Lone Star will enjoy our conversations with Julian Works who is also starring in the film, The Long Game. We got to hear this movie buffs favorite films, his approach to playing his characters, and more.

We always enjoy talking with our favorite actors and hearing about projects that they're working on. In addition to Maria Camila Giraldo's appearance in Netflix's Griselda and other upcoming movies including one with Al Pacino, we also wanted to know more about her nutritional brand, Fungiments which she created out of a personal need for her health.

This month was a busy month and in addition to other things on our schedule, we have recaps from NYC Pride which we are proud to be media sponsors for our 8th year, we also attended Governors Ball to enjoy 3 days of music, food, and good vibes, as well as Bar Convent Brooklyn where we connected with our friends in the spirit and hospitality industry at this tradeshow as well as epic after parties.

We also interviewed singer/rapper Dei V who just released his latest album and has worked with a number of people including Karol G. We wanted to know how he became an artist as well as his creative process and his current tour.

This month's The Art of the Snack comes from Blu on the Hudson a short ferry ride from NYC with epic views of the city and phenomenal seafood that we can't wait to enjoy!

This month's Athleisure List comes from JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa and Juice Generation which just launched their Juiced Gelato that we are fans of. 

This month’s 9PLAYLIST comes from EDM DJ/Producer, Kygo and Dei V. This month we have our 9PLAYLIST MULTI from Reza Diako who shares songs, books and podcasts/TV/films that he is enjoying. Our 9LIST STORI3S comes from our cover star, Walter Mendez as well as Supermodel, Chanel Iman for their must-haves in beauty, style, and fitness. Our 63MIX ROUTIN3S comes from WNBA's Diana Taurasi and Costume Designer Allyson Fanger who shares their routines that they do, enjoy, and have Morning, Afternoon, and Night. This month's THE 9LIST 9CH3FS and THE 9LIST 9B-L-D comes from ChefTimothy Silva of Pineapple Club, Chef Victor Chen of Kintsugi, and Pioneering Woman's Ree Drummond. 

Read the JUN ISSUE #102 of Athleisure Mag.

DEDICATED & BOLD | SUNI LEE

Avid readers of Athleisure Mag know that we enjoy sharing interviews with amazing Olympians with you! As we countdown to Paris 2024, we took a few moments to catch up with 3X Olympic Medalist for Team USA Gymnastics (G1, S1, B1), Suni Lee! We enjoyed seeing her fulfill her Olympic dreams at Tokyo 2020.

As she prepares to take on joining the Olympic team for Paris 2024, we wanted to find out about her passion for the sport, how she got into it, what the next few weeks look like in terms of qualifications, how she goes about training, what she is looking forward to should she make the team, and more!

ATHLEISURE MAG: When was the moment when you fell in love with gymnastics and what do you enjoy about this sport?

SUNI LEE: Well, I started gymnastics when I was 6 years old. It just started by watching a lot of YouTube videos. My dad and I were always constantly trying new flips and then my mom just decided that it would be a great idea to put me in gymnastics because at the rate that I was going, it was getting a little dangerous in the house. I just started competing and I moved up levels pretty quickly and that’s just when I knew that I loved gymnastics and I stuck by it ever since.

AM: Oh wow!

How has that journey been with you competing at Auburn University and then obviously being on the Olympic team during Tokyo 2020 and being a 3X Olympic Medalist?

SL: The journey has been absolutely amazing. You know, a lot of people talk about winning the Olympics, but I honestly think that the journey has been the most important part and the most memorable part, just because it took all of those years and all of the work that I put in to make it to the Olympics. Going straight to college right after that was such an amazing blessing – I absolutely loved college and getting to have a team and just having a team environment. The Auburn community was just truly amazing! You will never find something like that ever again and I’m just so blessed to have been a part of that.

AM: What’s that feeling like when you realized that you’re going to represent our country in Tokyo at the Olympics?

SL: I just remember being in shock! It felt so surreal, I was just over the moon. I was so happy and it just felt like everything was finally going into its place. I just worked so hard for it and for it to just be able to happen and to just be like in the palm of my hands, was the best feeling ever.

AM: A lot of people don’t understand that there are a lot of things that happen podium to podium. So what does your schedule look like in terms of what you are doing for qualifications or meets to make your way to hopefully being at Paris 2024?

SL: So we have a bunch of qualification competitions coming up. So we start off with US Classic and then from US Classic, we qualify to Championships and then Championships there are a number of people pulled from the top of competition which allows you to qualify for Olympic Trials. For that, I believe that the top 2 are automatically put into the Olympic team. Then the remainder of the people are selected so it’s very competitive.

AM: I can’t even imagine!

How is it for you to be able to train, to be able to be part of this and to juggle your personal life? Because obviously you do more than just being a gymnast. So how do you do all of this and to keep it together.

SL: Yeah, it’s been a little difficult because obviously it’s like everybody’s first time doing this so we’re all just trying to do it together. It’s been super exciting just to be able to have the opportunity to work with other brands, but then also to be able to get to go home and to be able to do the sport that I love and train every single day for one of my biggest accomplishments. That’s just something that helps motivate me I guess for the future.

AM: What does an average day of training look like for you? How many hours are you spending?

SL: 3 days a week, I train 8 hours plus an extra hour of strength and conditioning and of course, I have to do like physical therapy to make sure that my body is feeling great and then another 3 days out of the week. So it’s Mon., Tues., and Thurs. I go 8 hours and then Wed., Fri., and Sat, I do 4 hours.

AM: Although you haven’t made the team yet, but if you do, what are you looking forward to in terms of this next Olympic cycle?

SL: If I were to make this next Olympics, I think that I would look forward to having a crowd!

AM: Oh yeah!

SL: Yeah, unfortunately at the last Olympics, it was during COVID and we didn’t have anybody come to our meets and it just didn’t really feel like a competition.

AM: Yeah.

SL: I think that that’s the one thing – like our families and friends giving us that support! I’m just hoping that I make it so bad.

AM: With such a busy and focused schedule, how do you take time for yourself and making sure that you’re checking in with Suni and what’s going on with you?

SL: I spend a lot of my off time shopping or hanging out with my friends. I love journaling, I love working out. So, I do try to balance it out as much as possible. If I have an off weekend, I do try and spend it with my family and friends. Just trying to catch up, I love spending time with my siblings. I really just try to stay in touch with my body and my mind at all times.

AM: Are there any projects coming up that you would like to share that we should keep an eye out for?

SL: I don’t know if I can exactly share what I am working on, but I will say that I have been super blessed and it’s amazing that I get these opportunities to work with some of my favorite brands because I never thought that I would be able to. So that is just something that I will always look back on! It’s like Batiste, it has been super amazing to work with them and exciting because I use their products on a daily basis! So to work with them is just so amazing.

IG @sunisalee

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Suni Lee

Read the MAR ISSUE #99 of Athleisure Mag and see DEDICATED & BOLD | Suni Lee in mag.

9PLAYLIST | LIONEL MESSI

Read the FEB ISSUE #98 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | Lionel Messi in mag.

ATHLEISURE MAG ISSUE #94 | LAIRD HAMILTON + GABBY REECE

In this month’s issue, our front and back cover story is with Pro Beach Volleyball Athlete, Gabby Reece and Ultimate Waterman, Co-Inventor of Tow-In Surfing, Laird Hamilton. Both have been models, TV personalities, producers, etc and are Co-Founders of Laird Superfood. We talked with them to find out more about Laird Superfood as well as XPT, products that they are focused on as we continue into fall and holiday, and how they balance their coupleship with the work that they do. We also interviewed the first African American principal at ABT, Misty Copeland. She talks about the sport, how she uses her platform to amplify ballet voices, and more.

This month, we have a number of culinary stories that we're so excited to share with you. We covered Food Network's New York City Wine and Food Festival presented by Capital One. We give you an inside look on the events we attended as well as including interviews we have with Chef Brooke Williamson (Chef/Owner - Playa Provisions), Chef Antonia Lofaso (Chef/Owner - DAMA Fashion District, Scopa Italian Roots), Chef Andrew Zimmern, Chef Robert Irvine, Chef Philippe Chow (Chef/Owner - Philippe by Philippe Chow), Chef Franklin Becker (Chef/Owner - The Press Club Grill), Chef Alain Allegretti (Partner Culinary Director - Fig & Olive), Chef Alez Guzman (Chef/Owner - Archer & Goat). We also cover the Concorde Hotel as they were a great partner in this story as we enjoyed a staycation there while covering this food festival.

Our food coverage continues with Hortus NYC in addition to this month's The Art of the Snack which brings the Hamptons to the city, Sagaponack. This month's Athleisure List comes from Paros Tribeca which makes you feel like you're enjoying a Grecian getaway, along with Seasoned Vegan which has opened recently in the East Village. We also caught up with Gaby Dalkin who is known for her take on food to tell us a bit how we can prepare for holiday entertaining as the season is around the corner as well as her latest cookbook. We also talked with Doreen Winkler, a noted sommelier who will bring orange wines to her 2nd Annual Orange Glou Fair. We talk about her boutique, her passion for orange wines, the event, and mroe.

This month’s 9PLAYLIST comes from EDM DJ/Producer, Miley Cyrus. Our 9LIST STORI3S comes from EDM DJ/Producer, Honeyluv and from DJ/Producer/Rapper/Singer/Songwriter, Jesse McFaddin. Our 63MIX ROUTIN3S comes from icons Laird Hamilton and Chuck Norris.

Read the OCT ISSUE #94 here.

THE SKILL OF IT ALL | ELIZABETH BEISEL

As we're less than a year away from Paris 2024, avid readers know that we enjoy chatting with Olympic athletes whether they're still competing or have retired from competing, but are still in the community. We caught up with 3X Olympian (Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio 2016), 2X Team USA Swimming Medalist, and Team US Olympic Team Captain, Elizabeth Beisel. Known for the individual medley as well as the backstroke, we wanted to find out about her Olympic experience, the importance that surfing has as a sport as well as a skill that has served her, how she works with USA Swimming Foundation to ensure that the next generation is able to swim and potentially be able to become athletes in the sport as well! She also talks about the importance of representation and inclusivity in the sport. In addition, we find out what she has been up to, her partnership with Dermasport, embracing her second passion as a violinist, and more.

ATHLEISURE MAG: I’m so excited to be able to talk to you as I enjoyed watching you during your Olympic journey and watching you compete and I know our readers are going to love to know more about your passion for the sport, competing, and what you’re up to now!

ELIZABETH BEISEL: Thank you for having me and I just want to say that it’s an honor to talk with you as you’re a bad ass!

AM: Amazing and thank you!

When did you first fall in love with the water?

EB: Honestly, 6 months old! I went to the Mommy and Me classes at the YMCA. I grew up in Rhode Island which is the Ocean State. So luckily, my mom and dad had the means to put me into the YMCA Mommy and Me classes and introduced me to the water at an early age. I swear that I was the only baby there that wasn’t screaming bloody murder! I love the water! I would only sleep if I was in the water that day. Like it became a thing. I think from the beginning, I was in love with the water and that never left me. I did other sports and other activities growing up, but I think that stuff happening in the water was where I was most comfortable and passionate. So, that was pretty much my entire life!

AM: I love hearing that!

EB: It’s great!

AM: You specialized in the backstroke and are known for your individual medley. What was it about these specialties that you wanted to compete in them?

EB: So, a lot of swimming, you don’t necessarily get to choose the event, the event chooses you. What you're good at is what you morph into. For me, I was one of those swimmers with the individual medley which is all 4 strokes in one race (Editors Note: the medley includes the backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle). So I had pretty solid strokes across the board. But backstroke is definitely the one that I excelled in the most. So, since a young age, I kind of always swam all 4 strokes and then I really of honed in on the middle distances which is where my body thrives. I’m not necessarily a long distance swimmer, but I definitely have no sprint fibers in me. Like, I cannot run fast in a sprint, I can’t swim fast, it’s just who I am. I really found that happy medium in the 400m races and it really was just a matter of, “oh wow, I’m really good at these strokes,” in these events compared to everybody else. Why don’t I start focusing on these in practice and swimming on them more in meets. It’s kind of a snowball effect.

AM: I love hearing that as we have interviewed a number of Olympic swimmers and I have never asked how they chose that particular one. But I like that you’re saying that it kind of finds you.

EB: Yeah, trust me, if I had my choice, I’d be swimming a 50 free and be done in 20 seconds, but my body is not made for that!

AM: You’re a 3X Olympian, you have 2 Olympic medals, you’ve served as the Olympic Swimming Captain. What was your Olympic experience like for you and what did you love so much about it?

EB: I think that each Olympic experience was super different and for many different reasons. You know, my first one I was 15 and my last one I was 23. So that’s a completely different human! It was such an honor to be able to reach the pinnacle of the sport that I loved so much and be able to compete in it at that highest level for our country. I remember watching the Olympics when I was 7 years old on TV and having that be the first moment where I really grasped what the Olympics were and how monumental they were in my sport. I knew that I wanted to do that one day. That was my goal and I knew that I was going to make it happen. I’m just a small town kid from Rhode Island, I didn’t grow up in a family of Olympians and swimmers. I’m just like a lot of us where you have a dream. Maybe the fact that I was 7 years old and that kids have that beautiful way of just thinking nothing is impossible, I kind of went for it. I was like, “yeah, why not me? Of course!” It ended up being such an incredible experience and standing up on the podium, winning Olympic medals for your country and doing it alongside your teammates is so special. I have met the best people through my life in the sport of swimming. I think we’re forced to be pretty humble because, well, swimming is not an A-list sport. It’s not football, it’s not soccer, it’s not baseball. So we have once every 4 years to kind of shine at the Olympics and then nobody really cares about what we’re doing. We don’t make any money so it’s really a group of people that do it because they love it. I think that breeds a certain type of person and archetype. It’s just like the blue collar hardworking type of people that are really in it because you love it, not for the money, or the fame, or any thing like that. It’s just, “yeah, we love to swim.” Longwinded answer – Olympics are amazing!

AM: So, we always love knowing how athletes stay fit and obviously, you’re in the water which is a huge part of it. What are the workouts that you do in and out of the water when you’re training or even now when you’re doing what you do?

EB: I try to lift weights twice a week. I know that that doesn’t sound like much. When I was swimming, I was lifting 2-3-4 times a week depending on where we were at in the season. Towards the end of my competitive swimming career, I started implementing yoga and I’m now a certified yoga instructor, I love it that much. What I found while I was an athlete and now, and I still consider myself an athlete even though I am not actively competing, is that I leave yoga feeling so calm and like it’s almost like it’s opened up my body obviously, and my mind as well. I see things clearer, I think clearer, and it’s super relaxing. I’m kind of a 1 million miles a minute type of person so I need an outlet and something to force me. Because I’m not going to do it at home. I know myself. I’m not going to put on the meditation and do it at home. I wish I could. But I need to go somewhere and have somebody leading me and once I discovered yoga, not only did it help me athletically because you need to be stretching and you need to be opening your body and your muscle tissue. It helps with recovery a lot, but my mind too. It helps me slow down and shut off and just give myself that parasympathetic nervous system a break. So I would say yoga, lifting, and then I try to walk. It sounds simple, but I think that walking is good and I like to multitask and if I have calls, I will do it when I’m walking. So just nothing crazy to be honest and I think that’s the thing about Olympians, people probably think that we’re doing this out of the box really fancy stuff and it’s like, “no, we do the exact same thing that you guys do, we just do it 40 hours a week.” Instead of you doing it on the weekend or an hour here or there. But yeah, it’s just taking care of my body or anybody’s body is when you’re going to feel better. So that’s why I move now, because it makes me feel good.

AM: It’s so funny because I have probably been doing yoga for the last 15/20 years or so and once I went to my 40’s I went from a love/hate relationship to desperately needing it because like you said, it’s calming your mind down and having someone else stopping me and forcing me to do the things that I do. Hot yoga is my jam!

EB: Same! Oh my God! Give me a hot power vinyasa and I’m good!

AM: Same! I get so happy with it, it breaks me down, and I can quiet everything around me and I so appreciate it now versus in my 20’s I was like this is something to do for my mobility and flexibility. Now it’s like, no I need it.

EB: Exactly, this is like water and I need it.

AM: So you partnered with Dermasport. Can you tell me about the brand and why it was synergistic with you to work for them?

EB: Ok. So Dermasport is a skincare brand so it’s face wash, moisturizer, eye cream, and SPF. It’s designed by swimmers for swimmers. Right off the bat, synergy. Throughout my entire swimming career, I was always struggling to find – especially sunscreen, I was swimming at the University of Florida and I ended up swimming there for 8 years.

That’s 8 years of swimming under the sun outside and I really struggled finding a sunscreen that wouldn’t smudge my goggles and I know that that sounds crazy, that would stay on during the entire practice, would protect my skin, and on top of that, the chlorine itself is so bad for your skin. It strips away every good oil and thing that you have on your face. So I was struggling to find a post swim face wash that really felt like it got everything off. Not only the residue of the sunscreen, but also the chlorine that had seeped into my skin. Once Dermasport came out and approached me, and sent me samples for me to try out, I tried it out for a good 2 months indoor and outdoor swimming. I knew that this was the stuff. It was like I was the one going to them asking them that if they wanted me to do anything, to let me know. I think another thing is that element of protecting your skin. I lost my dad to cancer 2 years ago, although it wasn’t skin cancer, it was a huge wake up call for me being like, you’re healthy until you’re not. You’re cancer free until you’re not so what am I actively doing that’s preventative and ways that I can alleviate the possibility that I don’t ever end up having cancer. So sunscreen has been like, it doesn’t matter if it’s a cloudy day, if it’s the dead of winter, it’s part of my morning routine now. So it just really hit a lot of the elements that I am really passionate about in my life and so it was kind of one of those things where I was like the universe just bestowed this upon me and I thought it was beautiful.

Of course, since retiring from competitive swimming, I really started to surf a lot now that I have time in my life to do things. It’s mineral based, the packaging is either recyclable aluminum or post consumer recycled bottles so I feel good about it across the board. It’s the best!

AM: That’s amazing!

What’s your discipline in surfing? What are you doing in surfing? Are you doing wake boarding or looking for the ultimate big wave?

EB: Well, I interviewed Carissa Moore once so you and I have that in common!

AM: Yup!

EB: I’m sure you had the same experience, she was the nicest person in the world!

AM: She was our FEB ISSUE #85 this year and it was on Super Bowl Sunday and we had a huge tie zone difference and she was the loveliest person.

EB: Exactly and I was in Tokyo for the Olympics 2 summers ago and I was working with NBC and of course it was surfing’s first time in the Olympics. Carissa wins and part of my job was interviewing the athletes after they won. Carissa was not in a rush, she never made me feel like I was annoying her and trust me, the amount of press that she did on that day, like she did not need to talk to me. She was just phenomenal and she was beautiful and lovely as a human!

I have been doing it for a few years now and it’s been really awesome because I love learning new things. I took to surfing easily because of my paddle strength and my arms. So I’m getting better I did a surf trip in the Maldives for a month in April and the thing is with anything, if you’re not doing it consistently, you’re not going to be better. Here where I am in Rhode Island, we get Hurricane Season waves in the fall and then nothing for 10 months. So, I’m trying to go on more trips to get better, but the camaraderie, the culture, I just love it! It’s amazing.

AM: Do you think that you’ll go to Nazaré?

EB: Ha! I’ll watch! Listen, I love to live my life and be alive! Like you know what’s even crazier Kimmie? The tow people with the jet ski! They have to be equally trained, if not more! You know, it’s unreal!

AM: HBO's 100 Foot Wave, but you see it and you’re like, holy shit!

EB: I know right?

AM: What does your partnership look like with Dermasport? Are there events coming up or is it just organic integration?

EB: A lot of it is organic. Obviously I have been sent the product as I need to use it in order to talk about it. We’re going to do some appearances at a lot of Masters meets so that is basically older swimmers just because I feel that those are really the people that are tuned into taking care of their skin and their health whereas kids may be a little harder. Mom says use your sunscreen and the kids are like, “but I’m invincible, why do I need that?” And then, just like genuinely and organically posting about it. I’m at the point in my life that if something doesn’t align with me, I don’t give it my time. We have too many things going on in our lives and so this is one of those things like I said earlier where it just hits every pain point in my life that I am genuinely passionate about – swimming, being in the ocean, surfing, and being in the sun. I’m a lifeguard too and I sit in the sun for hours throughout the day. My connection to cancer and so it’s a really genuine partnership. I’m so excited to be involved.

AM: So tell me about Block Cancer. Why did you want to launch this, what is this lifestyle brand, and what can we expect to see from it?

EB: I’m so excited! It launched July 19th. So I’ll give a quick backstory. When my dad was going through his diagnosis and treatment, I was going through all of the books and cancer had never touched my family. I didn’t know what to do and I was super green in that world and all the things I read said to give something to your loved ones to look forward to. So I thought that I had this amazing swimming platform and there’s an island off the coast of Rhode Island, that only 2 people have ever swum to and no female had ever done it. So I was like, “this could be something cool.” I could share my updates with dad and we called it Block Cancer because the island is called Block Island. It’s like a play on words.

Unfortunately, I did the swim, but my dad passed away before I could complete the swim. I know that he knows that I did it because I fully believe that he was there that day. But after the swim, we were like we had this modest and humble goal of raising $5,000-$10,000 and we raised $665,000 all going to in lab cancer research. That was my thing.

I didn’t want to be funding the renaming of a hospital wing, that’s not my jam. If there's no funding there's no research, no research, there’s no cure. So how can I bridge the gap between the oncologist and the researchers and actually making some progress. So after completing the swim, sitting on it for a little bit, digesting what had happened with my dad and all that stuff – I was really looking to relaunch it and I didn’t really know what that looked like. What it turned into being organically was this collaboration of creatives all designing really cool designs for Block Cancer and selling the merch and donating 90% of the net profits to a non-profit that I have worked with my entire life that funds lab research. It is 100% going to in lab research and I get to be apart of the vetting process and the grant writing process so it’s really really awesome. It’s not just hoodies, hats, and bracelets, but it’s also chemo hats, scarves, port shirts, and cancer care packages. I wanted to do something that really put the cancer patient first. I have also compiled resources like cancer diagnosis resources, grief resources, and when you get a cancer diagnosis, what the hell do you do? What questions do you ask, who do you go to and what do you do when you lose somebody?

For the past year and a half, I’ve been compiling all of that, putting it together and it’s just been this real passion project. It’s never felt like work. It’s a way for me to stay connected to my dad. Actually, Dermasport to bring it back in, we’ve been in talks to have the sunscreen be sold on Block Cancer and maybe a portion of the net-profits go to the Block Cancer Fund. It makes sense right? You use sunscreen and it protects you in skin cancer. Again, Dermasport fit in seamlessly to this beautiful passion project that I am working on and it felt like this beautiful symbiotic relationship. It’s all good stuff and I’m so excited! I have literally, my eyes are all over the place the place – I’m not a website builder, but I have done all this work myself because I don’t have an investor. I don’t have 15 grand to pay for a website developer. So it’s been actually great because I have learned a ton. I've learned skills that I otherwise wouldn't have had.

AM: That’s great, because when you do all of the stuff, as you bring people on, you know exactly how long it takes, what it is – because when you can do it yourself, the person who you bring on who definitely has the skills to be able to do that should be above and beyond what you can do.

EB: Of course! Yes, absolutely. I think that the website came along great.

AM: What other projects are you working on beyond Dermasport and Block Cancer? Are there other things that we should keep an eye out for?

EB: Actually, super exciting news! So I mentioned earlier that I did other activities growing up. So I grew up playing the violin. That was actually my equal love to swimming. But it always had to take a backseat to swimming because I would always choose swimming. So violin is beautiful because it is something that you can always do for the rest of your life. So I’m in a band called Laden Valley and we’re developmental, super early in our stages. But we got asked to play Newport Folk Fest – we’re a folk band.

AM: That’s huge!

EB: Yeah! Huge like Brandi Carlile, Paul Simon, we’re the opener on Fri of Newport Folk Fest and this is like – if this goes well, in the folk world if you’re playing Folk Fest in Newport, you’re doing well!

AM: Oh I’m well aware, that’s why I perked up!

EB: Yeah and we’re very excited, I got all of my outfits planned and I’m like, what are we wearing? So it’s me and 3 other guys and so I’m picking the outfits and the color scheme and they all have can match me.

AM: That is so exciting congratulations!

EB: Yeah and it’s one of those things where this – I don’t want to jinx it. But I truly believe that maybe it could be something, but we will see! It’s by far the biggest crowd that anyone of us have performed in front of. I think it’s 8,000-10,000 people, but for us, it’s like huge and it’s so exciting!

AM: That’s exciting! The Newport Folk Festival is amazing and I knew what it was as soon as you said it as they don’t let just anyone play it. This year it’s Lana Del Rey, Jon Batiste, Maggie Rogers, that’s amazing.

You do so much! How do you give back to the sport that you originated in and how do you give back to the youth that is coming up?

EB: Yeah, so I’m an ambassador for the USA Swimming Foundation and that’s the philanthropic arm of USA Swimming so what we are trying to do is save lives and impact communities. Saving lives is – ok we know that swimming is a fun sport and we get to win Olympic medals and stuff, but at the end of the day, nobody gets into the sport of swimming to become an Olympian. They get into the sport because it’s purely a skill. It’s a life saving skill, but if you come from a socioeconomic background, culture, or city where swimming isn’t really a part of your life or the people that you’re surrounded with – you’re not going to learn. Formal swimming lessons reduce the risk of drowning by 88%.

So it’s like, I don’t know if you heard the story of the quarterback a couple of weeks ago that drowned in the NFL. But what I try to tell people is listen, the water does not discriminate, it doesn’t care if you’re an Olympian, it doesn’t care if you’re an NFL quarterback, it doesn’t care if you’re a 5-year-old. You can drown. So what we do is basically go around the country on a tour and it’s every May. We provide grants to local Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCA’s and we’re like, “here’s $15,000. We ask that in the next year you provide transportation to kids that cannot afford swimming lessons. You bring them from school to the YMCA or the Boys & Girls Club whatever it is and you get them in the water and you teach them how to swim.” I kind of call myself the out of town hero right? We go there and it’s inner city kids in Detroit or in Chicago. They have never seen a pool before, we make it all shiny and fun for them, but it’s like there’s some follow up here. We’re kind of the catalyst and you just have to continue it. So that’s been really rewarding to give back to the sport. At the end of the day, those Mommy and Me Classes that I took with my mom, they’re weren’t about me winning medals. Not at all! They were for me to learn how to swim and to be safer around the water.

That's been the way that I have given back in the past few years since being done.

It’s awesome because it’s also a diversity thing. You watch the Olympics, there is 1 Black person on the Olympic Swim Team. There’s 1.

AM: Yup.

EB: Like, what a microcosm of society right? Because that is what swimming looks like. So, it’s like, we’re trying to come in and we have Cullen Jones – have you ever met Cullen Jones (2G, 2S)?

AM: No, I have not, but I want to!

EB: He was literally my first friend on the National Team. He’s my big brother. I cannot say enough good things about him. Cullen, the first Black person to win an Olympic Gold medal in swimming, to break a world record, the first of everything! He’s kind of like the face of this tour. To be able to do this on the road with him and to watch, because I can say something, but I’m white. It’s not going to resonate as much as when he does it. Watching I get chills, watching him talk to an entire auditorium of kids who honestly may not even know what the Olympics are, but he gets through to them because he can relate to them and they go into a pool and they’re inspired to learn how to swim. That’s what it’s all about. It’s so incredible! So, I mean that this is a 100 year project!

AM: Oh yeah! That’s why representation is so important you have to have what needs to be reflected and if you have 1 maybe you get 4 and then 10. Like you said, it’s going to be 100 years for sure.

EB: Yeah, it’s always safer around the water. It’s never completely safe as I said earlier, you, me – no one is completely safe. Being around and having that impact on the sport and who it is accessible to is like – that is way more than any Olympic medal – it’s saving lives.

AM: Can you tell me about the Lead Sports Summit and what your involvement is with them?

EB: So Lead Sports Summit was founded by one of my best friends on the Olympic Swim Team, Kara Lynn Joyce (4S). She saw a need for a summit for just women and female young teenage athletes. So 13-18 and she gets the all-star team from the Olympic Team. The heavy hitter names that you watch on NBC at the Olympics come to Lead Sport Summit and we have breakout groups, we have panels, we have really open and honest discussions and we give these teenage girls a safe place to talk about stuff that maybe they are dealing with on their team, in school, with relationships at home, it’s a judgement free zone. It’s cool because I think there is an element of humanizing Olympians and what we do. Maybe it’s inspiring because of what we do. It’s like, “oh wow, I was putting Katie Ledecky (7G, 3S) on this pedestal and I thought that she was untouchable, but now that I have met her, spent time with her, and I know she has dealt with the same issues that I have dealt with – now this scary thing that felt impossible is possible! It is something that I say to Kara all the time that she needs to have one just for adults because I would go. I tell her too that by the end of the weekend, I have cried 48 times and I feel that I have gotten more out of it then the actual teenage girls did! Also, I’m not in the social media world that they are in. You and I did not grow up with those same pressures.

AM: Exactly.

EB: So it’s super eye opening to hear them talk openly about the pressures that they feel from social media and society. It gives me chills and makes me say, how can we help? It’s an incredible event and it’s over Labor Day Weekend every single year. Kara is opening it up to other sports now and it’s taking on a life of its own which is really beautiful and I will be at the one in DC which is over Labor Day Weekend this year.

AM: That's fantastic!

EB: Yeah and I think that it’s sold out. Which doesn’t surprise me as it’s done that every single year. It really is worth every single penny. It’s the best!

AM: I love that when people empower and infuse people. Even if something is for a lower age group, I always say that I feel like we’re adulting while we are dealing with our own traumas that are unresolved.

EB: Yes! There’s some stuff that happened to me 15 years ago that I should probably figure out!

AM: Without a doubt!

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PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Elizabeth Beisel

Read the AUG ISSUE #92 of Athleisure Mag and see THE SKILL OF IT ALL | Elizabeth Beisel in mag.

IN & OUT OF THE POOL | NATHAN ADRIAN

We are 1 year away from the Summer Olympic Games in Paris 2024! There is nothing like that time of year when we cheer for our favorite athletes as they make their dreams a reality! This month, we caught up with Nathan Adrian 8X Team USA Swimming Olympic Medalist (5G, 1S and 2B). We enjoyed seeing him in Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio 2016. We wanted to catch up with this freestyle swimmer to find out more about how he got into the sport, competing in it, his Olympic experience, safe sun that allows swimmers to enjoy being in the water without sacrificing their aesthetics, how he gives back to the sport, and how he continues to advocate for men's health.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with the water?

NATHAN ADRIAN: Oh haha, you know, I think before I was even old enough to make memories to be honest. Some of my earliest earliest memories are my mom going and doing laps and I would just turtle on her back and just cruise around. It was something that was just always deeply engrained in all of us as a family. My sister is 8½ years older than me, my brother is 6 years older than me, so it’s something that I was born into and it wasn’t just something that us as a family picked up.

AM: That’s amazing!

When did you realize that freestyle was going to be something that you wanted to continue to do and excel in?

NA: Oh yeah, good question! So like, swimming overall – freestyle is what I gravitated towards and I had a really good situation and set of coaches that gave me what I needed at that particular time in my life and my development as an athlete. So when I was young, it was just fun times and it was all games, happy smiles and lots of energy. That transitioned into games and also, “hey, let’s set some goals and try to focus while we’re here. Let’s try to show up more,” and that kind of thing. Then, eventually, it was, this is my life and this is how I did it. I set goals, I worked really hard, and through that, that’s how I think that I fell in love with that process. It also me as an individual, looking back, swimming was the perfect thing for me. I had a lot of energy, it helped me focus and it also allowed me to set those big goals and then you set those little goals and if you’re good at it, you can set little goals for every month of practice, every week of practice and down to everyday of practice. If you achieve that, whether you achieve them or don’t achieve them, if you reflect and then you figure out how you can be better, that’s just like a little puzzle that you’re trying to optimize and to figure out how you can be the best athlete that you can be.

AM: So true!

Did you always dream about going to the Olympics?

NA: So that started when I was watching the 2000 Olympics. I was about 11 and then in 2004, I was trying to qualify for the Olympic Trials and I did not and then in 2008, I was like, “hey, I’m 19 and I know that it’s kind of young, but maybe I can do this if the stars align.

AM: We enjoyed watching you and to know that you have participated in the Olympic Games of Beijing, London, and Rio where you medaled as an individual as well as a team of where you swam along with Lochte, Phelps, Murphy, and all of these amazing people, what was it like to work with those people and those various teams?

NA: Oh that was awesome! I feel very very blessed. I really got to experience what I consider to be one of the highlights of Team USA dominance in the sport. You know, people who were around during the 70s and stuff, they would argue back pretty hard core, but that’s ok. This is what I would call the modern era of swimming let’s call it that. There were guys like Michael Phelps (28X Medalist 23G, 3S, 2B), there was Jason Lezak (8X Medalist 4G, 2S, 2B), Aaron Peirsol (7X Medalist 5G, 2S), Ian Crocker (5X Medalist 3G, 1S, 1B), Brendan Hansen (6X Medalist 3G, 1S, 2B) – oh my gosh, these guys had world records in each of their events and then in my 2008 team, I was with Dara Torres (12X Medalist 4G, 4S, 4B), Katie Hoff (3X Medalist 1S, 2B) at the peak of her game, I was with Natalie Coughlin (12X Medalist 3G, 4S, 5B) when she won. There were so many athletes for me to watch and learn from. It was absolutely incredible for me to be part of that and especially on that 2008 team, that was a transition for me from being a fan to actually doing it on that international stage. So I got to see my heroes and watch them, talk to them, hang out with them, and be a part of their team. As you move on from that, as with all things, you see the times that swimmers are going so fast as they are now. You take what they did and try to bring it in to what you’re doing and make it better!

AM: What were some of your favorite moments in competing or just being with them?

NA: Oh gosh, I think that there’s a lot! I mean, I have 8 medals so those are obviously a favorite moment. The ones that aren’t just as public, are those that happen when you are with a team or a group for 3 or 5 weeks all day everyday – like summer camp for adults! But we’re all there for a job with a very, very serious purpose so there’s not much messing around. Whether it be someone I think playing a prank in 2008 and they put a cicada in the trail mix bag which was pretty funny. I mean it’s pretty gross because they’re so big!

Another one in 2012, I roomed with Matt Grevers (6X Medalist 4G, 2S) which is one of my best friends to this day. He looked at me and after we both won, he was like, “dude, think back to a year ago, who would have bet on us besides our parents?” You know? Special moments like that are awesome because in 2011, I didn't medal in any of the individual races and Matt didn’t even make the World Championships team – so we weren’t even on the radar for winning. But here we are at that point, we won gold and we’re preparing for the 4 X 100 medley relay after that. So that was really awesome.

Just eating in the dining hall and experiencing that. World Championships is similar, but not the same as the Olympics. The Olympics are just that special feeling because you have every sport there and to just people watch and to enjoy that. You can watch the pride that people have in their country and as they are getting ready to compete and do what they can to win those medals that’s just something that’s really special.

AM: Obviously swimming is such a great way to meet your fitness goals. Here at Athleisure Mag, we like to ask athletes what you like to do in and out of the water to stay fit that we can add to our fitness routines?

NA: You know, I actually think that one of the things that we did was a lot of good mobility. I actually find myself that after pouring that first cup of coffee, I will just do a really deep lunge hold. My hip flexors, I’m sitting in a chair right now, I need to stretch these hip flexors out. I’m probably not going to do it here at work, but in the morning is a great time as you’re getting your mobility going. Same thing with doing some thoracic spine mobility. Again, this is before my daughter and my wife is awake, I’m just sitting in the kitchen doing Spider-Man stretches which are different rotational stretches. It really is that if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it! I want to be able to keep that mobility and then I do my best to get pops of strength in.

Certain days when I can’t get into a weight room, you need to activate those muscles, you do a push up, a bodyweight squat, you can do a single leg squat – find an overhang and do a pull up. Do something just to activate it and keep those muscles moving. I’m in a pool right now, I work in a pool, but I just try to do it. I’m telling you what I want to do, and I don’t always live by it. But I do try to get into the pool and do some aerobic stuff because you’ve just got to keep that heart rate up and keep it moving.

Definitely another thing that if you don’t use it, you lose it! That’s where Dermasport really comes in nicely because I’ve used it. My break is usually smack dab in the middle of the day and we’re coming in on a California heat wave right now so it’s about to be bright and sunny and I’m swimming in it. So I need to wear my sunscreen and then afterwards, I need to be able to take it off so that I don’t look funky when we’re talking to kiddos and giving them lessons and things.

AM: How did your partnership with Dermasport come about and what was it that you felt was synergistic between you and the brand?

NA: Well, the partnership came about because I was actually working with somebody with some goggles and they knew about Dermasport and they introduced me to the team. They sent me a trial package and I loved it. I grew up in Seattle, so we were doing sunscreen over the summer, but I didn’t have that 365 exposure to the sun that we have here California now. So when I moved down here, it was like, what do I do? Everybody was just like zinc, zinc, zinc – everyone looked like a ghost, the creases in your elbows looked all white even though you scrubbed and did that whole song and dance. I tried this and it’s zinc sunscreen, but it also moisturizes my face and I feel better after I put it on as well as more hydrated than I did before – which is awesome. Then, you do the cleanser which gets it all off and then the moisturizer afterwards as it’s very refreshing. I mean, it’s a product that’s made for swimmers. Even though I’m not still swimming internationally, I'm still very much so a swimmer. I'm a swimmer in California that needs to protect my face. My sister is actually a derm PA so she’s constantly reminding me on my sunscreen. I’m like, “no, no – I got it covered. I’m doing what I can to protect my face from the sun.”

AM: What will you be doing with the brand in terms of clinics, partnerships etc. that people will be able to see?

NA: I think that we’re still working on that and developing it. There’s actually a meet coming up here that I’m hoping – I mean we just got the product launch happening, so if I can get my hands on some, I’d love to go and see some of those master swimmers and let them try. I mean, this is one of those things that I know that people just need to go and try it. You need to just get your hands on a sample, try it, and it will absolutely blow you away with the way that your face feels when using this sunscreen as opposed to the other ones that are made to be in the water. I will say that certainly other people have made sunscreens that make you feel hydrated, that make you feel nice, but this is something that’s taking a beating! We’re in chlorine water and the sun so it has to have some staying power and it does!

AM: Are there any projects that you’re involved in that you would like to share that we can keep an eye out for?

NA: Honestly, right now, I’ve got my hands full. My life has changed a lot since I was done competing. I have 2 daughters now, so that’s definitely a project, I’m here at the Swim School and we’re running swimming lessons trying to teach as many kiddos to swim as we can. I still do a lot of stuff with the USA Swimming Foundation, traveling around especially during Water Safety Month talking about the importance of swimming lessons and how it can save lives.

I also do a little bit of men’s health advocacy. You know, I was diagnosed with cancer and it’s kind of an uncomfortable thing to talk about for some people and I’m pretty comfortable talking with people about it especially because it was testicular cancer (Editor’s Note: At the age of 30 in 2018, Nathan was diagnosed, it was caught and treated.) and I think that there is just a cultural barrier for people – for men specifically to 1, see the doctor and 2, to talk about an issue with their reproductive organs. Most of the time, when testicular cancer is diagnosed, the patients know that something was wrong pretty well in advance. It’s really sad in that way when you talk to doctors and they’re like, “yeah, so many people wait and wait and they wait until their lower back is hurting or they’re coughing up blood because it spread and they just didn’t know.” You can just be out there whether it’s a blurb on the bottom of the ticker tape on ESPN or whatever it might be and say, “hey, testicular cancer is a thing and it affects young people too.” That’s something that means a lot to me.

AM: How do you give back to the sport to the next generation of people coming up?

NA: Well, I was in the water for about an hour today teaching kids how to swim! I have another couple of lessons coming up later on today around 1pm. I mean, just doing what I can! I feel very blessed. Summer is an absolute marathon, just because it’s summer time and that’s when we can run all day long because kids aren’t in school. But it’s an absolute dream come true to be able to do something that I love, to be able to spread my love for the sport and to maybe ignite some passion in some others as well as give a life saving skill. It’s the only sport that is a life saving skill! I just feel so lucky to be able to wake up and be excited for what I’m able to do and to feel good about what I do every day.

AM: What do you want your legacy to be in the sport or in general?

NA: I don’t know. People who ask me that, I thought that I would have a better answer by now. I think that just thinking about it off the top of my head, like I was talking about in 2008, me taking what other people were doing at that time, making it their own and making it better. Just being a small piece of that – maybe the athletes of today saw something that I did or how I approached my swimming. It doesn’t have to be that every athlete has to do their swimming the way that I did. I think that that is something that I learned back in 2008 where I said, “oh, ok I can’t do that.” I can try this, or this might work or I can see myself doing something like that could work. For those that see themselves in something that I do, them taking it and then working with their coaches and then bringing that further and further. The cool thing about swimming is that we’re still setting World Records pretty regularly. I mean track and field is pretty fun and super exciting, but – the 100 meter dash there hasn’t been a World Record in quite some time. So that’s what I love seeing. People pressing it further and further.

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PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 52 + 55 Courtesy Narthan Adrian | PG 56 Stephane Kempinaire KMSP DPPI Icon Sportwire | PG 59Zumapress/Icon Sportswire |

THE DESCENT | LAURA MCGANN

Prior to the release of Netflix's The Deepest Breath, we had the pleasure of watching the screener for this documentary film that not only brings us into the world of freediving, the relationships between freedivers as well as safety divers, but the dedication and the complete use of the athlete's body when they are competing. We are introduced to Alessia Zecchini who is known as the Deepest Women on Earth at 123 meters, 38X Freediving World Record, and 17X World Champ. We also meet her safety, Stephen "Steve" Keenan who was passionate about this sport as well as protecting the freedivers who continue to trailblaze in this sport.

For those that may not be aware, we wanted to give a bit of background on the sport as well as some terminology. Freediving is the practice of holding your breath when diving underwater without the use of breathing equipment, such as a scuba tank. This takes on more meaning when you realize that prior to Alessia winning the 2023 AIDA Oceanquest Philippines in Camotes Island, she broke a world record in the Bifins discipline during the 2023 Secret Blue International Depth Competition in the Philippines by achieving a 109 meter dive in 3 mins and 38 seconds. She broke her own 2-day old record of 107 meters set on a 3 min 26 sec dive in March and surpassed the previous AIDA record by a 10meter margin. Her world and Italian records are definitely astounding and even more so when you realize that this is done by simply holding your breath as depths are being navigated!

In this sport, there are blue holes which are a large marine cavern or inkhole, which is open to the surface and has developed in a bank or island composed of a carbonate bedrock. They can be an oasis in an otherwise barren seafloor. Blue holes are diverse biological communities full of marine life, including corals, sponges, mollusks, sea turtles, sharks, and more.

If you have yet to see this documentary film, you can stream this now on Netflix, but this interview may have spoilers. We sat down with the film's director, Laura McGann to find out about why she wanted to share this true story, bring this sport to life, show how one trains to do it, and to transport us to phenomenal locales around the world.

ATHLEISURE MAG: What drew you to want to direct The Deepest Breath and how did you find out about this story?

LAURA MCGANN: Look, I love the sea and we moved to live by the sea because we love swimming all year around and it gives me a lot. I’m a better person for the sea for sure!

So I suppose, that I would be attracted to anything about it and I remember seeing it in the Irish Times and I didn’t know what freediving was and I had to Google it. I was met by these incredible images of humans behaving more like dolphins and holding their breath for what felt like forever. It was kind of like learning that there was a group of people who had cracked the code on flying and that they had just learned how to fly! I was like, what? So it started there and then I learned more about Steve and Alessia, that’s when I really felt like, oh God this could be an incredible story, an incredibly cinematic documentary and if I were possibly able to tell it in the moment, and go on their journey with them – Alessia the World Champion freediver and Stephen Keenan an expert safety diver and their lives are just so incredibly dramatic and also just really inspirational. Just seeing that if you just live your life a little bit differently, follow your dreams – what it is that you can end up doing!

AM: When we first heard about the movie, there was a general sense of what freediving was but the first 5 or 10 minutes of actually watching your film, you get the depth of the intensity of what the film as well as what the sport is about! It really puts you in awe about all the things that have to come together to compete in this with holding that breath and really using your body as an instrument.

How did you immerse yourself in being able to really know about what the sport is and to get those moments so that as a viewer, you’re able to translate those anxiety filled moments as you’re watching it?

LM: Well, I suppose I came to this not knowing anything. It was really a long time before I would see a freediver with my own 2 eyes! It would actually be years, about 3 years and so the free divers from all over the world, held my hand and spent many an hour explaining to me over Zoom on what they did, why they did it, how they did it and how it all was. Then eventually, the first place that we went to where I saw Alessia dive was in fact the Blue Hole in Dahab, Egypt. One of our participants in the film, Kristof Coenen, he describes it as like putting his head in the water for the first time and holding his breath and all the shit from daily life just vanishes. I was at the Blue Hole and I looked in the water and I saw all of the little fish and the coral and I was only up to about my hip, but then I swam about 5 meters out and then all of a sudden, it just drops like a cliff for about 100 meters deep from 1 meter to 100 meters – just like that! It was an incredible blue, the kind of blue that calls you down and so getting to see that for myself, experience it for myself, I think it was really important as the filmmaker that I could kind of grasp something from it and try to bring that onto the screen.

AM: From an organizational standpoint, the way that the film reveals itself is really interesting and it tells a deeper story. You have so many people that talk throughout this film. How did you coordinate it all as it must have been massive?

LM: I suppose that part of it was that we had the pandemic which stopped us from doing a lot, but it also allowed us to do a lot as well in terms of the research and being able to spend so much time talking to them. It allowed us the time to really sit with the story and I would use our Zoom transcripts to piece together, kind of as a script to see what people were saying and to figure out the best way to tell this story in the most compelling way and to try to figure that out. And really, just to do it justice.

AM: What’s the big story that you want people to walk away from in terms of having the freediver and having the safety diver, what is it that we should be getting from that?

LM: I suppose that one of the things is to open people’s eyes up to what humans can actually do as that’s just fascinating! To watch that play out in someone’s life, to see them develop the skill, but it’s also like, 2 people that had this wild streak, this curiosity for the life and this world and just living their life in a way that was different from the way that it was expected or would have liked from their parents. Going on that journey with them is a bit like living vicariously through Steve and Alessia and doing something that maybe a lot of us would not be brave enough to do, but perhaps should be!

AM: We’re taken on a journey of a number of locations in this film. What were all of the locations?

LM: Oh my God, it was incredible! Freedivers know how to choose locations and they were more like that of a Bond film! So we started in the Blue Hole in Dahab and we went to Dean’s Blue Hole on Long Island in the Bahamas – it’s a 200m sinkhole. It’s just stunning. We went to a number of cenotes (Editor’s Note: Cenotes are a natural pit, or sinkhole resulting from the collapse of limestone bed rock that exposes groundwater. This term originated in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, where cenotes were commonly used for water supplies by the ancient Maya.) in Mexico. I didn’t even know what a cenote was and looking at some of the footage from Daan Verhoeven, he’s a freediving cinematographer – I had seen these incredible images. Our main image is of Alessia swimming up towards the light in a cenote and I remember seeing images like this from Daan and asking him, “Daan, what’s this?” He explained that it was a cenote in Mexico. So it was just such an incredible learning curve for me. Then, filming off of the Caribbean Sea off of Mexico as well with the freedivers along with incredible freediving cinematographer Julie Gautier, she would with the safety and the divers, dive down to 30m, pop back up, show me the shot, I would be holding onto a noodle on the surface and I’d say, “that’s great Julie, could we just do that one more time, slightly different?” She’d say yes and pop back down to 30m and then come back up again. It was like having a fleet of dolphins on our crew. That’s what it was like!

AM: What was your favorite moment of this production?

LM: Oh God, there has been many really! Many moving moments. I would struggle now to name 1. It was in the Blue Hole in Dahab and as I said, it was our first shoot and it was my first opportunity to see what it was all about and it was swimming out over that cliff like I was saying to you. There was that moment when I was looking down at the fish and then it broke down and away into 100m. It was just this blue that went on for forever! It looked more like you were looking into the sky or something and you could see for 30 or 40m. You could see fish and that was just a moment that I will never be able to forget for my entire life! There were core memories made there in that moment.

AM: What was the most difficult part of this production?

LM: For me, I would say, getting it right. It was really important to me, not just as a filmmaker, and as a film that people would be able to get something from and enjoy. But for the people that are in it. It was just really important to me that Peter, Steven’s dad and his family, Alessia and her family were happy and felt like it reflected their memories of what happened and that it was true and it was fair. That was something that was always at the forefront of my mind and it was really important.

I wouldn’t say that it was a difficult thing, I would say that it was extremely important that we would have to look after.

IG @netflix

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Netflix/The Deepest Breath

Read the JUL ISSUE #91 of Athleisure Mag and see THE DESCENT | Laura McGann in mag.

WAVES OF CHANGE | KAI LENNY

This month's cover is with 8X standup paddleboarding (SUP) champion, and accomplished legendary waterman, Kai Lenny. He has mastered big wave surfing, windsurfing, bodysurfing, hydrofoil surfing, kitesurfing, SUP, prone paddling, and more. Where there's water, he's there enjoying all that the elements can give him as he utilizes his athleticism to navigate it. He's known as a hydrofoil surfing pioneer and was one of the first wave riders to self propel himself into a wave, ride it, kick out, pump his foiling gear back in the sea and then catch another wave! He has had a number of accolades from winning the WSL Men's XXL Biggest Wave Award and the Men's Overall Performance Award in 2019, in the same year he was inducted into the Surfer's Hall of Fame and named Surf Industry Manufacturers Association's Waterman of the Year, in 2020 in addition to winning the Men's Wave of the Day, Team Champions trophy at the Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge at Praia do Norte and also received the Biggest Wave and Performance of the Year at the 2020 Big Wave Awards to name a few.

We caught up with Kai while he was in Bali to talk about how he became a waterman, his career, his partnerships and the projects that he's working on from the Life of Kai to his focus on sustainability.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with the ocean?

KAI LENNY: I think that the ocean – I feel like it was just in my veins when I was born because it comes down to the circumstances of where I emerged into this world which was in Hawaii, in Maui, to loving parents that had a real passion for the ocean. When you’re that young and you’re just kind of taking in basically the world that your parents have created or that you’re a part of, you end up becoming your environment. I knew no better then to have a love for the ocean because the culture of just being in Hawaii and it was like being outside, just playing in the waves and riding in the wind – that was just normal. My love, I think it was there before I even knew. I mean in the description, I knew that my parents loved me and I knew that I loved the ocean. That was how I found and felt loved.

AM: When did you decide that you loved doing all of this, and that you wanted to take those passions and make it into a career?

KL: You know, pretty much early on! Obviously, there was no social media back then, you had DVDs, VHS tapes, magazines. My super heroes to me were not comic book heroes, because I actually have real life ones that were these incredible athletes that surfed, wind surfed, kite surfed, rode giant waves because the people that I was looking at in the magazines and in the movies, because I was able to see them also in person, because I was growing up in the mecca of watersports, it really was something that I immediately wanted to do! I remember when I caught my first wave by myself when I was 4 years old, it was like, that’s what I want to do for the rest of my life. I don’t care what it takes, I just want to be able to do this. It’s just that my life has just evolved in that direction. I’m totally living the dream right now!

AM: We love to hear that!

As a waterman, you have mastered so many modalities from being a wind surfer, SUP, and more! Why is it important for you to be this versatile and to use the water as such a big canvas?

KL: I just think that I looked at a waterman and a waterwoman as being somebody that can do anything in the water – ride waves from 2ft to 100ft, also being able to go below the surface of the water and to be a fish in a way! So, the ocean really is a place that can provide everything for somebody to survive and to live and to enjoy. I think that that is really a testament to ancient Hawaiians and how they sort of figured out one of the best ways of living life and their whole culture was surrounded by the ocean and not only – very few cultures in the ancient world allowed time for leisure and play and fun. The Hawaiian culture did that so kind of just taking what the ancient Hawaiians did before and fortunately, we live during a time of modern advancements and technology so that all of the toys and the fun equipment evolves and there’s more opportunities to see sort of a different face of the same sort of book or cover. You can ride a wave 50 different ways and it can feel like 50 different experiences, but the spot is the same exact one. So it’s all about perspective and how you come into it and at the end of the day, it’s about riding waves, riding wind and having fun and making the most of our time on this planet!

AM: Well, do you remember your first big wave or what you felt at that time was your first big wave?

KL: Well I mean, going way back, I think that waves are relative you know? When you’re I don’t know, 8 years old and you’re riding a 15ft wave, that’s a big wave! My first wave when I was 4 years old, by today’s standards, it would have been maybe chest high for me now which is very small! But when you’re 4 years old, and you stand less than 2 feet tall, it felt like a giant wave! I think that that’s what I love about surfing and what I love about wave riding in general, everyone is a big wave surfer in a way. You only discount yourself as a big wave surfer when you start comparing yourself to others. Because there is always someone out there who’s going to ride a bigger wave probably. You know?

AM: Right!

KL: It’s not something that you can get in on any given Sunday, there’s a bit of luck involved in getting the single biggest wave, but I have always found that at a certain point, above 50ft, it all just feels the same. It just feels gigantic. But yeah, my first legitimate big wave which would be my career starter was when I was 16 years old and it was at Pe’ahi also known as Jaws, on Maui. It's the Mount Everest of big wave surfing, the best big wave in the world with my heroes, Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama – they took me up there for the very first time. I was riding a hydrofoil board, but back then it involved snowboard bindings and so the consequences were extreme, but that sort of was the first day of my big wave career and so I have been surging giant waves every single year since!

AM: If you had to choose, what is your favorite watersport?

KL: I think that that is a really difficult one, it’s like, picking a finger for me, you know? It’s like, which one would you want to chop off, you know? I sort of like all my fingers, but you know at the same time, trying to describe the sensation of these sports, is like trying to describe to somebody a color that they have never seen. It’s hard to explain as each one in their own way is very special and unique and in the right conditions, that sport that I would be doing is my favorite in the entire world. Sometimes when you try to force a sport and not in the right conditions, it can still be fun, but it’s not like when the conditions line up. If I considered myself an ocean mechanic, and I had a tool chest of all of these different tools, one wrench is not going to help me fix the entire car necessarily or work on the entire car. So, it takes having many tools to kind of get to the point of riding the wave in the best possible way that I could imagine.

But that being said, if I could choose at this point, the most ideal condition to be in, it would be the culmination of every single sport that I do which is riding a giant wave on a tow-in surfboard going 55 miles an hour – I think that that sport is born of every sport that I do on a daily basis and it’s the type of sport that doesn’t happen every single day. You only get a handful of times per year to participate in something like that. So that’s like the pinnacle or the culmination of every sport that anyone has ever invented in the water.

AM: Wow!

You have competed in a number of tournaments, you surf the unsurfable, and you have such legendary status, what drives you to continue to do this?

KL: I guess beyond the desire to win competitions or to get another sponsorship deal or whatever, it’s the love of actually doing it! I often think that if I lost all of my sponsorships and I couldn’t be a professional surfer or athlete, I’d probably just be working a regular job as hard as I could so that I could literally go do exactly what I’m doing! I don’t think that I would have the opportunity to be able to do the extent of what I do at the frequency, but I pinch myself everyday that I am able to let my mind and imagination go wild! People support me to be able to go do this. It almost feels like I’m cheating at something in life! I try to just work hard every single day to make it happen. It’s something that I would do no matter what. Even if I had all the money in the world, I was the richest person on Earth, my actual life probably wouldn’t change that much. I’d probably not be on social media much and I’d be surfing even more. But for the most part, I’d be riding the same waves and doing the same sports.

AM: Do you have any routines that you do before or after competitions that are always your go-to’s to get in that mind set?

KL: I always try to go to the basics, I try to go to my foundation which is not thinking about the result. Obviously, I know the result that I want which is to be #1! Sort of less about like, comparing myself to others and I always feel that if I put in my best performance, I’m going to win and I don’t necessarily need to compete against anyone because surfing, and the collective surfing sports, are judged so it’s kind of a subjective view and you can ride the way that you want to ride, but at the end of the day, you kind of have to conform yourself to what the judge is looking for. That’s just the art of the game. If you’re playing a game of chess, there's the way that you want to play and then you’ve got to do what your opponent is giving out and you sometimes have to consider your opponent is the judge too. You’re kind of doing a dance with the judges to kind of get their approval.

I think that for me, the lead up to an event, it’s all about doing everything that I can, all of the training, all of the hard work, so that when the day comes, I don’t have to worry. I can fall back on my training rather than feeling like I didn’t do enough. I would say that the categories are, physical training, mental preparation, and then making sure that my equipment and the technology that I got is the best possible stuff that I could be riding. When all of those align, you kind of just have to see what happens. Most of the time, you can come out on top when you do it right.

AM: What is a typical day like when you’re surfing? How many hours a day do you surf?

KL: Before children, probably 8 hours! Now that I have kids and they’re really young, it’s a lot less because obviously, daddy duties and all that! I would say that now, I’ve become a better athlete because of it. In a way, in the past, I would overtrain. I would spend too much time in the water and my body would get fatigued and mentally, I would be drained. It’s pretty intense to be in an environment of these situations, but also just being out so often and pushing your body and never getting a rest day, that also holds you back! Less time on the water has actually meant that I have gotten better, faster because resting is actually training as well. Resting is just as important as lifting really heavy weights or doing your sport. It’s about finding a balance. You can’t be resting too much and you can’t be overtraining.

In a perfect world, I would be out there 100% of my time, but that’s just not the world that we live in!

AM: Clearly, surfing is a total body workout, but are there other workouts that you do either in the water or out of the water to maintain your physique?

KL: Absolutely, you know, it’s difficult when you’re traveling, because you’re just adjusting to time zones and you’re probably spending more time in the water then you have the ability to go to let’s say a gym. The types of gyms that might be around, they may not be existent in the surf world because of the remote places.

When I’m at home, my training routine is to get in the ice bath before bed every night to kind of recover. I have a hyperbaric chamber that can kind of cut down a rest day from 2 rest days to just 1 rest day. Doing hot and cold which is going through a sauna to the ice bath is very important. That’s just on the recovery side of things. I would say, that as far as training and beyond getting the workout in from being in the water, it’s going to the gym and doing different kinds of exercises and working out and actually doing enough heavy lifting with some heavy weights. I would say that it’s not about stiffening up because most people think you have to be as flexible as possible and that’s really important, but you don’t also want to be too flexible because you can actually break joints in the occupation that I participate in. So, it’s building up the muscles around the knees, the VMOs (vastus medialis oblique muscle), strengthening the shoulders, the hips and being able to handle the power of a big wave that crashes onto you. I do that 5 times a week, also going on trampoline training to get bare awareness. That’s a great workout and no more than 30 minutes will do the job! Underwater pool training, so carrying weights underwater and holding your breath simulating a big wave wipe out. It’s hard to – it’s difficult to do all of those things in one day. Depending on the season and depending on the time, you can be very well trained if you play your cards right. They’re all fun activities to do anyway.

AM: What competitions are you focused on for this year that you’re excited about?

KL: So right now, it’s a bit of my off season at the moment. Winter has passed in the Northern Hemisphere and typically, my biggest events are in the winter. But now that we’re in the summer, there’s a lot of opportunities to do some events.

Of course, every event you enter, you want to win. At the same time, my focus is right now riding big waves. One of the races that I want to do is Molokai 2 Oahu which is between one of the most powerful deadly channels in all of the Pacific. I’ve won it 4 times now across different disciplines from SUP to foiling and I’m going to go on a hydrofoil again this next year. That’s a really great test to see where your endurance lies. It’s in the middle of the summer. It’s July 30th, the last Sunday and that’s a good testing block for winter. Because winter is not too far off after that. In between there, if there is a fun and exciting event, I’ll enter. But right now, it’s about the winter time events.

AM: That’s incredible.

It was really enjoyable to watch the first and second season of HBO's 100 Foot Wave which can be seen on Max. Why did you want to be part of this show and what drew you to it?

KL: Well, it’s really cool! I was really honored to be on the 100 Foot Wave show. That being a show that recognized big wave surfers to a mainstream audience when our sport is typically reserved, or at least endemically for who’s riding what – I think any big wave footage that makes it to the mainstream, no one can tell who’s really going down the wave because we all look like specs. I wouldn’t say that I wanted to be on the show, so much as they sort of chose me. I was really grateful for that. It’s not something that you could really force unless you produce the show yourself or someone comes to you. The show wasn't about me, but I was able to be part of it and you know, that legendary figure, Garrett McNamara, is leaving an indelible mark on big wave surfing. His story is unique and special. I’m glad that people are enjoying it. It’s just bringing more eyes to this incredible sport.

The truth of the matter is, riding big waves is probably the most dangerous form of surfing and it’s typically also where maybe, people have the least amount of resources to do it – to support it. The stories that come out of big wave surfing, I’m probably the most successful big wave surfer, but there are so many guys and girls who work hard jobs during the summer months so that they can go surf giant waves in the winter and spend all of their money. It’s really a nomadic, mountain man/woman – it’s just so hardcore and those show really shines a light on the hardest working people in surfing.

AM: What is it about Nazaré that you enjoy being there?

KL: I think that Nazaré is a freak of nature. It’s the perfect combination of monster waves meeting in Europe. I think that if you saw the show, it’s a wave that’s hidden in plain sight. I mean, it was only surfed in the late 2010’s and that’s just kind of incredible because big wave surfers are always looking for the biggest waves in the world to ride. It just so happens that there was one in Europe and in Portugal, a surf rich country that it just came at the perfect time for this town where society and everything it dipped in to, the world supply chain and the small fishing village which once was supported purely by fisherman – it was a dying town. When the surfing world converged into this incredible place, it definitely brought so much new life that the town is now as well known in Portugal as being a fishing village as well as one of the most renowned big wave surfing destinations on planet Earth! It attracts tens of thousands of people per day to go watch these magnificent monster waves. Vertically, they're some of the tallest waves on the planet and some of the most challenging surf that a big wave surfer will encounter. It’s just that the story of the town itself, in a way, is far more interesting than even the waves that are being ridden out there now. It is the one place on Earth that you can go as a big wave surfer and be recognized by people! Most of the time I feel like as a big wave surfer, you’re kind of like moving silently in society before you step outside of the bubble to go ride these monsters out in the ocean. There, it’s a real unique place, and I look forward to going back every year and I count my blessings that I come home safe. Most recently, we had a friend, Márcio Freire, that died there and that was the first death in modern big wave surfing at Nazaré and it was tragic because he was a pioneer and it just goes to show you that no one is safe. You can go and get really unlucky. You just have to put yourself in the hands of a higher power and if you really want it, you have to commit.

AM: Last year, you released your movie Pe’ahi. Why did you want to tell this story?

KL: That film Pe’ahi, was really inspired by part of my life story, partly my director’s life story and I think you know, truly trying to shine a light on the realities of Hawaii, I would say that it’s a yin and yang. On one side, Hawaii gives you the greatest opportunities to become somebody and to do something great. I don’t know if you watch American Idol, but Iam Tongi just won and he is the testament to exactly why we wanted to make this film.

Coming from humble beginnings on the east side of Oahu to being at the very top, I’d say that our film really lines up with his story because that’s a real Hawaiian story. If you play your cards right, you're passionate and you love what you do, you can become the greatest because everyone is looking to Hawaii at all times. But, Hawaii in some ways, is like a third world country. There's a lot of poverty, there's a lot of homelessness – on one side, there’s this billion dollar tourism industry and there’s also locals who can barely afford a tent. Cost of living in Hawaii is just outrageous, especially for the ones that generationally, have been born and raised there.

Instead of just feeling sorry for ourselves, there was this need to try to make a film that would inspire kids who do come from the most humblest of beginnings to go all the way to the top and to be the best at anything that they want to do. Surfing was just a natural vehicle to carry the story. It’s a story of hope and perseverance and working hard to get to where you need to be. It’s just wanting to tell that story that we always knew existed, but that not a lot of people outside of our community, knew existed.

AM: Tell us about the Life of Kai? How did this come about? You’re in your 3rd season which is amazing!

KL: The Life of Kai is basically, adventures that I’m very lucky to partake in. It’s about the people that I’m meeting along the way. It’s not just about showing my best moments, but showing – I wouldn’t say the struggle, but the uphill battles to get to the ultimate goal and if you want to do anything amazing in this life, there’s always going to be a lot of work that is going to need to be put in. There’s going to be the ups and the downs. It’s showing that with perseverance, you can overcome any obstacle and you can do fun stuff and that’s kind of like the whole idea behind the series. I’m sharing this adventure and at the end of the day, it’s about inspiring the next generation and most importantly, being able to entertain people too, you know and letting people be able to takeaway what they want from the show. Not necessarily trying to sell them on anything – not that they have to be a surfer or ride giant waves. If they can see the passion for what I like to do, hopefully, they can translate that into what they want to do.

AM: As passionate as you are about the sport and what you do, you’re also vocal about the oceans and beaches. You’ve partnered with A New Earth Project in this effort. Can you tell us more about this?

KL: I’ve been given so much from the ocean that it only feels like my responsibility to give back and raising awareness is always great! We’ve done so many beach cleanups. It’s only the tip of the iceberg. What I really love about working with the A New Earth Project is that it's not just about bringing awareness, it’s not just about cleaning up beaches and rivers, it’s actually about going to the source of the solution and A New Earth Project is part of Atlantic Packaging which is located on the East Coast. Their whole goal is to change the plastic wrapping that goes around every soft drink or soda that is shipped around the world into something that is environmentally friendly. That company is working on ways to produce product that is not going to affect the end user in any way. The end user won’t even see a change, but behind the scenes, I think that that is the only way that we can save our oceans from plastic pollution. Not trying to get people that don’t really have a real relationship with the ocean to change, why not just change the stuff that has been delivered to them. They can still enjoy it the same way and that’s sort of the thought process.

So this trip that I came to Bali was inspired by A New Earth Project. Bali is one of the most beautiful places on the face of the Earth, but it is plagued with trash when western society reached these islands, everything before that was wrapped in banana leaves. Plates were made out of banana leaves, wrapping food was in banana leaves and traditionally, you’d throw the banana leaves into the river because there are so many rivers here and it would flow down into the ocean and it would biodegrade. It was really a cycle of this place, a cycle of life in Indonesia. Without educating the locals and the public here that plastic will stay for 1,000's of years, there just seems like there is no education behind that. So being able to come down here with A New Earth Project, we got to link up with a lot of local groups that are working to basically educate the people and to kind of figure out a way for waste management. Any plastic that does end up being produced is never going to end up being net zero, can be picked up. Because there is no trash service like we have in the states. So it’s trying to find solutions that help these people and help the environment. We ended up getting in one of the most gross rivers that I have ever been in in my life because they have these nets that catch all of these plastics and we were just loading up bags. That was a real eye opening experience because every time that you travel to a beautiful place like this, I never want to feel that I am just here to take their waves or to take advantage of anything so it really felt good to at least clean up an entire river for the surrounding people that make this place so special.

AM: That’s really amazing to hear!

Travel is such a big part of what you do. Where are your favorite places to go and what do you do when you’re not in the ocean?

KL: Yeah so, of course, my “vacations” are going to waves! My family vacations are just one tropical place from Hawaii to another! Here we are in Indonesia! Truly, I love to go to places that inspire me and people find inspiration in a number of different ways. For me, big mountains inspire me, big waves inspire me, the ocean of course inspires me! I’d say that 2 places that I have been that have had the nicest people that I have ever encountered, which is really a draw and makes you want to be a better person, is here in Bali in Indonesia. I don’t know if people get any nicer! You can literally drop your wallet and I’m telling you, as beautiful as it is, it’s a 3rd world country and there is a lot of poverty. You drop your wallet with $500 in it, somebody will track you down and give you back your wallet and not take any money. That’s just – it can be the Hindu religion here or just be the way that the upbringing is here – everyone here is just so gracious and kind. It’s amazing! If there’s any kind of crime at all, it’s typically, outsiders or foreigners that are causing a ruckus.The other place is Fiji.

Some of the most amazing people and I think that one thing stands out with these 2 places for Bali, Indonesia and Fiji, is that you can be gone for 10 years and you can return and see the same person, and they will remember your name. There’s nowhere else on Earth like that where they will remember you, they will remember the experience that they had with you and a lot of the people in these areas, may not understand the same way as we do in western society, but they are some of the smartest people that I have met – they speak 5 or 6 languages. If they can remember the simplest of things like your name when you return in 10 years, it’s really unique and exceptional. The destination is one thing, but it’s really the people that you meet along the way that make the places that you go to, what they are.

“Life of Kai is basically, adventures that I’m very lucky to partake in.It’s about the people that I’m meeting along the way. It’s not just about showing my best moments, but showing - I wouldn’t say the struggle, but the uphill battles to get to the ultimate goal and if you want to do anything amazing in this life, there’s always going to be a lot of work that is going to need to be put in. There’s going to be the ups and the downs. It’s showing that with perseverance, you can overcome any obstacle and you can do fun stuff, it’s about inspiring the next generation to entertain people too.”

— Kai Lenny

AM: You’ve been sponsored by Hurley for a number of years and have done a number of collabs with them as well. What is it about this brand that is so synergistic with you?

KL: You know, I try to always align myself

with brands and companies that I can relate to or that are equal minded. Hurley really embodies the surfing culture and there is something so amazing and pure about how in a way it is exclusive, but it is also welcoming to anybody.

That’s the one cool thing about traveling

the world because you get to meet so many unique people from different ethnicities, creeds, and just perspectives. We may be in sort of one group here on land, but together in the water, we’re all the same thing.

Surfing, I think, is a really great craft to be able to gather people. Beyond Hurley being a great brand with amazing product, you know, their ethos is, just have fun. That I think, a lot of companies want to be hardcore like surfing is for surfers and that’s attractive to many people, but I have always been drawn to having a lot of fun in the water with people that you don’t even know and sharing this great experience, because like the great Gerry Lopez once said, “the one having the most fun is the best surfer.” I think that Hurley as a brand, embodies that ethos.

I think that if you can go out and get some Hurley stuff – their trunks and stuff, that literally makes you feel good enough that you want to go out there on the water and do something. That’s the whole point of surfing – it’s sharing this experience and sharing this life. There is always going to be another amazing wave and there’s plenty for everybody!

AM: Tell us about the Kai Lenny Paddle Series that you have with Hurley?

KL: I mean, the paddle series that we have created with Hurley, was really inspired by my trip here to Bali, Indonesia in 2021. I learned so much about my surfing and my athletic performance, but I also realized that I needed certain tools to allow me to surf longer and to have more fun so that I didn’t have to be stuck outside of the water with either reef cuts, rash or sunburn! We developed a board short that had a lot of pockets in it so that I could carry stuff like my GoPros, my sunscreen, basically a snack and anything that I needed, but also up to that point, no one had created a board short where the pockets wouldn’t turn inside out and you’d lose all of your stuff or they became more drag in the water as opposed to being hydrodynamic.

Really, the idea was to have a board short that was something that you could wear on land, dry really fast while you go from one adventure to the next! Maybe it even means going hiking in the woods because most of the time, the best boardshort is one that you only use for surfing. Whereas this trunk is amazing for hiking, it’s amazing for even going out to dinner, going out to lunch, or breakfast. You can carry all of your normal things, but then you can go surfing and have something that’s high performance. Then moving to something like the rashguard or the top that we use, it has a hood to protect you from the sun when you’re trying to surf for hours. It has a pocket in the back where you can put sunscreen, snacks, water, food, tools, and then it’s also designed to not give you rash. But it also has a cushion and a protective layer around your body. Again, all of these things are ideas that were put in that I really wanted. I feel like if I needed these things as a professional athlete, everyone can benefit from it. So far, everyone that sees it, wants a pair of both. I think that that’s pretty cool and it feels cool to develop something that people might want to use themselves.

AM: It’s definitely really cool when that happens and to get that feedback from people!

You have all of these different sponsors including Red Bull and Go Pro for a number of years, what do those partnerships mean to you?

KL: I mean, my sponsors, those partnerships, they are the reason why I get to live this life that I do and they all bring something so amazing to the table. For example, Red Bull has been – above the nice paycheck to basically live and to afford being alive - they are incredible at allowing me to have opportunities to up my level of performance and I mean most recently, and we just filmed this for the Life of Kai series, they brought me to the mountains of Alaska with one of the greatest snowboarders of all time, Travis Rice! I’d always been inspired to ride giant waves from and to look towards snowboarders that they’re doing on giant mountains and in particular, with Travis Rice and they made probably a once in a lifetime dream trip come true. The stuff that I was able to learn by riding giant mountains with my hero Travis Rice, is something that – snowboarding is so far removed and different from surfing. Something like that would have never come up on its own without kind of the support from Red Bull. It’s opportunities like that that make me a better athlete and I’m just always so grateful to be part of that company because they’re more than just trying to give an athlete a paycheck, they’re really about trying to help the athlete become the best that they can possibly be and to support them. They do feel like a family at this point.

With my other sponsors for example GoPro, I love GoPro because they give me the cameras to capture what’s going on in my world and bring people into this crazy environment – to take a camera that no other camera could go into.

And so, those relationships, if I go down the list even farther, Cariuma shoes, they have been amazing. They’re this environmentally safe skate shoe that is the most comfortable shoe that I have ever worn. But for every shoe that they sell, they plant a tree in the Amazon Rain Forest because they are based in Brazil. That’s really cool and their shoes being environmentally friendly is awesome and they’re the best shoe that I have ever worn!

Of course, the people that develop my equipment, people like KT Surfing and Goya Windsurfing, they make the equipment that I ride today. It really does take a village to raise somebody and it also takes a village to allow a professional athlete to perform at the highest level.

AM: How do you give back to those that are coming up in the sport who are also passionate in it?

KL: I remember being a kid and the mentorship that I had from the best water people on the face of the planet and I'm only 30 years old, but every time I do see a kid that’s coming up, I do try to like help them in any way possible to get them to accelerate their performance or to help them not necessarily make the same mistakes and to basically get them to their ultimate goal quicker. Certain things in life, you have to go through yourself of course and you have to learn on your own before you truly understand it, but you know, I think that at one point towards the end of my career which still seems so far away, being in a mentorship role will be probably more exciting than doing it myself. To see the excitement and passion of kids, that want to become something great whether it’s in the water or not, that’s inspiring. Having that young and excited energy really drives me to want to improve!

I may be 30 years old, but deep down, I’m probably still that same 12 year old kid that is just as excited or even more excited to be able to do what I am doing. It’s really important to be there for the next generation and help guide them through whatever passion they’re going in. The next generation is going to be better than whatever I can be and that’s just how you know a sport remains healthy – when the next generation overtakes the previous. That’s good for sport!

“I think that that is the only way that we can save our oceans from plastic pollution. Not trying to get people that don’t really have a real relationship with the ocean to change, why not just change the stuff that has been delivered to them. You can still enoy it the same way...”

— Kai Lenny

AM: As someone who is always on the go, being a dad, a husband, traveling – what kind of self-care do you incorporate just so that you can be present?

KL: I think it’s being able to really turn off the switch. It’s so easy to be consumed by your quest and your passion. You can definitely feel like all of your focus is going to one thing. I think that the way that you get the best out of yourself is when you get home at night and you can turn that I think it’s being able to really turn off the switch. It’s so easy to be consumed by your quest and your passion. You can definitely feel like all of your focus is going to one thing. I think that the way that you get the best out of yourself is when you get home at night and you can turn that off. I can turn it off and just be a dad. I can just be there for my little girls, be a good husband to my wife, and just basically be able to transition and to have my focus be on my profession and then being able to just do what I need to do at home and do it with love. I think that that is the real trick to finding balance. You can’t overly consume yourself in anything. You may be able to sustain it for awhile, but eventually you might be crashing down. Finding balance is the key to life. So it’s learning when to turn things on and turn things off.

AM: Are there any upcoming projects coming up that you want to share that we should keep an eye out for?

KL: There’s always something coming up, I mean we’re in the middle of the season of Life of Kai and like I said, we just did this incredible trip to the mountains where I was probably the most scared that I have ever been in my entire life. No big wave has scared me as much as those mountains did and so that’s going to be really exciting to share that episode and to kind of share what went down on this incredible trip. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the series dropping.

I’m in the works with new equipment of course and nothing really that’s anything yet, it’s all just ideas on paper, but I’m hoping that by this next winter, I’ll have it all dialed in and figured out and I’ll be able to go out there and do something that has never been done before!

AM: That will be interesting to see!

What do you want your legacy to be in the sport?

KL: I don’t know if you can ever have any say in what your legacy is going to become. That’s almost reserved for everyone else watching what they are going to brand you as. I think that if there is one thing that I would like to leave this Earth being known for is just being able to accomplish things and to do many things that people didn’t think that you were allowed to do necessarily. Having that enthusiasm, that passion and that love and that excitement for the sport that I do. I would say, that as a whole, I couldn’t say the one thing that I would want as a legacy. If anything, it’s to inspire the next generation to do what they love regardless of whether it’s surfing or not.

That’s the same thing that I have as a goal for my kids too! I want to give them every opportunity to be the absolute best people that they can be and to always go for it and sometimes, just taking that leap of faith. So, I think that’s what every great dad wants to be known for is that. Maybe that’s my legacy, raising the best kids I can. I want to be known not as Kai Lenny, but I want to be known as my daughters' father basically – Senna and Willa’s dad.

IG @kai_lenny

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Front/Back Cover + PG 46 Hurley | PG 16-41 , 48 + PG 146 for 63MIX ROUTIN3S Red Bull | PG 42-45 HBO/100 Foot Wave |

Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see WAVES OF CHANGE | Kai Lenny in mag.

WITH LOVE AND ATTENTION | CARISSA MOORE

Earlier this year, our FEB ISSUE #86 was covered by Team USA Olympic Gold Medalist and 5X Women's World Surf League Champion, Carissa Moore! Since we spoke to her, she's halfway through the season and at the time of the release of this issue is #2 in the World Surf League, won the Billabong Pro Pipeline as well as most recently, winning the Margaret River Pro in late April!

She is a force on the water and we also enjoy how she gives back to women by empowering them to be who they want to be as they navigate their lives and take on wherever their goals lead them! In the midst of training and making her own goals, we caught up with her to find out about her recent win, the second half of the season and her latest collaboration with Hurley for her May Moore Aloha collection by Hurley.

ATHLEISURE MAG: What did your recent win at Margaret River mean to you?

CARISSA MOORE: It was a very validating and empowering win. It had come after a string of average results that had me questioning my process and formula. I feel like things start to fall into place when I reconnect with what’s most meaningful to me and let go of everyone else’s expectations. It’s very easy to get distracted on the journey and this win was a nice reminder to trust in my preparation, process and believe in my purpose. I love Margaret River and winning with my team there made it really special.

AM: Why do you enjoy being at Margaret River?

CM: It feels like things are more simple in Margaret River. There isn’t a lot of fuss, bells and whistles. People are kind, the towns are small and there is a ton of open space. The nature is raw, the waves are wild, you can still find an empty beach or watch the sunset all by yourself. That is rare. It is a place that brings you back to yourself and the present moment.

AM: What tournaments are you looking forward to this year?

CM: The second half of the WSL Championship Tour season, I am truly looking foward to all of the events but especially Teahupo’o, Tahiti (SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro).

AM: What’s your routine on the morning of your competition?

CM: I wake up around 5am, kiss my husband good morning, make myself a warm drink, activate my body for about 45 mins and then head to the beach for a surf before the first horn blows usually around 8am.

AM: When you finish competing, how do you switch gears into relaxing mode?

CM: I like to relax after competing by taking a hot shower, eating a healthy meal, going for a nice beach walk, reading a book, journaling or putting on a good tv show.

AM: Tell us about your May Moore Aloha collection by Hurley!

CM: This Moore Aloha X Hurley collection is my favorite one yet! Created from start to finish with love and attention to all the details, this collection celebrates Hawaii, femininity and combined woman power. So grateful for the opportunity to work closely with local Hawaiian artist, Aloha de Mele, on all the prints and the incredible team at Hurley Women to create a line that combines function with fashion. It is my goal with every collection to create pieces that spark joy, empower females to feel comfortable and confident while chasing their dreams. To add, one of the things I’m most excited about is this is the first of our collections available in girl sizes!

AM: What does it feel like for your collaboration between Moore Aloha and Hurley to come together like it has?

CM: It is so cool to see my favorite pieces come to life, displayed at my hometown stores and being worn!

AM: What is your process of designing your collection?

CM: I’ll start by sending the Hurley Women’s team “inspo” pics and they’ll create a mood board, pick a variety of prints and colors for me to choose from. Once we nail that down, they’ll create a line up of silhouettes for me to look at. There is a bit of back and forth refining the selection and giving feedback. Then, they will make samples and I get to product test! I’ll send some suggestions until we get the fits just right.

AM: Tell us about your next Moore Aloha event.

CM: I am planning the next Moore Aloha event for this fall on the island of Oahu. Our work focuses on Mental Health, Education, Community Relations, Culture, and Environmental Conservation. Our main goal is to share valuable tools and resources with girls and women to create a positive life driven by passion, fueled by purpose. We integrate the Hawaiian culture to promote mindfulness and community. The ocean and surfing is a tool to empower girls to step outside their comfort zone and live fearlessly. Our welcoming atmosphere allows for open, honest conversation and soulful connections. Some of the activities we include are a tag team event, lei making, yoga, journaling, hula, a beach clean up and surfing. Depending on our group and our focus we will sometimes include a goal setting workshop, CPR and water safety courses, work in the lo’i (taro patches), plant trees, and invite other empowering females to talk and share their inspirational stories.

IG @rissmoore10

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | This feature + 9PLAYLIST PG 118 Hurley

Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see WITH LOVE AND ATTENTION | Carissa Moore in mag.j

63MIX ROUTIN3S | KAI LENNY

Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see 63MIX ROUTIN3S | Chef Matthew Kenney in mag.

RIDING THIS WAVE | CARISSA MOORE

There is something empowering about seeing those who dominate their area of expertise regardless of the vertical as well as putting good back into the world! This month's cover is 5X World Surf League Women's Champion, Olympic Team USA Surfing Gold Medalist and winner of countless accolades, Carissa Moore. This powerhouse takes to the waves with a focus and competitive spirit that we can appreciate. When we had the chance to talk with her as she was waiting for her call time for the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach earlier this month. We were also struck by how she brought the Aloha spirit with her as she talked about her love for the sport, going pro, walking us through her surfing schedule, her documentary and how she strives to inspire the next generation of women through Moore Aloha.

ATHLEISURE MAG: We’re so excited as we have been a fan of yours for awhile. So to be able to chat with you as well as for you to be this month’s cover, is so exciting and our readers are going to want to know more about you and the sport as well as what you have going on!

CARISSA MOORE: Perfect! Let’s do it!

AM: So when did you fall in love with surfing?

CM: I started surfing when I was about 5 years old and it was my dad who pushed me into my first wave at Waikiki. I think you know that it was a love that deepened over time, but I really fell in love with it at the very beginning. Being in the ocean, spending time with my dad. In the very beginning, it was just something that I loved to do with him and then over time, it became something that was more my own and I just love being in the ocean and it feels like a bit of escape from reality at times. It brings me back to the present moment which I feel like that sometimes, there are so many distractions and our world is going at such a fast speed sometimes that it’s hard to stay present. I think that that is one of the greatest gifts of being in the ocean. Just being here and now. It just brings a lot of joy.

AM: Was it hard for you because you do love it and it’s your passion – to know that it’s also your profession? Do you see it differently and how do you navigate that?

CM: I just feel extremely fortunate and grateful that I get to do something that I love as a profession! You know, the sport has evolved to a place that we can make a living out of it as professional athletes. At times, it’s definitely more intense than others, but what’s the coolest part is that in a jersey or not, I still want to go to the beach everyday and see the ocean which is awesome!

AM: That’s really cool! What’s an average day like when you’re training?

CM: An average day pre season, is waking up early. The crazy part about surfing which you were a little bit shocked to learn is that you’re kind of at the whim of Mother Nature right? So every day, you’re trying to find the best time to surf and whether that’s based on the tides, the wind or the swell that’s coming in and hasn’t arrived yet. Surfing is very fluid as the schedule depends on where the waves are. So I find the best waves that I can train on. I train with an on-land trainer 3-4 times a week and we’ll meet at a park or sometimes a gym at her house for like an hour or so. My day definitely includes a time to eat, refuel and to rest. Rest is very important for me so I like to set up at least an hour a day to read or go for a walk or watch some TV with my husband. Then maybe I surf again in the afternoon or check in with my sport psych so that’s kind of what a day looks like. Sometimes it includes sponsorship stuff or interviews like this!

Actually, between surfing and the ocean, it has taught me so many lessons and that's just one of them. There is so much that’s out of our control so you have to let go and surrender and say, ok, this is what we’re doing today – so yeah!

AM: It’s very cool. So what do you do, in terms of workouts that allow you to optimize yourself in the sport? Obviously, you’re in the water and surfing, but what other kinds of things do you also do to assist with that?

CM: I mean it’s pretty cool that as a surfer, you have to be fit in all different kinds of areas. Depending on what kind of event or wave we’re surfing at, some waves are big and powerful. Like the next event we’re competing at, we’re going to be on Sunset Beach on the North Shore of Oahu and it’s a very big playing field. So I like to say that endurance definitely factors in as well as power and strength, I don’t use a lot of weight, but we have been using a little more weight. Most of the workouts that we do are a lot of bodyweight stuff. I love HIIT workouts, stuff that’s fast paced for me is really mentally engaging, but we also work on agility, strength, cardio and core. I do go to Pilates once a week and incorporate yoga every morning for at least 30 minutes. There are a lot of different things that I do and I kind of do it all.

AM: At the Tokyo Olympics, that was such an amazing Olympics as both surfing and skateboarding were both brought in for the first time for the Summer Games. You won the first Gold medal which is amazing as it was the first time for that sport! What did it mean to you to have that Olympic experience?

CM: It was such a special experience. I didn’t really have that many expectations because surfing had never been there before. So, I was just excited to be part of it all and to be in a team atmosphere and get to go to the Village. Everything was a bigger and grander scale than I imagined. But just getting to be in that arena is the epitome of sports. I think that for the surfing community, it was a really huge moment to be elevated on that level and to get to perform on that platform. As a native Hawaiian, it means a lot to us and surfing is kind of our sport. It was really great to see and be able to get that representation of our people and our sport. That was really cool too.

AM: Are you thinking ahead to Paris?

CM: I kind of think that we all are because this season on the Championship Tour is a qualifying season. So for countries like America, Australia, Brazil, and some other countries, we qualify with our rankings at the end of the year through the 10 events through the season. So we are definitely all thinking about it. It’s really exciting, it will be quite a battle because there are so many Americans on tour and so many Australians on tour – it’s just a focus of doing our best on this season and hopefully it works out.

AM: You’re a 5X World Surfing League Women’s Tour Champion, you’ve won so many different accolades, how important is it to you to have balance and to implement self-care into your mental and physical practices?

CM: Oh, it’s huge! I think that for me, from a pretty young age, I realized how important it was to have a balance. For me, I finished school, I was getting to have a social life and being grounded at home was super important. It definitely gave me an appreciation for the time that I got in the water and it helped me learn how to use my time wisely and to train efficiently. Also, my dad has always stressed to take the time to rest because then you can come back stronger. Taking that time physically and mentally, I am definitely learning over time that in order to love others and to share more love with the world, you have to love yourself and take time to fill your cup so you can fill others' cups. I definitely think that it’s super important to slow down, take the time to appreciate the little things that you have done to improve yourself or to better yourself and it helps to give you momentum and the confidence to go forward.

AM: Absolutely! We were just talking about the surfing season. What is the surfing season in terms of when it starts and stops and what are your favorite tournaments that you like participating in?

CM: So our season just started at the end of Jan and goes all the way into Sep. We compete in 10 events and then we have 1 final event. We go all over! So we start in Hawaii, then we go to Portugal, then Australia, California, El Salvador, Brazil, South Africa and Tahiti.

AM: Wow!

CM: We get to go to some pretty cool places.

AM: Um yeah! We want to go!

CM: There are a lot of great ones that I look forward to. I really love Western Australia. There’s something about that place, the raw beauty and there isn’t much fuss. It’s about surfing and getting in the ocean. I really like Tahiti, it reminds me a lot of home and the people there are just full of Aloha and good vibes! South Africa, it’s definitely a bit of a trek but once you get there, the waves are incredible and it's just like awesome!

AM: This month, you’re competing in the Hurley Sunset Beach World Championship, what are you looking forward to in this tournament?

CM: I’m super excited that my sponsor Hurley has stepped up to sponsor a World Tournament event and to see their support of all of us on that level. It’s really cool! I guess that being able to compete on home turf in front of my family and friends on beaches that I have grown up surfing on my whole life is super cool. I think that just trying to push myself competitively and to put forth some good performances hopefully, I’m just looking forward to getting in the water, putting the jersey on and competing at home.

AM: That’s awesome! You were just talking about all of the places that you travel to, because you do so much travel, how do you make your hotel rooms feel like home, and then when you’re on the road, are there things that you like to do when you hit certain cities or do you just focus on hitting that tournament?

CM: Since I have been traveling, you know it’s the 13th year that I have been on the Championship Tour, after doing it for a little bit of time now, out with the hotel rooms in with the Airbnb’s that have kitchens and living rooms – places that can feel like home and feel more homey. Just having kitchens which is so nice because you can eat what you want to eat and know what you are putting into your meals. I think that is super important and just having the room to spread out and train. Because we do have a lot of downtime and we have a 2 week waiting period most of the time. But then it only takes a day and a half – two days to run the women’s event. So there is a lot of downtime. Like you mentioned, the beauty of getting to do this is that we get to go to some amazing places and getting to go sightseeing to really get to immerse yourself in the culture, the people and the towns – it’s such a gift! I definitely like to take those lay days and take advantage to see those places.

AM: You’re sponsored by Hurley, you have a collection coming out in March. What can you tell us about this as you shot this in your home and hometown which seems amazing!

CM: Ahh thank you so much! This is my 3rd collection with them and I couldn’t be more excited as I think that it keeps getting better and better. This one is super sweet because we actually got to partner with a local artist, her name is JT, and her art name is Aloha de Mele. So all of the prints that are incorporated in the collection are from her. So it just felt really synergistic to get to use my platform to also uplift another woman who is from Hawaii and is very talented.

Look her up, her artwork is amazing.

I got to work really closely with the team at Hurley to create designs, patterns and colors that are really important to me as well as silhouettes that are very feminine, very beautiful and flattering, but also super functional. I think that it’s really come together in this line and it’s a quality line. Like you mentioned, we got to photograph the collection at home and we actually did it in my backyard!

AM: Oh nice! We’ve had the pleasure of doing collaborations and there is nothing better than when it’s something that comes from you and your home, your backyard – that is so cool!

CM: Thank you so much! I can’t wait for you to see it. Hopefully there are a couple of pieces that you like from it that you can wear!

AM: Oh yes! I’m sure. Also as fashion stylist, it’s always fun to see items that you can style into shoots that we work on!

CM: Sweet!

AM: Yeah! Obviously at Athleisure Mag, we love things that are functional but when it’s great for transitional wear – life just moves so quickly, you want to be able to be prepared for anything. So I love anything that’s like that!

You had the Red Bull documentary, RISS. A Film About More Love with Carissa Kainani Moore, that talks about you and your life. Why did you want to do this and how does it feel to have your lifestory available so others can get to know more about you?

CM: Thanks for checking it out and bringing it up! I have always wanted to do a fun piece and it was important to me work with a director like Peter Hamblin who had kind of a different eye and an approach to things. It was super fun to work with him, we got really close in the process so it didn’t feel like it was really invasive at all. It was like just hanging out with one of my friends.

I think that those kinds of things, when I’m watching sports docs or sports movies on incredible athletes or athletes that have an inspiring story, it’s cool to see that they’re human, that they’re relatable and they’re tangible. I think that there is something so inspiring about someone being vulnerable and open. I’ve found that through other people sharing their stories. If it can help 1 person that is going through something, that’s the goal. If someone can relate to the story or take one little thing from it, that would be awesome.

AM: I just watched a sports documentary with NBA Legend Bill Russell last night. I’m always watching things like that. It’s great to get to know more about the sport but you get to see it and the person in the time that they grew up in. You then get to see how things have changed or progressive movements, it really lets you realign yourself and think about things in a different way.

CM: Totally!

AM: So when you’re not surfing, how do you take time for yourself?

CM: Number 1 is hanging out with my husband! He’s my pride and joy.

AM: You guys are so cute!

CM: He’s actually right here. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing. It doesn’t need to be much. Just hanging out with him and the dogs makes me super happy. My family lives really close to me so my sister, my mom, my dad, my grandparents so being able to check in with them and I still have some friends that are still in town. I think that surrounding myself with good people makes me really stoked and besides doing that, other things that make me stoked and fill up my cup, I started a charitable foundation, Moore Aloha in 2018. So, I spend a lot of time in investing in how to make it grow, grow programs and events that can make a positive impact on the next generation of females which is something that is near and dear to my heart.

AM: Are there projects with Moore Aloha that we should keep an eye out for?

CM: You are so sweet – thank you! I’m in the middle of competing and stuff so the bandwidth is pretty low at the moment. What has been fun is that we’re doing more online things. So we’re doing essay prompts where people are awarded scholarships every month; we just launched our first paid internship program this year; and we just did our 1st 6 week internship program with a former professional surfer Megan Abubo. So being able to connect the dots and create those meaningful mentorship programs for young girls is something that while I’m competing, I’m hoping to do at the same time! When the season is done, I have some really cool fun in person events planned on Oahu and in California. Hopefully, depending on if I make the cut, there’s a cut mid-season, so if you make the cut, you get to do the second half of the season. I would really love to be able to do an event before South Africa.

AM: Wow!

CM: Yeah! So if you want to be able to check anything out, please check out our website Moore Aloha.com.

AM: You’re a fan of scrapbooking. When did you start doing this and how do you approach putting one together creatively?

CM: I started scrapbooking in 2011/2012, but it was pretty close to when I started competing on the tour. You know, you lose more than when you win in this game. I think that for me, It was really important to be able to look back at all of the wonderful things and experiences that I had that still made the trip worthwhile. Because it’s easy to look back at an experience that you didn't win and say, "oh crap, I lost." But in reality, there is so much to be be grateful for and so much to celebrate. So it’s a little bit of time that I get to reflect and to see that we did this, you did that and even though I didn’t get the win, all of these other amazing things happened.

My process is, I don’t know – I get it all out and make a mess with stickers and colors. I get my scissors out and then I just lay out all of the photos and then I slowly just have them fit together like puzzle pieces.

AM: What do you want your legacy to be in the sport and even in life in general?

CM: Oh gosh! My legacy! I think that through my surfing, I want people to feel something. I think that the greatest athletes, at least for me in watching the greatest athletes – you can feel the joy. You can feel that they are having so much fun and love it. In return, it sparks that passion in yourself. I hope that I can leave that feeling with people. Not necessarily the wins, but how did I make them feel. I hope that if I can encourage people to just be kind, loving, patient, understanding and more empathetic with each other – that would be a huge win, you know? It’s like carrying that Aloha spirit. Aloha, I’m sure you’ve heard of it. It’s so hard to put into words.

AM: I was just going to ask you if you could put it into words?

CM: Yeah it’s something that I grew up with and It’s engrained in me from my childhood. Just being in Hawaii, it’s how you treat people with this unconditionalness and not wanting anything in return. There’s no judgment, it’s being open and I think that if we can do that more with each other and the world around us, I think that there would be more harmony.

IG @rissmoore10

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | FRONT + BACK COVER, PG 19 + 25 - 28 Hurley | PG 16 + 31 Billabong Pro Pipeline Jan 2023 - World Surf League/Tony Heff | PG 20 + 22 Hurley Sunset Pro Beach Feb 2023 - World Surf League/Brent Bielmann | PG 32 Red Bull |

Read the FEB ISSUE #86 of Athleisure Mag and see RIDING THE WAVE | Carissa Moore in mag.

SMALL BUT MIGHTY | CHLOE KIM

The importance of sport brings people together as they accomplish amazing feats, learn the importance of being dedicated to their passion and continuing to push the sport. Chloe Kim is one of our favorite snowboarders who is the first female to have won a back-to-back Team USA Snowboarding Olympic Gold Medalist in Half Pipe, ESPY winner, 5X Gold Medalist of the Super Hald Pipe in the X Games to name a few. She's also been included in Mattel's Shero Barbie, appeared on the box of the special edition Kellogg's Corn Flakes where this version was the fastest selling cereal box in Kellogg's history, made it to the semi-finals as the Jellyfish in FOX's Masked Singer and in March 2022, she was added to Fortnite as a playable character as part of the game's icon series.

ATHLEISURE MAG: We’ve been a fan of yours for years. When did you start snowboarding and when did you realize that you wanted to do it professionally?

CHLOE KIM: I started snowboarding when I was 4, my dad actually took me up to the mountains because he wanted my mom to go, but she didn’t want to go. So he took me and he told her she was a terrible mother if she didn’t come so that ride turned into a professional career somehow!

But I think at the age of 6, I started competing at junior events with other girls my age and I started winning these events. My parents saw that I had potential and funny enough, they knew nothing about snow sports and so that was the only measure of my skills and to see how good I was. Shortly after that, I started training and now I have 2 Olympic Gold medals.

AM: Which is amazing! You’re the first female ever in the Olympics to win your Gold medal back-to-back in the Half Pipe. It’s always fun to see you out there! What are some of your most memorable moments from your career?

CK: I think that my most memorable moments are that they're always the firsts. The first time on a snowboard or the first time I won a contest, my first time traveling for a contest! All of the firsts are so memorable to me because I never expected my life to look like that.

Everyone was always like, “oh I don’t know what to do about my future,” but I always knew what to do in my future you know? This is what I wanted to do and it’s pretty cool.

AM: We’ve been a fan of Mucinex and we’ve been using it for the last 10 or 12 years as it clears things up which is amazing. So it’s great to see that you are partnering with them. How did you come on board for this project and tell us more about the “Small But Mighty Campaign.”

CK: I was super excited to partner with Mucinex on the “Small But Mighty Campaign,” and recently, I had the flu. My Mucinex Fast Max just really helped with everything that I had going on. I had a bunch of sinus things, my nose was running like crazy, I had the worst sore throat and it was just this tiny dose that I took, it was so much better! I felt like a human again – so this works. I highly recommend the Mucinex Fast Max whenever you’re sick, because it saved my life.

In addition to that, Mucinex is partnering with me and supporting 5 YMCA chapters with donations totaling $100,000 in 2023. I think that that is kind of why I decided to partner with them as well because they are giving back to these communities in need. That’s very important to me.

AM: That messaging is awesome as well. How do you see that message “Small But Mighty” in your own career?

CK: Yeah, you know that I think that “Small But Mighty” really resonates with me as a young woman who has always been looked down on or no one really believing in me on where I am today and proving everyone wrong has been my favorite part about my career! It’s like ha ha – look at me now, you know? I think that my career has always been about breaking boundaries and stereotypes and all of these things. To see how big of an impact that I have been able to make in other people’s lives and to also be able to change people’s perspectives on women in sports as well. Seeing how big of an impact that I have been able to make is incredible.

AM: You’re always doing so many things and it’s great to see it on IG as well. What are some things that you’re working on this Spring or things that we can keep an eye out for?

CK: I am relaxing as I’m exhausted. But you know, I think that I have just been trying to figure out what I want to do post snowboarding career as well. Knowing that I can partner with brands such as Mucinex for their “Small But Mighty Campaign” makes me really excited about the future because I see how the impact of my career can help these communities. Especially with this one as I started with very humble beginnings and knowing how this kind of support from these brands and how they care about our communities is really important because we had a really hard time when I started out. Snowboarding is not cheap, you know what I’m saying? I received a lot of support through a few charities and organizations so this means a lot and also inspires me to want to do more.

IG @chloekim

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | 9LIST STORI3S PG 36 - 39 + PG 140 - 145 ROXY

Read the FEB ISSUE #86 of Athleisure Mag and see SMALL BUT MIGHTY | Chloe Kim in mag.