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.
AWARDS SEASON | 45TH SPORTS EMMY AWARDS NOMINATIONS
Today, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) announced the 45th Annual Sports Emmy® Awards nominations as well as revealing the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, sports broadcaster James Brown. The ceremony will take place on Tuesday, May 21, at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street, New York City.
“This year’s sports broadcasting nominees produced thrilling and captivating television,” said Adam Sharp, President & CEO, NATAS. “We look forward to welcoming these exceptional professionals to the 45th Annual Sports Emmy Awards in May.”
“The Sports Emmy Awards are proud to recognize the outstanding work of this year’s nominees and to honor James Brown for his long and prolific career,” added Stephen Head, Head of Sports.
As we do throughout Awards Season, we share our predictions in bold, the ones we correctly identified as winners are in bold italics and winners that we didn’t predict are in italics. On the night of the event, we will share who we predicted correctly as well as those we didn’t that won.
OUTSTANDING LIVE SPECIAL
The Masters
CBS
The 105th PGA Championship
CBS
Super Bowl LVIII
Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers
CBS
Super Bowl LVIII
Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers
Nickelodeon
[Nickelodeon Productions | CBS Sports | NFL Films]
The 119th World Series
Texas Rangers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
FOX
OUTSTANDING LIVE SERIES
FOX CFB
FOX | FS1
FOX NFL
FOX
Monday Night Football
ABC | ESPN
Monday Night Football with Peyton & Eli
ESPN2
[Omaha Productions]
Sunday Night Football
NBC | Peacock
OUTSTANDING PLAYOFF COVERAGE
American League Championship Series
Houston Astros vs. Texas Rangers
FOX | FS1
College Football Playoff Semifinals
Rose Bowl & Sugar Bowl
ESPN
MLB Postseason on tbs
tbs
NFL Championship
Detroit Lions vs. San Francisco 49ers
FOX
·NFL Playoffs on NBC
NBC | Peacock
OUTSTANDING EDITED EVENT COVERAGE
All Access
Davis vs. Garcia: Epilogue
Showtime
·NFL Draft: The Pick Is In
The Roku Channel
[NFL Films | Skydance Sports]
NFL Game Day All Access
Super Bowl LVIII
YouTube
[NFL Films]
Road To The Super Bowl
CBS
[NFL Films]
2023 Special Olympic World Games
ABC
OUTSTANDING EDITED SPECIAL
Chasing Greatness: Coach K x LeBron
TNT
Crown
CBS Sports Network
E60
The Crossover: 50 Years of Hip Hop and Sports
ESPN
[ESPN Films]
GR8TNESS
ESPN
You Are Looking Live!
CBS
[NFL Films]
OUTSTANDING HOSTED EDITED SERIES
E60
ESPN
Kickin’ It
Paramount+ | Golazo Network
The Pivot Podcast
YouTube
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel
HBO | Max
The Shop UNINTERRUPTED
YouTube
[UNINTERRUPTED]
OUTSTANDING ESPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE
BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023
BLAST.tv
[BLAST]
2023 Call of Duty League Championship Weekend
New York Subliners vs. Toronto Ultra
Twitch | YouTube
[Esports Engine | Activision Blizzard]
Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023 Grand Finals
ENCE vs. G2
Twitch | YouTube
[ESL FACEIT Group]
League of Legends Worlds 2023 Final
T1 vs. Weibo Gaming
LoLEsports.com | Twitch | YouTube
[Riot Games]
VALORANT Champions 2023 Grand Final
Paper Rex vs. Evil Geniuses
ValorantEsports.com | Twitch | YouTube
[Riot Games]
OUTSTANDING SHORT DOCUMENTARY
Dreamcaster
MSG Network | MSG+
[456 Studios | Lord + Thomas | DaHouse Audio | Citizen Music | Vicaps | Helo]
Extraordinary Stories
One-Armed Wonder: The Extraordinary Story of Jimmy Hasty
UEFA.tv
[Noah Media Group]
NFL 360
Gone
NFL Network
NFL Films Presents
Lahainaluna High
FS1
[NFL Films]
SC Featured
Nothing Else Matters
ESPN+
OUTSTANDING LONG DOCUMENTARY
The Deepest Breath
Netflix
[A24 | Motive Films | Ventureland]
Full Circle
Vimeo On Demand
[Level 1 Productions]
Kelce
Prime Video
[Amazon MGM Studios | Skydance | Vera Y Productions | 9.14 Pictures]
The Saint of Second Chances
Netflix
[Tremolo | Stampede Ventures]
Stand
Showtime
[SHOWTIME Sports Documentary Films | MSM]
OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Catching Lightning
Showtime
[Bat Bridge Entertainment]
Goliath
Showtime
[Village Roadshow Television | Religion of Sports]
Super League: The War for Football
Apple TV+
[Words + Pictures | All Rise Films]
Untold
Netflix
[Propagate | Stardust Frames | RAW | The Players’ Tribune]
OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY SERIES – SERIALIZED
Football Must Go On
Paramount+
Formula 1: Drive to Survive
Netflix
[Box to Box Films]
Hard Knocks
Training Camp With The New York Jets
HBO | Max
[NFL Films]
Monster Factory
Apple TV+
[Vox Media Studios | Public Record]
Quarterback
Netflix
[NFL Films | Omaha Productions | 2PM Productions]
OUTSTANDING STUDIO SHOW – WEEKLY
College GameDay
ESPN
FOX CFB: Big Noon Kickoff
FOX | FS1
FOX NFL Sunday
FOX
Inside the NBA on TNT
TNT
The NFL Today
CBS
OUTSTANDING STUDIO SHOW – DAILY
MLB Tonight
MLB Network
NBA Countdown
ESPN | ESPN2
NFL Live
ESPN | ESPN2
Pardon The Interruption
ESPN
[Rydholm Projects, Inc.]
SportsCenter
ESPN
OUTSTANDING STUDIO SHOW – LIMITED RUN
College GameDay
College Football Playoff
ESPN
FOX MLB: The Postseason
FOX | FS1
Inside the NBA Playoffs on TNT
TNT
Postseason NFL Countdown
ESPN
Road to the Final Four
CBS | TNT
OUTSTANDING JOURNALISM
CNN FlashDocs
Blindsided
CNN
E60
Peace of Mind: Psychedelics in Sports
ESPN
E60
The Perfect Machine
ESPN
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel
A Blind Eye: Switzerland and the Corruption of World Sport
HBO | Max
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel
Call of Duty: How War is Destroying Ukrainian Sport
HBO | Max
OUTSTANDING SHORT FEATURE
College GameDay
The Legacy of Tyler Trent
ESPN
NFL 360
The Chief Who Walked The Sea
NFL Network
NFL 360
Heroes
NFL Network
NFL 360
Miracle
NFL Network
The NFL Today: Super Bowl LVIII
Just Win Baby!
CBS
Sunday Night Football
Madden & Stingley
NBC | Peacock
Thursday Night Football
Marshawn Lynch ‘N Yo City: Intercourse, PA (Yes, this is a real place)
Prime Video
[Amazon MGM Studios]
OUTSTANDING LONG FEATURE
Outside The Lines
Jordan McNair: The Freedom Within
ESPN
Playing Fields
Ornella: Knocking Down Social Prejudices Pursuing Her Olympic Dream
Olympic Channel
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel
No Surrender: One Man’s Battle with ALS
HBO | Max
SportsCenter
SC Featured: Dear Mrs. Reid
ESPN
SportsCenter
SC Featured: Running for Martin
ESPN
Unredeemable
Golf Channel
OUTSTANDING OPEN/TEASE
The 149th Kentucky Derby
Timeless
NBC | Peacock
Monday Night Football
In the Air Tonight
ESPN | ABC
NHL Winter Classic on TNT
If This Wall Could Talk
TNT
Sunday Night Football
Heidi
NBC | Peacock
Super Bowl LVIII
My Way
CBS
OUTSTANDING INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE
College Football Playoff MegaCast
Rose Bowl Game
ESPN | ESPN2 | ESPN Deportes | ESPNU | ESPNews | SEC Network | ESPN App | ABC | LHN
Fan Controlled Racing Watch Party
Twitch | Kick
[Fan Controlled Sports & Entertainment]
The Magic and Mastery of US Open Champion – Carlos Alcaraz
ESPN.com
NCAA March Madness Live
March Madness Live
Thursday Night Football
Black Friday Football Studio
Prime Video
[Amazon MGM Studios]
Thursday Night Football
Event Coverage Optionality/Customization
Prime Video
[Amazon MGM Studios]
OUTSTANDING DIGITAL INNOVATION
Big City Greens Classic
Fully Animated Live Sporting Event With Integrated Real-Time Animated Talent
ESPN+ | Disney Channel | Disney XD | Disney+
[Beyond Sports | Silver Spoon Animation | Disney Television Animation]
Dreamcaster
MSG Network | MSG+
[Weber Shandwick | Helo]
MLB Next
AR App
MLB
Red Bull Erzbergrodeo
Cross-Platform Storytelling with Broadcast, Web Widgets and AR App.
Red Bull TV
[Red Bull Media House | ProteGear | TeraVolt | Girraphic]
Thursday Night Football
Machine Learning on Prime Vision
Prime Video
[Amazon MGM Studios]
OUTSTANDING PERSONALITY/STUDIO HOST
Malika Andrews
ESPN | ESPN2 | ABC | TNT
Kevin Burkhardt
FOX | FS1
Rece Davis
ESPN
Ernie Johnson
TNT | tbs
Scott Van Pelt
ESPN | ESPN2 | ABC
OUTSTANDING PERSONALITY/PLAY-BY-PLAY
Mike Breen
ABC
Joe Buck
ESPN | ABC
Ian Eagle
CBS | TNT | tbs
Kevin Harlan
tbs | CBS | TNT | truTV
Mike Tirico
NBC | Peacock
OUTSTANDING PERSONALITY/STUDIO ANALYST
Charles Barkley
TNT
Nate Burleson
CBS
Ryan Clark
ESPN | ESPN2 | ESPN+ | ABC
Kirk Herbstreit
ESPN
Mina Kimes
ESPN | ESPN2 | ABC
OUTSTANDING PERSONALITY/EVENT ANALYST
Troy Aikman
ESPN | ABC
Cris Collinsworth
NBC | Peacock
Greg Olsen
FOX
Bill Raftery
CBS | TNT
John Smoltz
FOX | FS1
Tom Verducci
FOX | FS1 | MLB Network
OUTSTANDING PERSONALITY/SIDELINE REPORTER
Erin Andrews
FOX
Kaylee Hartung
Prime Video | NBC | Peacock
Tom Rinaldi
FOX | FS1
Holly Rowe
ESPN | ESPN2 | ABC
Tracy Wolfson
CBS | TNT
OUTSTANDING PERSONALITY/EMERGING ON-AIR
Mookie Betts
Bleacher Report | tbs | FOX
Noah Eagle
NBC | Peacock
Carli Lloyd
FOX | FS1
Taylor Rooks
TNT | NBA TV | Bleacher Report | Amazon
Jay Wright
CBS | CBS Sports Network | TNT
OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL TEAM EVENT
The Masters
CBS
NASCAR on NBC
Chicago Street Race
NBC
Super Bowl LVIII
CBS
Thursday Night Football
Prime Video
[Amazon MGM Studios]
2023 US Open
ESPN | ESPN2 | ESPN+ | ABC
OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL TEAM STUDIO
FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023
FOX | FS1
FOX NFL
Stage A
FOX
NFL Draft
ESPN | ABC
The NFL Today
Super Bowl LVIII
CBS
Thursday Night Football
Prime Video
[Amazon MGM Studios]
OUTSTANDING CAMERA WORK – SHORT FORM
The 155th Belmont Stakes
31 Lengths: Secretariat
FOX
NFL 360
Heroes
NFL Network
NFL Films Presents
Optex Lens
FS1
[NFL Films]
The NFL Today: Super Bowl LVIII
Just Win Baby!
CBS
Super Bowl LVIII
My Way
CBS
OUTSTANDING CAMERA WORK – LONG FORM
E60
Sacred Dog
ESPN
Freeride Skiing
Descendance
YouTube
[Legs of Steel]
Hard Knocks
Training Camp With The New York Jets
HBO | Max
[NFL Films]
Unredeemable
Golf Channel
Vamos Vegas
YouTube
OUTSTANDING EDITING – SHORT FORM
The 149th Kentucky Derby
Timeless
NBC | Peacock
NFL 360
The Chief Who Walked The Sea
NFL Network
NFL 360
Heroes
NFL Network
NHL on TNT
Show and Tell
TNT
Super Bowl LVIII
My Way
CBS
OUTSTANDING EDITING – LONG FORM
Freeride Skiing
Descendance
YouTube
[Legs of Steel]
Hard Knocks
Training Camp With The New York Jets
HBO | Max
[NFL Films]
Kelce
Prime Video
[Amazon MGM Studios | Skydance | Vera Y Productions | 9.14 Pictures]
Under Pressure: The U.S. Women’s World Cup Team
Netflix
[Words + Pictures | FIFA | Time Studios]
Unredeemable
Golf Channel
THE DICK SCHAAP OUTSTANDING WRITING AWARD – SHORT FORM
FOX CFB: Big Noon Kickoff
J.J. McCarthy “47”
FOX
NFL 360
The Chief Who Walked The Sea
NFL Network
NFL 360
Still Here
NFL Network
The NFL Today
Kyle Brandt Series
CBS
Sunday Night Football
NBC | Peacock
OUTSTANDING WRITING – LONG FORM
All Access
Showtime
Chasing Gold
Farebersviller
NBC
E60
The Crossover: 50 Years of Hip Hop and Sports
ESPN
[ESPN Films]
Hard Knocks
Training Camp With The New York Jets
HBO | Max
[NFL Films]
The World According to Football
Showtime
[SHOWTIME Sports Documentary Films | Religion of Sports |
Day Zero Productions | Mainstay Entertainment]
OUTSTANDING MUSIC DIRECTION
E60
The Crossover: 50 Years of Hip Hop and Sports
ESPN
[ESPN Films]
E60
Sacred Dog
ESPN | ESPN+
[Showtime Singers]
The Golden Boy
HBO | Max
[Unrealistic Ideas | ViaMar Productions]
NBA on TNT
50 Years of Hip Hop
TNT
Super Bowl LVIII
My Way
CBS
OUTSTANDING AUDIO/SOUND – LIVE EVENT
FOX MLB
FOX | FS1
FOX NASCAR
FOX | FS1
Little League World Series
ESPN | ESPN2 | ABC
NASCAR on NBC
NBC | USA
Sunday Night Baseball
ESPN | ESPN2
Sunday Night Football
NBC | Peacock
Super Bowl LVIII
CBS
OUTSTANDING AUDIO/SOUND – POST-PRODUCED
Formula 1: Drive to Survive
Netflix
[Box to Box Films | Netflix]
FOX NASCAR: RACE HUB
The Championship: Radioactive
FS1
[NASCAR Studios]
2023 IRONMAN World Championship
Outside TV
[The IRONMAN Group Productions]
McGregor Forever
Netflix
[Religion of Sports]
NFL 360
Heroes
NFL Network
Quarterback
Netflix
[NFL Films | Omaha Productions | 2PM Productions]
Vamos Vegas
YouTube
[TORQ]
OUTSTANDING GRAPHIC DESIGN – EVENT/SHOW
FOX NFL
FOX
Monday Night Football
ESPN | ESPN2 | ESPN+ | ABC
[Elastic Creative]
NBA Finals
ESPN | ABC
[Two Fresh Creative | Panoply]
Super Bowl LVIII
CBS
Toy Story Funday Football
DISNEY+ | ESPN+
[BIG Studios | Beyond Sports | Silver Spoon Animation | PIXAR]
OUTSTANDING GRAPHIC DESIGN – SPECIALTY
MLB Network Showcase
This Is What I Live For
MLB Network
[Perception]
NFL 360
The Chief Who Walked The Sea
NFL Network
Super League: The War for Football
Apple TV+
[Words + Pictures | All Rise Films]
Thursday Night Football
TNF Show Open / Black Friday Football: Robert Randolph
Prime Video
[Amazon MGM Studios]
Toy Story Funday Football
Duke Caboom Daredevil Spectacular
DISNEY+ | ESPN+
OUTSTANDING STUDIO OR PRODUCTION DESIGN/ART DIRECTION
The 155th Belmont Stakes
31 Lengths: Secretariat
FOX
FOX NFL
Stage A
FOX
Super Bowl LVIII
My Way
CBS
Thursday Night Football
Black Friday Football Tradition Tease; TNF Show
Prime Video
[Amazon MGM Studios]
Toy Story Funday Football
DISNEY+ | ESPN+
[BIG Studios | Beyond Sports | Silver Spoon Animation | PIXAR]
THE GEORGE WENSEL TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The Masters
TFC Compound Connect
CBS
2023 MLB Home Run Derby
StatCast Edition: Live Virtual 3D Event Coverage
ESPN2
Monday Night Football with Peyton & Eli
Peyton Manning’s AR Table
ESPN2
[Omaha Productions]
Thursday Night Football
TNF Table Talk
Prime Video
[Amazon MGM Studios | Girraphic]
Toy Story Funday Football
DragonFly Tech
DISNEY+ | ESPN+
[NFL | Next Gen Stats | Beyond Sports | Hawk-Eye]
OUTSTANDING PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT
FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023
USA vs The World
FOX
The Golden Boy
Who Am I?
HBO | Max
[Zealot UK]
2023 NBA Finals
We Are All in the Finals
NBA Social
Stanley Cup
First Kiss
NHL Network
Top Rank Boxing on ESPN
Battle of the Baddest | Rumble
ESPN | ESPN+
[Park Pictures]
OUTSTANDING PUBLIC SERVICE CONTENT
FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023
Common Goal
FOX | FS1
Hometown Hopefuls
NBC | NBCSports.com
NFL on CBS
Football for Everyone
CBS | CBS Sports Network
Notre Dame Football
What Would You Fight For?
NBC
Youth Flag Football
Let’s Play
NFL Network
OUTSTANDING STUDIO SHOW IN SPANISH
Ahora o Nunca
ESPN Deportes
2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup
Telemundo
Fuera de Juego
ESPN+
Futbol Central
Verano de Campeones
Univision | TUDN
Republica Deportiva
Univision | TUDN
Sunday Night Football
Telemundo
OUTSTANDING FEATURE STORY IN SPANISH
Balon de Oro de la Liga MX
Tigres – Powerchair
Univision | TUDN
E60
Mayra
ESPN | ESPN+
Mundo NFL Originals
El Sueño de Cieneguitas
Mundo NFL
[Sway | Mundo NFL]
SportsCenter
In Her Shoes: Wang Shuang
ESPN Deportes
SportsCenter
SC Reportajes: Do Bronx – Charles Oliveira
ESPN Deportes
OUTSTANDING ON-AIR PERSONALITY IN SPANISH
Alejandro Berry
Univision | TUDN
Andrés Cantor
Telemundo
Carolina Guillén
ESPN Deportes
Miguel Gurwitz
Telemundo
Rebeca Landa
ESPN Deportes
Valeria Marin
Univision | TUDN
63MIX ROUTIN3S | SEBASTIEN LAGREE
9PLAYLIST | LIONEL MESSI
Read the FEB ISSUE #98 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | Lionel Messi in mag.
MAKE ROOM FOR THE BRACKETOLOGIST
You know what time of year it is, we’re all focused on March Madness which allows us to increase our ability to showcase our depth of knowledge in Bracketology, “the activity of predicting the participating teams in a tournament, typically the NCAA. basketball tournament.” With Selection Sunday, March 17th around the corner, we’re all thinking about who is going to the big dance and who we’re adding into the Big Bracket. The New York Times is launching a Bracketologist Sweatsuit Set for college basketball-watching enthusiasts this Friday, March 8th.
This set will exclusively be sold on The New York Times Store and is the first drop from their “Words” Capsule Collection. This will be an evolving product collection that decodes modern language through journalism. This collection will include the Bracketologist Sweatpant ($80) and Bracketologist Crewneck Sweatshirt ($70), the perfect ensemble to wear when you’re out and about or gathering with friends to get your brackets in order!
Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.
NEW YEAR, N3W YOU
63MIX ROUTIN3S | ADAM COPELAND
MAKING HIS MARK | ADAM COPELAND
As we look to close 2023, we're excited to have actor and legendary wrestler Adam Copeland! Many know him as a WWE Hall of Famer who wrestled under the name Edge for a total of 31 championships there and he held the World Heavyweight Championship between 2002 and 2013 7 times as well as the WWE Championship 4 times and a number of accolades while there! This year, he transitioned from WWE to the AEW showing that he continues to be dedicated to his passion and crafstmanship of this sport and doing it in his own name.
His love for wrestling is also shared by acting which is another way to fuel his creativity and dedication. Fans of his have enjoyed him over a number of seasons/episodes of Syfy's Haven, History Channel's Vikings, and a number of movies! Now, you can see him in his latest series Percy Jackson and The Olympians where he portarys Ares, streaming now on Disney+. We wanted to know more about how he got into acting, some of his roles that he has been in, being in the Disney+ series, as well as his phenomenal wrestling career. We caught up with him at home to find out more and you can read his thoughts on 2023 and 2024 in our feature NEW YEAR, N3W YOU!
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you realize that you enjoyed wrestling?
ADAM COPELAND: Honestly, it was the first time that I saw it. I distinctly remember that it was Roddy Piper and this was the old black and white TV where you had to turn it with pliers, 3 channels, and one of the channels was CKVR TV from Barrie, Ontario. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was Pacific Northwest Wrestling out of Portland, Oregon. It was Roddy Piper and I still remember the trunks that he was wearing were like a creamy yellow and green tartan design and he smashed a beer bottle over his head. I just remember – my brain couldn’t process what this thing was, like this guy is a maniac, but I can’t take my eyes off of him. It just kind of blew my mind, because I was young and very impressionable, it just struck some kind of strange chord with me. I think it was because it was just this big larger than life kind of thing. I loved comic books – I voraciously read comic books. I love KISS because they were super heroes but you could go see them in concert. They played characters and so wrestling was that! I could go down to Maple Leaf Gardens and I found out where they came into the building so that I could accost them back there and bug them. So it really was from the first time that I saw it.
Then it was diving into it deeper and discovering Hulk Hogan and going, “woah, what is this guy doing?” His eyes and his energy! And then from there, it was the deep dives and discovering why I gravitated towards certain people’s matches. Like why did I always enjoy wrestling? Watching Bret Hart wrestle and then I guess as I got smarter, more educated to what the industry is, that’s when it dawned on me. I was like, “oh, it’s because he’s really great!” Got it!
Savage I mean, you’re looking at the Macho Man – he’s awesome, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Ted DiBiase, Bob Orton – man, the flood gates were open!
AM: I grew up in Indianapolis and went to school at Indiana University, and we’d have our friends in our dorm watching the matches before we went out or after studying and I remember when I first saw you in the ring and it was explosive!
AC: That was the guy liner phase!
AM: Obviously you’ve dominated in your career as wrestler without a doubt.
My mom was a huge Highlander fan and I am as well. Seeing you in Endgame was great to see. When did you realize that you wanted to pursue acting?
AC: It was never on my radar honestly. It really wasn’t. The Highlander thing was just that WWF at the time said, “hey, there’s a small role in the next Highlander movie. It films in Bucharest. Do you want to go?” I said, yeah sure. It sounded like fun, it seemed like an experience and I had never been to Bucharest. That’s really all that was, but my entire goal as early as I can remember wanting to have a career, I wanted my career to be wrestling.
The acting thing was always like if something popped up, sure cool. It wasn’t until I was forced to retire in 2011 and then it serendipitously landed in my lap again and it was the Executive Producers of a show called Haven saw my retirement speech and they said that they were in tears. So they said that they wanted a tie into wrestling and a tie in to SmackDown and they said, “can we get that guy, he just retired?” A week later, I was up in Halifax filming and 1 episode became 41.
And in that process I realized, ok this still taps into that creative vein. And that’s the way that I am wired. I like to create. I like to tell stories. So whether that's writing or whatever it is. So I really really enjoyed the process. I really started diving into that because wrestling was off the table. So it was like, if my first love is off the table, all of these things come off of the same tree. It’s just different branches on where you go to on this or over on this one. So once I understood that I enjoyed this process and wrapped my mind around the differences too. With wrestling, I equate it to maybe standup or a band with a setlist that they change all of the time. You play off of and read off of your audience. It’s a really, really amazing thing. What I had to get used to in terms of acting was thinking that a take I did which was really, really good – and then they may not use that one.
AM: That’s true.
AC: Then a year and a half later, you see what takes they use and you look at it and say it’s interesting. I had to wrap my mind around that.
AM: Especially since you can work with one director and they think that that was amazing, but the next director or producer wants and looks for something that’s completely different.
AC: Entirely different! I pretty quickly learned too that if a director has an idea, my job is to try and bring that vision. It’s not really my vision because I can have a certain way that I think that I am going to do things, but on the day, it can be entirely different from the set up, the angles, and all of those things. The director is going to get the shot that he or she wants so you mght as well try and dive in with them to get it!
AM: I really enjoyed Vikings! What drew you to that show?
AC: It was my favorite television show. I loved Vikings. I’d sit down, I’d watch Vikings. I was on Haven for gosh, the first 4 seasons and Vikings was in production then. So once I wrapped with Haven and the show ended, I said to my manager that we needed to keep an eye out for Vikings because if something came along there, I wanted to try to pounce on that. An audition came along for it and again, it was kind of like Haven where the character was only supposed to be in 4 episodes and then before I knew it, Michael Hirst (Elizabeth, The Tudors, Vikings: Valhalla) who is the creator and the writer who wrote all of the episodes, he said we need to write more for Kjetill and I said, I’m in.
AM: I love that show and my sister and I watched a number of episodes together.
AC: I loved it too! I can’t show the girls that one, but I really loved that show. I loved the challenge of a period piece, accents, drama, and those were all things that I hadn’t delved into before. So that was super exciting, the challenge aspect of it, because I love a challenge. I would get my scripts and phonetically write everything out. Ok, there’s a hard ‘s’ here, it’s not ‘is’ it’s ‘sss’ and then I would run my lines. So it became second nature and by the end, I didn’t even think about it and I would end up talking like that in between takes.
AM: Percy Jackson and The Olympians is streaming now on Disney+. What drew you to this 8 episode series? How did you get attached to the project?
AC: So, when the books first came out, I was on the grind. 220 shows a year which means you’re generally on the road 250 days a year. So from the years of 1999 – 2011, I didn’t catch a lot of what was happening in terms of social media and mass media. It all kind of flew by me. So I didn’t fully grasp how huge the books were and I’m kind of glad that I didn’t. Because the audition came through and I was like, “oh Percy Jackson – that could be interesting, ok.” I thought that they had made a couple of movies and that was the extent of my knowledge. So I read for the part and I sort of went, “oh, ok this guy, I think that I know this guy.” I found the comedic beats in it. So I wore one of my Edge/Adam Copeland vests and I wore my Andre the Giant T-Shirts cut off. I have never dressed up for an audition in my life, but I thought, what the heck? I shaved my own head, I had my own little mohawk and I read for it and had a lot of fun with it. It was really funny but Beth said, you had a lot of fun with that and I feel like you found that guy. I agreed, but then you have to throw it away because once an audition is done, you have to stop thinking about it. You can’t dwell. About a month and a half, maybe 2 months later, my manager said, the Executive Producers of Percy Jackson want to do a Zoom. I was like, ok and I was trying to remember when I had read for that. I forgot. Then, sure enough, they were like, “when you get out to Vancouver, -“ that’s when I realized that I had got the part! I told them that I was still wrestling for WWE and they said it didn’t matter and that they would figure it out.
AM: Wait, what?
AC: Yeah, that’s unheard of! I guess they had seen my audition and thought, "he's the Ares that I pictured when I wrote him.” That was a huge boost of confidence too.
I hadn’t read the books yet, but I had found the voice of this character in just reading the sides. That was super fun and then I read the books. I was like, “oh man, these are awesome!” Then learning that over 180 million copies worldwide were sold and it made me really glad that I didn’t fully dive into that knowledge before I read it. I mean I think it would have felt like a different kind of pressure I guess!
AM: Of course! It would be like stepping into Harry Potter without having the awareness of the weight of that franchise and then finding out after being in it.
AC: Oh yeah! Even when I got out to set and realized just the scope and the magnitude of this world, it was really really kind of jaw dropping. But it was such a blast and having seen – as I have only seen the first 2 episodes as well, but I watched them with my little girls who are 7 and 10, they have now watched it 3 times. They absolutely love it and watching it with them and seeing how they react and how much of a smile it has brought to their faces already, I am so proud to be a small cog in this giant machine to bring this thing to screen because seeing the kids reactions have been so massive and so much fun for me especially at this stage in my life, 50 years old, 2 kids and this is something that they can watch. I’m so proud to be part of it. The quality of it, it’s such a good show.
AM: How much can you say about the show as some people who are not reading this may not have seen this yet. What can you say in terms of the backstory? Also, we know who Ares is, but how are we seeing him as it is portrayed in this series?
AC: This adaptation of Percy is very true to the books. I think that that is something that movies weren’t. I don’t think that Ares was in the movie, but he is essentially the antagonist in the 1st season of this series. So there is a lot of big holes there with him being so heavily involved in this. I think that for the fanbase, they can take some comfort in the knowledge that Rick Riordan (author of the Percy Jackson series). So from a fanbase perspective, that’s huge!
If you’ve never read the books, you can watch it and get it. It explains itself really well, just like the books do. Within the first 3 or 4 pages, you get what’s going on here. It really brought the character traits together. Walker Scobell (The Adam Project, Secret Headquarters, Blood Knot) is so good as Percy. He has just the right amount of charm and sarcasm. The kid is on his way. He is just so good and at his age, he’s 14 now, but when we filmed this, he was still 12 – ridiculous for him to pull off what he was able to pull off. Just ridiculous to watch all 3 of them Leah Jeffries (Empire, Beast, Something From Tiffany’s) and Aryan Simhadri (The Main Event, Spin, Cheaper by the Dozen) and in between takes, they would go to school. Then they’d come back and they would do another take. Or they would do my coverage and then they would go do a lesson. How are they computing all of this? I don’t remember what I had for breakfast and they’re pulling all of this off. I really can’t say enough about all 3 of them and their work ethic and really just the entire crew! It was a really good place to work even in the time that I was there.
In terms of Ares, he’s – I love him, I really do! He’s just acerbic, a little caustic, he’s angry and a little over his head while being all powerful in a way too. It’s fun to play those beats. Because if he was just a god, this omnipotent thing, how much fun is that? Even when I was in Vikings, ok, this guy goes insane. But you can’t just go insane, there needs to be a reason for that. If I can bite into that, Adam Copeland can bite into that, then hopefully, I can pull out some truths for the character.
With Ares, it’s the classic, he’s the child that feels like he should have gotten more attention and now he’s acting out. He just happens to be in a 6’4” 240lb frame and he’s a god and he has a giant sword. It made for a lot of really fun scenes – and scenes that weren’t in the book and that added more depth into the character. My favorite scene that I was involved in takes place in a diner with Grover Underwood (Aryn) and it wasn’t in the books at all, but it was a really, really fun scene to play off of each other with.
AM: The cast as a whole has incredible actors that are in this alongside with you. What did you take away from this whole experience?
AC: I think that more than anything, it was just, I don’t know – to be 50 years old and go, “right, I’m still wrestling – I’m wrestling again and I’m also working for Disney.” What? When I first started this and started training for wrestling at 17 years old, if you had told me that at 50, A – I’d still be wrestling and B – I’d be working for Disney at the same time, I’d have asked you what are you smoking and can you give me some because that sounds amazing.
Sometimes I just sit back. We did the red carpet for the premier last week and I brought the girls and Beth up with me. Just to see the excitement that they had to be involved in this thing and I think that I actually became a cool dad for about a week!
AM: You know, just walking the red carpet with my dad!
AC: I’ll take it, I’ll take it!
AM: I mean I think back to a lot of the things that I did physically when I was younger and being 44 now, there’s no way that I could do the flips and turns that I could do before! The fact that you’re still doing that, I couldn’t imagine it for myself, so I tip my hat to you sir!
AC: Well, a lot less flips for me now ha!
AM: There’s that, but still! But you’re still out there doing it!
AC: I am!
AM: Are there any upcoming projects in terms of acting that we should keep our eye out for?
AC: With the strike, everything just got put on hold. Then, within that strike, I had transitioned from WWE already and went into AEW, so there has been a lot of change, but all for good! My creative spark has really – not that it wasn’t lit before, but now it’s like woah! I have a blank canvas that I can paint all kinds of different palettes and things that I can use now. There’s a whole roster that I never even touched or told stories with. So that’s very exciting for me.
With acting, I’ve pretty much said since day 1 to my managers and agents, I say no a lot! I don’t even read a lot of stuff. It really has to hit because why do it otherwise? If it’s something that’s meh ok, and maybe it isn’t right or the method that you should use, but a lot of time it’s about who is involved. I would love to work with Kelsey Grammer (Frasier, Boss, Dr. Death) – yes, my mom’s favorite actor. She passes away 6 months later I get offered to play in Money Plane with Kelsey Grammer. I didn’t even need to read the script, I was in. Really more than anything, it’s about what is going to be fun. At this stage, from the time I was 22 on, I don’t feel like I have worked. That’s a gift and I didn’t realize how rare that is, so I don’t ever look past it and that means that I also want to continue that streak. It needs to be fun, not need to feel like work, and it needs to be creative and I’m happy.
AM: We touched on this a bit earlier, but you now wrestle under AEW. What's it like wrestling under your own name?
AC: I think that more than anything, I said this for years and years that I wish that I could have just wrestled under the name Adam Copeland. I mean I don't know, what is Edge? I didn’t even know what Edge was, I just pulled it out of the air, said it, and everyone agreed and that was that! There wasn’t a whole lot of thought put into it. Even as stupid as it sounds, the cadence of chanting – Har-dy, Au-stin, Ro-cky, Ho-gan, E-d-g-e – I was just happy to be there.
So to get the opportunity, I have always used Adam Copeland throughout whether it’s the television that I have done, writing a book, whatever it is. I have always introduced myself as Adam Copeland, never introduced myself as Edge as that was a character that I played on TV. That would be like going up to someone and saying, “Hi, I’m Ares, nice to meet ya.” It doesn’t work that way right?
AM: But an easier chanting name though!
AC: Yes! It is but also Adam Copeland ha! Then also too, in terms of the acting. It’s going to be my name there as well and so if you’re looking at it from a branding perspective it makes a lot of sense in that regard.
AM: Well I think that when you recently did the match with Sting and Darby, those leather jackets! That leather work was stunning. When Beth told me that you are the fashion mastermind behind your looks, how much were you involved in creating that iconic look for the 3 of you?
AC: I came up with the whole thing! I have been drawing my wrestling outfits since I can remember – from 9 and 10 years old. A lot of them from that time saw the light of day. Even drawings from when I was 10, I’ve worn tights that I drew from when I was 10. So, when I knew that we would be teaming, I said, “how do we make this really, really special for this occasion?” Because to me, it is. You have 3 generations. You have Darby, you have me, and you have Sting. To me, you have the future, the present, and this iconic character. So I wanted to be able to have some fun with that. So I said, hey guys, I have an idea for coats are you in and they said, “yeah, sure.” So I got their measurements, I sent them off to Sylvia Jensen who is the mastermind behind Wornstar, she does all of trench coats, my demon wings that I wore at WrestleMania. She and I just sit down and think about the ideas, here’s the shirts – we need Sting’s lapels, we need Darby’s hood, and we need to add elements in. On my tights, I had a skull, but it had the Sting makeup. And then I had the other half of Darby’s skull face and Sting in the middle with his full paint which is a cool visual. So you have half, half, full in the middle.
Those were all the things that ran through my mind because as a fan, I would sit there and notice those things. That made me think, these guys care. They really put thought into what they were doing and what they were presenting. In my mind, my kid mind, it goes to, “oh, that’s an awesome action figure.”
AM: So to see you guys in the look from Wornstar, the visual texture, the detailing, that futuristic element, I spent quite a bit looking at them from your IG.
AC: What I really wanted to try to convey is that we’re all tipping our hats to each other. We had my coat design, but it still had Stings flavor and Darby’s flavor, but then the face paint is the tip of the hat to Darby the Sting face paint on the tights is the tip of the hat to him and were all paying homage to each other and we all came out with the bats which is Sting and I was like, if we get a single spotlight and the bats come into frame and then it flows and off we go! That’s the stuff that I just love being part of and being really hands on to the point that it becomes fairly annoying to people or that they think, oh great, you took that off my plate – you’ve got it? Cool!
AM: Well I loved it, it was well thought out, and it had quite the production effect!
What are you looking forward to in this portion of your career as it pertains to AEW?
AC: Again, the blank canvas! The massive amount of talent that I have never ever had my hands on! I look at that company and I see Swerve Strickland, I see Darby now that I have gotten to team with as well as Sting! Getting to work with Christian Cage again which we both thought was off the table as he was retired for 7 years and I was retired for 9. Both of us thought that our careers were done and now we’re getting to do this and to tell the story at AEW. There’s Moxley, there’s Bryan Danielson, Claudio, Miro, Hobbs – I’ve never wrestled any of those people and have never performed with any of them. That’s super exciting and gives me a new lease on life. Right? I have 2 years here and there’s a bunch of stories that I’m trying to go down the checklist. In the meantime, I can pass along the vast amounts of knowledge in my 32 years that I have been doing it.
AM: I’m sure you can pass around a lot of knowledge!
AC: Well I figured that that’s part of the job! If I sign anywhere now, I bring all of those years from when I wrestled in Teneessee when 5 people were sitting on barrels of hay all the way to WrestleMania to battle The Undertaker and everywhere in between. With that, if you’re paying attending, you can learn a lot.
AM: With the span of your entire career, what do you want your legacy to be known as?
AC: I have always said that I don’t believe in legacies and I feel that legacies are solidified by the people that are putting together video packages and they’re usually more political than anything else. So I have always said that my legacy is my little girls. Am I raising good human beings – that’s the legacy. I truly feel that my girls are awesome and they are great little human beings. That to me is the legacy.
Did I always work hard? Yes!
IG @ratedrcope
PHOTO CREDITS | FRONT/BACK COVER, 19 - 29 + 34 - 39 Paul Farkas | PG 16 Disney/David Bukach | PG 30 - 33 AEW |
Read the DEC ISSUE #96 of Athleisure Mag and see MAKING HIS MARK | Adam Copeland in mag.
SETTING THE STANDARD | CHRISTEN PRESS
As we reflect on 2023 and look ahead to 2024, it's always good to get other's takes on what went on in their lives as well! We caught up with National Women's Soccer League and US Women's National Team's, Christen Press.
As an athlete, she has competed at the top level with personal and team accolades that include being an all time leading goal scorer with 71 goals at Stanford, 2010 Hermann Trophy winner during her collegiate career. She has played for a number of clubs throughout the world with the latest being Angel City FC. In Rio 2016 Team USA Women's Soccer took the Bronze Medal and on the USWNT, she has had 155 appearances and 64 goals with 43 assists and won 2 World Cups.
We wanted to know more about her passion for the sport, her stellar career, the importance of advocacy and founding RE—INC along with fellow founders, Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath, and Meghan Klingenberg. She shares what she is looking forward to and she has thoughts on her 2023 and 2024 that you can read in next month's, NEW YEAR, N3W YOU.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with soccer?
CHRISTEN PRESS: Well, I have been playing soccer since I was 3 and I wouldn’t say that I had fallen in love with it when I was young, as I had a period of time when I was younger, that I didn’t like it. And my dad encouraged me to keep trying. But at some point when I was young, I can say that I fell in love with something about the game.
AM: What do you love about the sport?
CP: Well now at 34, as I reflect on all that soccer has given me and done, the list of what I love about it is quite vast. From learning to cooperate, to work on teams, leadership, the life skills that soccer has given me, I’m tremendously grateful for that. The opportunity to see the world, to be able to travel, and to experience different cultures. I’ve lived and played in Sweden, in England and have just been around the world with the USWNT. I think that the fact that it is impossible to perfect, it kind of leads you on a never ending ascension because you’re constantly striving and I can look at my game and see my strengths and that no matter how good I get at them, there’s always room for improvement which is what I love about it.
AM: When did you realize that you wanted to play professionally?
CP: When I was younger, I was always very present and I wanted to win the games that I was playing in and to win the trophy that my team was playing for and then I didn’t really look that far ahead. I think that a lot of that was because, growing up there wasn’t a professional league. So I didn’t even think of that as the ceiling. So it was great to know that I was really good and that was great in that moment. I went to the World Cup 1999 FInal and I have a photo. It’s of me and my teammates at that game and I can see in my eyes that I have a dream to be on the Women’s US National Team and honestly the first time that I was called in to go to camp, I couldn’t even believe that I was picked. I felt that it was such an honor to represent your country and I didn’t even understand how professional sports worked especially at that time. So, I think that it was an evolving dream and obviously, we have lived through a generation of soccer that has completely changed the way that young people view their futures and strive for their goals. Now, there is so much more visibility to see women playing in a lot of local and domestic leagues in this country as well as globally as well.
AM: I totally agree, I was born in ’79 and I grew up in the Midwest. I didn’t really think about soccer until high school as North Central had a great men’s and women’s soccer team. I know that my Alma Mata, Indiana University had a great women's soccer program as well. I never thought about women playing it professionally and frankly, I never thought about Black women playing as well. So to see you and other Black women playing this sport and reflecting this representation, it’s amazing! Looking at my niece who is 5, she’s living in a world, where she can see the sport as well as know that it can be played on the pro level. I didn’t have that growing up.
CP: That is actually so great! When I’m playing in my local market LA Angel City FC, I look up often into the stands and I see those kids that are 5 and 6 years old and they’ll never know – they’ll never know that this wasn’t here before. This is normal to them, to watch women play in 20/30,000 seat stadiums that are sold out which is incredible!
AM: That’s insane. You play for Angel City FC, what’s it like to play for this team?
CP: In a lot of ways, it’s a dream come true because of what the club represents and stands for! It’s women ownership super progressive agendas of how we can reimagine the business of women’s sports. Also, it’s my hometown! I never imagined that I would be able to play at home because the view of women’s soccer that I had a decade ago was that you’re not going to be able to have what you want. You don’t get to choose where to play, there’s not a lot of teams, and as the NWSL continues to expand and grow, so many people’s dreams are going to be able to come true.
AM: I love hearing that!
You’re also on the USWNT which has been a pleasure to watch that and you have obtained a number of accolades there as well. What does it mean to you to be on this team as well?
CP: The USWNT is just the thing that every single girl who wants to play soccer does right? It’s the singular dream! It’s the dream that existed before there even was a league! Still, to this day, what we are able to achieve as a National team is far greater in terms of who we reach, how we’re paid, how we’re treated – all of the things – it’s still kind of the gold standard. I think that I spent the first 25 years of my life dreaming of playing for the USWNT! I’m talking, up every night dreaming about it, trying to figure out how to get there, and I spent the last decade plus experiencing it and it’s been the greatest honor of my life. It’s afforded me so many great opportunities. It’s been such a joy to be able to represent my country, to put on that shirt, to score goals, to celebrate with the fans and my teammates, and to go through the hardest parts of my life fighting for 20 spots on the roster where there are 100s of thousands of people who are playing soccer. So, it is an incredible experience and it’s also a very challenging environment to be in, but I love it!
AM: You also have an Olympic medal with Team USA when you guys competed at Tokyo 2020, are you thinking ahead to Paris 2024, and you must be excited that the Summer Games are coming to LA in 2028!
CP: Part of me is like, I wish I was 15 years younger because the Olympics are coming to LA and it is also rumored that the World Cup is coming to the US for the women and the men. I mean, man if I was 20 years old right now, these would be my prime years! It will be very challenging as I’m 34 to be able to do all of tournaments, but I will absolutely be there as a fan. I tore my ACL and I am on my road to recovery through injuries so I always think that National and the International schedule is a guiding light and it’s something that you always try to make you fight for your roster spot and it also pushes me in my recovery to make sure that I am making progress and have my goals. So I’m thinking about that for next summer’s Olympics and our National Team is getting a new coach and there are a lot of dynamics that are changing and I'm really excited to see what my body wants for me.
Right now, it’s guiding me on the journey and I just follow. I’m really excited for the team to come off the World Cup which was not successful to be able to fight for a gold medal.
AM: You’re entire career has just been so amazing. You’ve done so many things and so many accolades, what do you think they have been as a player?
CP: I think that I reflect on some of the hardest times – coming out of the hardest times. There are things that I am most proud of like the 2016 Olympics in Rio, it was an extremely hard time as an individual player and as a team. I remember that metaphor, getting off the floor and saying, “can I survive these types of lows?” I think that I’m really proud of that. I’m really proud of taking a mental health break after the 2020 Olympics that happened in 2021. I actually asked the National Team for a few months off as I had been playing consistently with that team for 10 years and I lost my mom in that period and I never had time to grieve. I am proud that I made the hard decision to leave that environment because it was extremely difficult to get back in. I think that the other thing that I would point to as a highlight is being around a group of strong empowering women that is normal to me. My expectation is almost beyond gender norms and stereotypes because so much of my life is on a field or in a hotel room and being around these women who are breaking down barriers! So now that I am an entrepreneur as well and I run my business as a Co-CEO, I am really doing whatever I can to create that environment for more people and more women so that you know, some of the imposter syndrome, sort of the placating of the male ego that happens outside of a sports environment is diminished and so women, minorities, and people of color are able to thrive and live at their best. I feel that I learned a lot about how to create that kind of ecosystem in sports.
AM: That is amazing to hear and you’re such a multifaceted person as an athlete, sports journalist, and now taking on this entrepreneurial role with your platform in this way, why did you want to launch RE—INC? What was that moment when you said that you wanted to do this and focus on your advocacy and to embrace the fact that other people can enjoy what you did by doing this?
CP: I think it’s 2 fold. The first thing that led me to this path was the fight for equal pay and really just to understand the financial realities of being a women’s professional soccer player. Knowing that building a business and building a company, I had the opportunity to fight for my values without the restrictions of what US Soccer thought our worth was versus the men. I think there was a dream for my teammates to build something for our own financial liberation and then be able to spread that. I think that that was part of what RE—INC vision that we wanted to bring into the value of women’s sports and women’s soccer ecosystem so that more players can get compensated in more fair ways and to have that rising tide to lift everybody up.
I think that the second part of that was just understanding how amazing our community that we have built, our fan bases, and to make sure that people don’t feel othered. The way that sports is in this country, it’s built for and by men. So the people that love the USWNT, and love Angel City, and love women’s professional soccer, it’s a very unique group of people that need to be served. When we built RE—INC, it was about content, community, and commerce for this group of people. It felt like in a lot of ways that this was the first time that there was something like this that was designed for me. Now through RE—MEDIA, we have a large mission to reimagine the way that women are experiencing sports by recreating the kind of content that reflects how women’s sports is.
I always say that you know what bro culture and what locker room culture is for men. You can see it and you can smell it. You might not love it, but you know what it is. We don’t have that defined in women’s sports. So we’re bringing with the community that we have built, with the content that we have planned to roll out over the next 3 years, we want to set the culture for what women’s sports is and how it can be talked about in an incredibly empowering and exciting way.
AM: You launched Reimaginers United. What can we expect from that?
CP: It’s really dear to my heart. I’m wearing the whole kit right now. It’s a special collection because it kind of takes the concept that I was talking about before with such a group of strong willed human beings and saying, how can we create that team feeling for everybody? So, with Reimaginers United, it’s a team where everybody wins. This is a club for all. As women, we don’t have to build something in opposition to what was built. The current sports house was built for men, but we don’t have to build a sports house for women. Our sports house is for everyone and it will be a co-creation with our community so that it reflects our shared values – it reflects diversity, it reflects equity, inclusion, progress, and art and all of the things that we care about. So I really see this collection, our uniforms for Re-Imaginers, people who want to build a better world, come join our club. We have a membership and our membership is for people who want to be themselves and better themselves. They’re sports fans and change makers because that is such a strong intersection in the women’s sports world. Women’s sports aren’t just about sports, because we have inherently had to fight for equity every step of the way and now it is embedded in our culture. So that’s what Reimaginers United is all about and honestly, it’s what our entire business is all about.
AM: Umbro partnered with you to make the initial kit. What does it mean to have this iconic soccer brand involved?
CP: It was an amazing partnership because I think it’s such a classic heritage football brand! It felt like absolutely the right choice because we’re kind of serving this fluid, modern, progressive, brand and we’re marrying the beauty and history of the sport and the beautiful game that all we love. It’s a kit to wear for people that are out playing soccer, adult league, to wear in the stands, to wear in the streets, and it’s to signal what your values are and who you are. To put it on and to feel the strength to reimagine which is what we always say. We hope that our logo gives people the sense to say, that, “I know my identity, I claim my identity, I love who I am, and I’m strong enough to make a change today.”
AM: That’s amazing.
I love that this brand has so many things going on. You have the RE—CAP show, the podcast that you host with Tobin Heath – why did you want to add this component to it?
CP: It was a huge strategic decision for us. Because we were watching the World Cup and it was the first time that we were on the sidelines and not in the game for over a decade. In the buildup, we were hearing the way that people were talking about it and it just felt that it wasn’t like us. Not like the players and athletes that were actually participating. We felt that we would be able to talk about it in a better way. Our content was sitting at the intersection of sports, progress, and equity. We talked about the games and tactics, we broke everything down – honestly Tobin did that and then we married that with impact. We’ve had a ton of abuse in our league from coaches and owners. We had deep conversations about that. We talked about abuse that players at the tournament were facing like cyber bullying and hate speech which we have seen come out this week with incredibly skewed and bias towards the USWNT and a couple of players on our team. We had real conversations about the issues that mattered to us in our community and we married that with the breakdown of the games and the celebration of all of the stars.
AM: Where do you see women’s sports in general in the next 10-15 years? Obviously, people are looking at soccer more and volleyball is also taking great prime time spots on ESPN, and of course women’s basketball as well. Also where do you see it specifically for soccer?
CP: On a rocket ship, taking off! I mean over the last 2 years, we’ve said record breaking viewership, record breaking ticket sales, record breaking attendance – everything! The ceiling is absolutely blowing off and I feel really proud to be part of that at Angel City and with RE—INC to continue breaking that ceiling! I want to continue to show the value that is already there and to maximize and optimize this sport. I see a future of RE—INC where we could own a team one day and to instill the culture in that way. I think that the opportunity in women’s sports is limitless and I don’t think that what men’s sports is doing is the ceiling at all. I think that we can make women’s sports even bigger or even an imagine a world where they are not compared. We can just focus on our strengths and what’s special to us and I think that that’s exactly what we’re going to see over the next 10 years with people working hard behind the scenes at it.
AM: What do you want your legacy to be known as?
CP: I think it would be 3 things. First and foremost as a little girl, I wanted to be known as a great goal scorer. I think that it’s a very narrow singular focus and I do believe that I have become a great goal scorer and I’m very proud of that. I would say that our fight for equal pay is one of the things that I am most proud of and all of the ripple effects that that will have to set precedent across the industries. I think that most importantly to me and my family was just the idea of representation. When I went to the National team, the entire team was white. Just being part of a generation where the National Team is much more diverse – we had our first 2 ever World Cup players that were Hispanic American this summer, I think right now in the current camp the entire front line minus 1 player, is Black! I think that that is really really cool and it’s something that doesn’t get as much attention as equal pay for women that took place for the WNT as that is such an easy thing for people to connect to and understand. But I think that over the time that I have played soccer, we have really created a revolution by diversifying our sport and I’m really proud of that!
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 56 - 60 Angella Chloe | PG 63-65 Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire
Read the DEC ISSUE #96 of Athleisure Mag and see SETTING THE STANDARD | Christen Press in mag.
9DRIP | ADAM COPELAND
FORCES OF NATURE | LAIRD HAMILTON & GABRIELLE REECE
We're excited for this month's cover as we have a powerhouse couple that is known for dominanting the beach and the water! We have Beach Volleyball great, Gabby Reece. We always enjoyed seeing her on a number of her Nike commercials, gracing the covers of Elle, and being in a number of shows appearing as herself. As someone who modeled, performed during her matches, is a TV personality, fitness/wellness expert and continues that passion of wellness with her podcasts, projects and is the Co-Founder with her husband Laird Hamilton with their brands that include Laird Superfood, Laird Apparel, and XPT (Extreme Performance Training).
Laird Hamilton is the ultimate waterman, pioneer in action sports (he is known for crossover board sports including being the co-inventor of tow-in-surfing, stand-up paddle boarding, and hydrofoil boarding) and big wave surfing legend! He is an inventor, author, stunt man (he performed the stunts in James Bond's Die Another Day in the opening sequence), model, producer, TV host, fitness and nutrition expert, and adrenaline junkie. His passion for wellness and nutrition, led him to him Co-Founding Laird Superfood.
Last fall, we talked with Gabby Reece and we knew then that we'd love to have her and Laird together to find out more about them, their businesses, their assortment, how they navigate their coupleship in business and their partnership.
ATHLEISURE MAG: It is so great to be able to chat with you guys! We had the pleasure of chatting with Gabby last fall and we were talking about power couples, so it’s great to have you both! As she knows, Athleisure Mag’s Co-Founders are also a couple so it’s good vibes all around.
GABBY REECE: Hello!
LAIRD HAMILTON: Well yeah, you know, mixing work and pleasure is always dangerous!
AM: It is always dangerous; it can definitely be tricky cocktail.
LH: It can be or it can be all natural!
AM: Well there are moments on each side depending on the moments we're caught in!
It’s exciting to be able to talk about Laird Superfood and the businesses that you both have together. I know that readers will be so excited as well. The last time I chatted with Gabby, we talked about her background and career. So to catch our readers up, when did you fall in love with surfing and what do you love about being an iconic waterman as you’re so talented?
LH: Well, I think that my relationship with the ocean and water happened very early. My mom had stories of me crawling towards water before I could walk. So I think that I was just drawn to water and I think that that’s pretty natural because we are water. So my kind of relationship with water started before I could remember and then my surfing, I think that I had my own board – I mean usually I had pieces of boards because in those days, there were no boards for kids. There were no boogie boards or anything like that. Usually, you got a piece of a broken board from an adult and then you made that your board! So, I always just thought in terms of swimming and surfing, that was what you did and that that was what everybody does. So if someone said, “I don’t swim,” when I was younger, I felt like saying that you don’t swim was like saying that you don’t walk.
AM: Right!
LH: Yeah, it’s like, “is there something wrong?” But yeah, it’s in my foundation.
AM: That’s amazing and what was the moment when you realized that you both wanted to launch these businesses together? How did it take place and how did you decide on who would do what?
GR: Well, in the case of Laird Superfood, well most of our businesses actually, were almost accidents. Laird Superfood was not on purpose. It was based on a drink that Laird was making in our kitchen and shared with his friends before they would train and go out in the water.
One of these friends would ask what’s in it and how much it was. One of our other friends who is the other Co-Founder, is a serial entrepreneur and he thought that if Laird benefits from it and he was feeling this, maybe we can create this for other people and so Laird Superfood was created in 2015 around the premise of Laird originally sharing something that was working for him.
LH: Yeah, and I think that our desire to have businesses had stemmed before that. I think that just being athletes and then I would kind of say, supporting other businesses as you evolve, I think that it is only natural that you would want to go into as I describe – being your own sponsor.
AM: Oh yeah!
LH: So once you build your brand to a certain level, it was like, “ok, we’ll go into business,” but like the businesses themselves came organically like Gabby said. It either came through a habit we had or some other practice that we were doing and that seemed the easiest given the authenticity. So, it was real authentic and it was not something that seemed like we were making something that was a departure from our philosophy and our beliefs which I think is really important because then everything becomes a lot easier because you’re not trying to learn how you’re going to support the business. You’re already naturally doing it.
GR: Our roles were almost an extension of how our everyday lives go. I think that we naturally have different strengths and things that we lean into and those showed up as well in the business. So on the business side, Laird is one of the gatekeepers and he is the creative and always curious and messing around with concoctions if you will.
LH: It’s like we built a house together and that can either get people to be in a deeper relationship or not be in one after depending on people’s roles. I think that it’s similar in that the businesses are similar to building a house. I’m all about the structure of it, how strong is it, where’s the drainage and Gabby’s into the aesthetics like in the situation of Laird Superfood, I’m about the function of the products. Gabby is about the flavor and the taste of it. She makes the house look pretty and taste good, it’s wonderful. I’m like, “ok, does it support me, does it do the thing and how does it all work?” Then there’s also some overlap, but that’s kind of the basis of our teamwork.
AM: Well I’m a huge fan of the Hydrate + Electrolyte Coconut Water packets and the Prebiotic Daily Greens. Those are my 2 favorites. I’m not a coffee drinker. How do you guys decide on the types of products that will be in the Laird Superfood assortment?
GR: Well, a lot of this was an extension. First of all, it’s always a commitment to the ingredients. So whatever it’s going to be – it’s going to focus on can we make this with a value, make it taste great, and still follow our guidelines for real ingredients. With something in the case of the Hydrate On the Go, and the greens they are good as there's a lot of gaps in people’s nutrition. We are huge advocates of being able to get everything from your food, that’s what we want from you. It’s pretty hard to do with the quality of our soil and hence, that’s the greens. Hydration is – a lot of times, things that are on the market are really loaded with sugars and things like that. So we thought, “ok, people are really looking for high quality hydration without a ton of added sugar. That made a lot of sense and that really stems from Laird’s deep relationship with drinking coconuts himself! He'd come in from surfing and literally cut a coconut down in Kawaii and hence, the freeze-dried coconut at the source and adding some of the minerals.
LH: And also the philosophy that the ratios in nature are perfect. When you start trying to play with those, I think that you run into trouble, so like Gabby said, I think that we implement the kind of values such as adding in whole food ingredients or food-based ingredients. Your body is more used to those things and so it’s not like, “what’s this foreign object?” It doesn’t have to pull away from and take away from your own body’s health in order to deal with it. I think that that’s one of the places in looking at areas where people are lacking in their diet. We’re looking at the convenience of it, how easy is it – you just put it in there and you drink it. We’re looking for areas in people’s lives where we can best benefit them so we look at their daily rituals. That’s the philosophy of the brand. It’s a daily ritual and you know that you’re going to have to hydrate, you know that you’re gonna at some point need some snacks. We’re going to make bars. I’m not a huge snacker myself, but people are gonna snack, so can we supply them with good things on a daily basis? Again, one of the values is if you’re doing something everyday, that you really wanna try to make that a good habit.
AM: Right.
LH: Because it’s a culmination over time. So a little bit of good over a long time is a lot of good! A little bit of bad over a long period of time is bad. I think that sometimes we think that it’s a little bit of bad so it’s not a problem because it’s a little bit, but then you’re like, “well yeah, a little bit all of the time can eventually accumulate.”
AM: It starts stacking.
LH: Yeah, there’s some stuff in there.
AM: As we’re in the fall and we’re looking towards the holiday, are there any products that are new that are going to be out?
GR: Well we have some incredible instant products –
LH: Ooo yes. So we make chai – we make Instant Chai, Instant Matcha –
GR: Pumpkin Spice –
LH: Pumpkin Spice will be the holiday –
GR: And then Peppermint Mocha.
LH: Peppermint Mocha, yes.
GR: We’ve got some grown men around here who swoon for that stuff, so the thing that I love about these products is that they’re seasonal and we want to honor that people really love these flavors and these traditions. Like it reminds them of the holidays, but we’re able to do it in a way that the ingredients are excellent and you don’t have to sacrifice that experience. So we have it in pumpkin, we have it in a lot of things.
LH: Multiple!
GR: We have it in instant products, a creamer, a bar, and our liquid creamer as well.
LH: We’re going hard after the pumpkin spice! I mean, it’s something that I really enjoy and I think that I may have eaten a few whole pumpkin pies during Thanksgiving over the years haha!
AM: What are your favorite foods that you like eating from your brand?
GR: Well for me personally, I’m not a matcha or a chai person, but our people who love matcha and chai – we have a high quality matcha and really great chai. But for me, I’m using obviously the coffees and creamers. I personally, go for the mocha, Laird is a turmeric guy.
LH: Believe me, hers is not a coffee, it’s a hot chocolate that happens to have coffee in it, but you wouldn’t know it’s coffee in it.
GR: When we travel, we use our instant products. So, the instant latte, what’s great is that people who are now working in the office, all you have to do is add hot water. So, we have all of these incredible flavors and let’s say you’re on an airplane and you’re hungry, but you don’t want to eat that airplane food. It really curbs you.
LH: Yeah, the convenience of the powders, especially the instant products, makes it simple. You just get a cup of hot water. I’ll go into a lot of coffee shops where I know that I won’t be able to get a cup of really good coffee without just burying it in a bunch of sweeteners to cut how bad the coffee is. So, I’ll just get hot water and add that product to it. But the bars, the greens – Gabby is on the greens.
GR: I use the greens in the morning.
LH: All the time –
GR: I use the greens in the morning first thing. So, most of us are dehydrated in the morning because hopefully we have been sleeping for 8 hours. So, the way that I use the greens is that I put it in water first so that I can get that big glass of water which we need to do anyway. But because there’s no fillers in the greens and things like that and Laird mentioned the ingredients, your body does know what to do with it. I always feel like I’m on an empty stomach and I can just get everything in there.
LH: I like to use mine in a meal.
GR: Yeah, so, we’re opposite.
LH: Yeah, I like mine in a meal, because I’m already in digestive mode.
GR: Yeah.
LH: So, I’m going to digest and of course, the hydration products are always good after training, before training.
GR: That’s really important too for people to go to bed hydrated, especially women – hydrated. It’s hard on our hearts, literally to be dehydrated. The stress that it causes increases even more when we’re sleeping. It’s really important as a reminder in general however people want to be able to hydrate.
AM: Are there product categories that you don’t have now, but you are looking to add to the brand? Like if you had a wish me list?
LH: Well we’ve had, yeah, a list that we are considering like baked goods. It’s stuff that we have dabbled in before. So there are other areas that we are interested in. The truth is that we have a quite a few categories within what we have already to continue to develop. Because, you know, the greens, the bars, the creamers, the instant fuel products – there’s always another flavor too!
GR: And our coffees are excellent and also –
LH: Yeah!
GR: It’s been fortunate that that has been expanded so that we can add adaptogens and other nutrition into the coffee itself. So again, finding these little ways to sneak in the good stuff without compromising –
LH: We’re doing whole beans and ground. We’re already working on some samples for some instant coffees as well. We have the instant lattes, but we were also looking at the instant coffees as well just because of the convenience and I think that people really enjoy instant coffee because you get a faster absorption.
GR: Yeah. And we learned one thing from business for sure, which is to try to focus a little bit and to do a good job there. So, I would say that although we have all of these things that we really love, we’re also trying to offer and to educate our audience and to do a good job with what we have right now.
AM: We can imagine. Tell me about XPT. We were looking at it in prep for this interview and there are so many things that are around that and you have an event coming up – your retreat. Our readers would be interested in hearing about this as well.
GR: So XPT is -
LH: Sort of another one of those –
GR: It’s an extension of what we were naturally already doing with our friends at our house. A very close friend of ours that we work with said, “you know, we have to figure out how to condense this and you can share it with people over periods of days.” So, XPT was born and the pillars are Breathe, Move, and Recover. We would also put in there “To Connect.” That’s the thing, you can be perfect, and move everyday all day, but if you’re not connecting with other human beings, it’s a real no go to your health and sense of fulfillment. So XPT, we have incredible people that we work with and people come and see us for 2½ days. We do pool training, breathing, all mobility, and all of those things.
LH: Heat and ice!
GR: Yes, heat and the ice.
But now, they’ll be opening up XPT sort of recovery centers so that people wherever they live, they’ve been curious about seeing the heat and ice and some mobility.
AM: That sounds fantastic! How do you guys do all of this while being partners, married, and having children?
LH: We still don’t know if we’re going to survive! Right now, we’re just holding on.
GR: Like yesterday, we had a bumpy day yesterday –
LH: I had a bumpy day!
GR: You could just feel – I mean it’s we, it’s collective. You can feel that you have so much going on that maybe in Laird’s case, he’d rather and not be away from his family, but he’d rather be surfing or out in nature and not be running around on a freeway. For people like Laird, that takes a real toll on him. So it’s just – you know what it is about any relationship? How does each person get to satisfy their own sort of mission and calling and then how do you bring that together? But also how do you go about putting your children first and simultaneously still have that conversation about what you need. It’s just a dance.
LH: Well, I think that, listen, we both have a certain work capacity so we have a certain volume of work that we’re capable of doing. When you take care of yourself, you eat well, and you train hard and you have good community and relationships and get along, you expand your capacity. So now, you can even handle more volume and then if you’re cutting out a lot of stuff that is unnecessary and you’re not putting in a lot of time –
GR: We say no. We say no a lot.
LH: Then if it’s not important to you, then you’re not concerning yourself with these things that would take up the volume. I think that that allows you to go in and to be more productive.
GR: Yeah.
LH: And then a lot of it is the quality of the the work too. I mean you could just take any one of these situations and put all of your focus in on it, but more isn’t always better right?
AM: Absolutely.
LH: It’s like having that high quality impact and then shifting to the next thing. I think that both Gabby and I by the nature of our careers have had to be very versatile and do a plethora of different things in order to survive. Then it almost becomes how you are. You know, you’re interests are such that you need that stimuli to keep you going and so in a way, for me, we wouldn’t be – we couldn’t not be doing it like this. This just seems natural and from the outside, you might be saying, “how do you do all of that stuff?” But you know, again it has to do with the fact that we have worked our way towards this. Gabby will say about our children, “that they’re such troopers and it’s amazing!” I go, “yeah, but it’s like we trooped them.” We took them and included them in the way that we have navigated our schedules and we’re the same way. We’ve been doing all of this stuff, flying around, we’ve been dealing with all of these things.
GR: We used to step on each other’s toes occasionally. And you’re always learning.
LH: Always.
GR: There are phases and chapters. So being adaptable and I also know that this is cliché, but it's about the best that you can in occasionally being able to get that distance so that you can appreciate either your life, or the problems that you’re solving, but also your partner and the fact that like on the days that it’s crazy, you go, “and everybody’s healthy!”
AM: Exactly!
GR: It’s just trying to constantly recalibrate and everybody talks about gratitude, but really to find ways to feel that and to experience it - it really makes everything easier!
LH: Yeah! And well getting sleep! Yeah – you know just pull it back for a second.
AM: Yup!
LH: Let’s eat good, sleep, workout and I mean get the foundation. Because that can really allow you to endure some stuff.
AM: It’s such an honor to be able to talk with both of you as we’ve been fans of yours for years and to hear how as a power couple you continue to inspire, fuel, and push the boundaries it’s been a great time hanging with you guys!
LH: Let’s eat good, sleep, workout and I mean get the foundation. Because that can really allow you to endure some stuff.
AM: It’s such an honor to be able to talk with both of you as we’ve been fans of yours for years and to hear how as a power couple you continue to inspire, fuel, and push the boundaries it’s been a great time hanging with you guys!
GR: Thank you so much!
LH: Absolutely and what do we say, Aloha!
IG @gabbyreece
PHOTO CREDITS | FRONT COVER Philip Dixon | PG 16 - 33 Courtesy Laird Hamilton + Gabby Reece | PG 34 + BACK COVER Anne Menke |
Read the OCT ISSUE #94 of Athleisure Mag and see FORCES OF NATURE | Laird Hamilton + Gabby Reece in mag.
BEING SEEN | MISTY COPELAND
We're honored that we got a few moments with American Ballet Theatre's Misty Copeland who broke barriers in the industry as the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer in ABT's 75-year history! As the Co-Founder of Greatness Wins, she launched the brand's first women's collection. This brand includes founders, Chris Riccobono (founder of UNTUCKit), NY Yankees Baseball Hall of Famer Derek Jeter and Rangers Legend - The Great One, Wayne Gretzky. The brand creates pieces whose foundation is based in performance, style, and comfort. We wanted to know more about her passion for this style of dance, the importance of this achievement, her favorite ballet memories and how she is using her platform to create inclusivity in a field that she is so passionate about!
ATHLEISURE MAG: What was the moment when you fell in love with ballet?
MISTY COPELAND: The first time I stepped into a ballet studio. I saw myself in the mirror, I felt seen and safe.
AM: You started in the corps de ballet in 2001, became an ABT soloist in 2007, and in 2015, you became the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer in their 75 year history! What does achieving that mean to you?
MC: The achievement to me is a platform to recognize, acknowledge and celebrate the contributions and successes of Black dancers from the past present and future. I’m a link in the chain.
AM: What are 3 of your favorite performances or ballet memories?
MC: My first performance of Firebird at the Metropolitan Opera House, Romeo and Juliet with La Scala Ballet at Teatro alla Scala, and my first show with Prince at Madison Square Garden dancing to his song, The Beautiful Ones.
AM: In addition to being a ballet dancer, you have also been a public speaker, spokesperson, been involved in documentaries, was a featured dancer for Prince and more! What does it mean to you that you have brought your talent and athleticism across so many platforms?
MC: This is what art should be - accessible, available, equal in the level of importance and recognition amongst sports and Hollywood entertainment. It’s surreal that we have reached this point to be in these spaces, but it also means growth and progress for ballet.
AM: At this year's Tribeca Film Festival, you debuted Flower which you were in and also produced! Tell us about the film as well as what it means to you that you were involved in this?
MC: Flower is a short art activism film highlighting Oakland, California and the social issues they’re experiencing, specifically gentrification and homelessness. We created a scripted story told through movement where the only spoken words are from actual houseless community members. This film is a modern ballet. It’s taking what I do onstage, telling a story through movement with a relevant story and something so many communities can relate to. This is an extension of everything I’ve worked for in my career. Access, bringing people into the arts, and this form of storytelling in a way that makes them feel welcomed.
AM: What was it like to attend this year's Chanel's Through Her Lens Luncheon for women filmmakers at this year's festival?
MC: To be in a room full of creative women who want to support one another and do everything they can to move the needle in the entertainment industry was inspiring!
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Misty Copeland/Greatness Wins
Read the OCT ISSUE #94 of Athleisure Mag and see BEING SEEN | Misty Copeland in mag.
63MIX ROUTIN3S | LAIRD HAMILTON
63MIX ROUTIN3S | CHUCK NORRIS
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.
63MIX ROUTIN3S | ELIZABETH BEISEL
TAKE IT TO THE WAVES | MONICA MEDELLIN
We enjoy a great docuseries where we get to follow our favorite sports and get behind the action to find out how it all comes together. Prime Video's 4 episode series, Surf Girls Hawai'i follows 5 native Hawaiian females as they take their shot on obtaining a spot in the world tour. We follow Moana Jones Wong, Ewe Wong, Maluhia Kinimaka, Pua DeSoto, and Brianna Cope as we see them navigating their season, training, and interacting with their friends and family.
We caught up with Monica Medellin, Creator and Executive Producer of this docuseries. We wanted to find out more about how she became a fan of this action sport, being a surfer, working in the surf industry, and the importance of storytelling to amplify voices that are underrepresented but have powerful points of view.
ATHLEISURE MAG: We’ve personally been a fan of your work for awhile so it’s exciting to be able to talk with you to know more about you’re your docuseries, and what you’re working on that’s coming up!
MONICA MEDELLIN: Amazing! I’m so excited! I think that this is perfect because every body that knows me makes fun of me because athleisure is all I wear.
Thank you so much for highlighting me. I feel like a unicorn in this space. I just turned 30 and this all happened before then and it seems like the tides are changing and there are very few women that are like me in this position. So I really want to share my story and to hopefully inspire more storytellers in narratives like this.
AM: Absolutely!
Before we get into talking about the docuseries, we want to know more about you. What was the moment that you realized that you wanted to be a filmmaker?
MM: Oh, I mean, I feel like I was destined to be a filmmaker ever since I was a little girl. I couldn’t really identify that that was what I wanted until later in life. I've always been involved in sports as a child. My mom was a single working mom from Mexico and she raised me on her own.
Through that, she found different sports programs and extracurricular activities and that’s where I really fell in love with different sports and it started with more traditional sports like volleyball, basketball, and soccer. Then I moved into gymnastics and then we both discovered surfing while we were walking along the Santa Monica Beach and at that point, I had started skateboarding, surfing, and exploring these non-traditional sports.
I actually used her old camcorder to film myself skating! That’s what I did with my friends on the weekends, so obviously the production value was what it was!
You know, I started documenting sports from a young age and I started documenting myself as a young girl participating in those sports from that time. You know from there, I obviously played sports in high school – I was the team captain of the volleyball team, I would teach at surf camp over the summers and I moved to university and I studied Journalism at the University of Oregon. So, this theme of filming our experiences as women in sports has been something that has been a thread throughout my entire life!
AM: Wow! It also seems that a lot of your films as well as commercial work that you have done has also focused obviously on sports, but also covering underrepresented groups as well. As someone who is Black and has enjoyed sports such as snowboarding where people don’t think of us playing it, I like that you’re showcasing what is being done that people don’t necessarily think of.
MM: Right and I think that that’s something where you want to be niche, but not too niche where you miss out on telling other stories as well. I think that my main thing is highlighting and shining a light on stories that are underrepresented in the mainstream. That is the essence of my work. It doesn’t just need to be sports, it can be in anything. I mean, when I worked at the Los Angeles Times in 2015, I was helping launch a new platform that talks about this emerging American identity with race, immigration, identity, what does it mean to be American, but also never to really see yourself represented in the story in that way. So, I think that that time at the Los Angeles Times and producing documentaries around those topics really did shape the direction of how I approach my storytelling. Like sure, if I’m telling a story about an athlete, that’s in sports, but I want to uncover who the person is behind the athlete, what is the human experience that we can all relate to because ultimately, even when you see Surf Girls Hawai’i, it’s not just about surfing. It’s about coming of age, it’s about sisterhood, it’s about supporting each other through challenging times, and navigating life. So, I think that that is my approach through all of my storytelling that makes it universal whether you are interested in the sport or the topic itself.
AM: Absolutely!
What was the first project that you did that you realized that you wanted to do this as a career?
MM: Hmm, it’s actually funny, because my first film that I created was about a young Latina surfer in the Bay Area. She was part of a program that helped underrepresented youth get into the sport of surfing, get into action sports, and that film actually premiered at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival here in LA. That moment of seeing my work and my film, premiered at The Chinese Theatre, in Hollywood was such a monumental moment for me because I could see that this kind of storytelling was valued. I could see the reaction of the audience and I could see the emotion and I could actually feel the energy in the room. So, I feel like the LALIFF selecting my film to premiere at the Chinese Theatre in that way was a really defining moment for me. I knew that I could really make something out of this career and hopefully, tell more stories. At that point, I was still in my early 20’s so it was just the beginning, but I think that that was the moment that I decided to pursue this full time.
AM: We love surfers! This year alone we had the honor of speaking with Carissa Moore as well as Kai Lenny as covers for Athleisure Mag. You also surf – what is it about this sport that you enjoy so much?
MM: I think surfing is such a unique sport because it’s not just a sport. It’s a lifestyle, it’s a culture, it has deep roots around the world, and had I known that this sport is originated by people of color and women of color, I would have felt that I belonged in it sooner. (Editor’s Note: The origin of surfing can be found in various cultures as far back as the Incas in 1590 when a Jesuit missionary José de Acosta published it in Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias. In West Africa’s – Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Senegal and Central Africans in Cameroon have had various accounts of this activity in 1640, 1679, 1834, and 1861. In Polynesia in 1769 there is documentation of he’e nalu which translates to wave sliding by Joseph Banks as he was on HMS Endeavour during the first voyage of James Cook while the ship was in Tahiti.) I didn’t know anything about the history of surfing until I met another Latina surfer who shared with me this deep history. After discovering that, I made it my life’s mission to try to tell the world that this is the truth and that this is the history of this.
I think that with surfing, it’s so special for that deeper reason, but also I think that it’s a way of connecting with nature to get outside and get off your phone. You have no way of communicating with anybody when you’re out there. It’s your time to exist and enjoy yourself and I think that it resonates with a lot of people. I think that when I first started surfing in Los Angeles, the lineups looked a lot different than they do today. Today I actually paddle out and I see more women, I see more women of color and I actually see friends every single time that I go. I think that this surf culture has been defined by advertisements, brands, the industry, but we are reclaiming what it means to be a surfer and you’re seeing that happening in your local lineups. You’re seeing that happening through Surf Girls Hawai’i, you’re seeing that happen through different lenses, I think! I think that that is what makes surfing special. It’s just, there’s nothing else like it honestly.
AM: As the creator of Surf Girls Hawai’i, what drew you to telling this story?
MM: Surf Girls Hawai’i is what I have dreamt of ever since I was a little girl. We saw Blue Crush released back in 2002, which was my favorite film, and I really identified with Michelle Rodriguez (Fast and the Furious franchise, Machte franchise, Resident Evil franchise), who was another Latina and I mean, that’s just one part of it. When I was working in the surf industry, I noticed that major mainstream platforms just had more coverage of male surfers. You barley saw women and in advertisements, it’s still really common to see a surfer girl in a bikini and a man on a wave surfing.
AM: Right.
MM: You walk down to any surf shop and that’s still the reality of our time in 2023! Actually, while I was working at the League (World Surf League), I started a personal archive of my favorite surfers who were women, who I thought deserved the spotlight and I pitched an idea that would eventually push the company to promote men and women equally on our social platforms. I think that since then, we have seen a shift. I just really wanted to be able to highlight women that I felt didn’t have a seat at the table. I think that through Surf Girls Hawai’i, they are finally getting the recognition that they deserve. That’s really cool that I helped spearhead that effort and identified this talent early on.
AM: For those that have not seen this docuseries, can you give us the premise of the show, and also, how did you decide to select the 5 Native Hawaiian female surfers that are featured in the docuseries.
MM: Surf Girls Hawai’i follows the next generation of native Hawaiian, female surfers as they compete at an elite level to earn a spot on the world tour of professional surfing. Surf girls is about a sisterhood of native Hawaiian surfers who are on the cusp of becoming pro and this is the most elite level that they have ever competed on and they are competing against each other, but also together in a lot of different ways and they support each other through that. I think that what makes it special is the fact that oftentimes when you see shows that center women, you see maybe cattiness or drama between the women. You see this marketable yet damaging portrayal of female relationships.
I think that what’s different with Surf Girls Hawai’i is, even though they are fierce competitors, and they are competing for one spot, they all support each other through this journey. That’s because they all know that if one of them makes it, everyone makes it because this is more than just winning for their own personal gain, this is about representing native Hawaiian culture at the highest level of surfing. I think that carrying that responsibility, and that legacy, is what makes this highest stakes in a lot of ways. You don’t need that cattiness or drama between the girls. I think that that is the premise, but also what makes it different.
AM: From your perspective as a filmmaker, how do you go about creatively organizing all of this. As you said, they’re all there for that aligned goal, but they are also individual people. How are you weaving that story and kind of planning it in your head especially when it’s only 4 episodes! By the end I was wanting to see more about these women, wondering if there would be another season, would the same surfers be followed – so many questions!
MM: The response to this show has been so overwhelmingly positive and I have been told that it is over performing. It shows that there is a gap and this storytelling was absolutely needed and 4 episodes did the trick! I think that that worked and I think in going back to your question, this cast is so special because on the surface, they are all native Hawaiian pro surfers that share this bond and share their culture together. But what I wanted to really accomplish with this series was to show them as multi-dimensional, multi-faceted women. They’re all different and all have different interests and different mindsets. They’re all different because you have on the one hand, Maluhia who is 26 years old, considered older to be competing and is at the crossroads of deciding on whether she wants to be a professional athlete and fulfill that lifelong childhood dream or pursue her education. She did both. She got her degree from Stanford and she is pursuing her PhD at UH Mānoha – all while competing on the WSL tour. I think that that is super unexpected. That defied expectations and I think that each character defies expectations of what you would think of them on the surface. So that’s just one example of how we approached the storytelling around each woman. How do we paint them as more than an athlete? Because each character is more than an athlete.
AM: What was it like working with Hello Sunshine on this project?
MM: I’ll start with Hello Sunshine. Hello Sunshine was honestly a dream partnership. Like we were aligned in our values before we even made the show together. I think for me as a creator, it was really important that the team working on Surf Girls was women-led and women-run, that is the essence of what makes Surf Girls Hawai’i what it is. I think that Hello Sunshine’s mission of changing the narrative for women aligned with my mission well before the final product. I think that Surf Girls put this native female Hawaiian experience at the forefront and Hello Sunshine invested in that, believed in that, and they saw that from the beginning. I think that that’s brave. This talent, they’re low profile, lesser known names outside of the surf industry, but that didn’t matter to them and I think that they just saw the magic. I also think that the Hello Sunshine team was very collaborative and supportive of hiring women behind the camera and making sure to work with my recommended Hawaiian and Hawaii local creators and crew. I just felt like the set was forward thinking and they understood the importance of picking a team to tell a story and in the best way.
I actually created and directed the original digital series that sold the show, and the vision stayed true throughout the process. I think that that is really hard to do actually. I feel that the women were really portrayed in a positive light and the culture wasn’t sensationalized. That was really really important. That’s my bit on Hello Sunshine!
AM: That’s amazing to hear. What has been your biggest takeaway in doing this docuseries?
MM: Oh my gosh, so much! I mean, creating and executive producing my first TV show, was an experience that I learned a lot from. I think that a big takeaway from the series is that you see the reactions from people that watched this and people are hungry for this kind of storytelling and they’re hungry to see women and women of color in sports. I think it’s interesting because this was technically made for Gen Z young women to identify with. But you see women of all ages responding to this and you see men of all ages intrigued, interested, and inspired by this story. So, I think that this is a story for everyone and that’s the takeaway – this story is important and deserves a spotlight and we were the first to do it and that’s really, really special. We were the first female sports docuseries on Hello Sunshine’s platforms and this was the first female sports documentary on Amazon.
AM: That’s a pretty big first!
MM: That’s big!
AM: That’s awesome!
I’m sure you’re always working on different projects, is there anything coming up that you are able to share that we should keep an eye out for?
MM: Yeah, so 2 things! I just got back from Tahiti for a shoot with the Olympic Channel, so that’s coming up. Then, I have another underreported, but fascinating field that centers women of color and Black women in sport that is not highly covered that I am currently developing. I’m developing projects constantly so we can leave it at those things.
IG @monicamedellin_
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 52 Ryan Gladney | PG 54 Brie Lakin | PG 57 Katie McDonald | PG 58 - 63 Prime Video |
Read the AUG ISSUE #92 of Athleisure Mag and see TAKE IT TO THE WAVES | Monica Medellin in mag.
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.