On a 15h45min flight yesterday (a flight from the Middle East that took the long route) one of the movies I saw was "Against the Current" a drama about someone who swam down the Hudson River from Troy NY to the Verrazano bridge. I thought it would be about swimming, and it really wasn't.
I know it's fiction but here's the thing: he just decides to do it, no training, first day he swims 3 miles then a few days later he's up to 10, swims every day, swims with his head and shoulders above the water, no permits (although this is mentioned in the film)...
Guess distance open water swimming isn't that hard after all.
Anyone else see this one or other films that show how easy it is?
I haven't seen (or heard of) that one. The open-water swimming movie I watched recently was The Guardian, which is about the training school for Coast Guard rescue swimmers. It definitely didn't make the swimming look too easy. On the contrary, lots of the drama came from people having a very tough time with swims, whether in the pool or in cold, rough seas off the coast of Alaska. I have no gripes with the depiction of the swimming, but it was only a mediocre movie.
I heard on the radio that they were looking for extras swimmers for that movie, email casting or whoever, but never heard back. I know that they would have turned me down based on my appearance(non Ashton Kuchter waif body). I am sure that the production didn't want to put any CGI stuff to make an extra look like a swimmer with a typical swimmers body. It would have been fascinating to see the look of their faces when I walked in the door to audition to be an extra/stunt swimmers.
Swimming on tv and movies
The best is when the actor does their bad stroke and all of a sudden, the stunt Olympic caliber swimmer starts swimming. That is what happened in the movie "Pride". Attiba Wade actually admitted in a interview when you see the good swimming, it was him.
I haven't seen (or heard of) that one. The open-water swimming movie I watched recently was The Guardian, which is about the training school for Coast Guard rescue swimmers. It definitely didn't make the swimming look too easy. On the contrary, lots of the drama came from people having a very tough time with swims, whether in the pool or in cold, rough seas off the coast of Alaska. I have no gripes with the depiction of the swimming, but it was only a mediocre movie.
I heard on the radio that they were looking for extras swimmers for that movie, email casting or whoever, but never heard back. I know that they would have turned me down based on my appearance(non Ashton Kuchter waif body). I am sure that the production didn't want to put any CGI stuff to make an extra look like a swimmer with a typical swimmers body. It would have been fascinating to see the look of their faces when I walked in the door to audition to be an extra/stunt swimmers.
Swimming on tv and movies
The best is when the actor does their bad stroke and all of a sudden, the stunt Olympic caliber swimmer starts swimming. That is what happened in the movie "Pride". Attiba Wade actually admitted in a interview when you see the good swimming, it was him.
