High Five the Wave – Day One
The journey begins when you commit to the notion that an idea needs to be a reality. When the idea came became a reality that the High Fives Foundation could facilitate a new movement in recovery from life altering injury with a spin on sports outside the winter sports community, the sky was the limit as to what is possible.
To take athletes outside of their respective comfort zones, to drive to Southern California, to join friends of friends in the most inviting of surf communities is to progress to a new direction. This direction can provide an outlet for creativity, for new possibilities in recovery and for an opportunity to discover what we often fail to recognize when in the grind of the day-to-day life. Enter “High Five the Wave”…
Four High Fives Foundation athletes: Taylor Fiddyment, Danny Toumarkine, Steve Wallace and Landon McGauley joined a team of filmers, photographers and renown adaptive athletes with storied careers in San Clemente, CA. August 10-12 to provide an outlet for these athletes to discover the potential of a new sport, new muscle memory and the realization that there are no limits in finding an outlet in action sports.
Taylor Fiddyment was injured in May of 2011 and since then has remained a positive beacon and inspiration to all that she meets. Her glowing personality and faith in her future led her to a new adventure. When she signed on for the “High Five the Wave” trip, she was nervous as she did not know what to expect. The amazing 18 year old whom has been training with Chris Cloyd of Performance Training Center (Truckee, CA) was ready to go surfing. What she didn’t expect was that her nerves would not get the better of her as she progressed from thinking about cold water or her abilities, to leaving the tandem Trinity Wave Ski with Steve Bohene and eventually riding the waves on her own.
The first athlete of the day to catch a wave on her own, Taylor showed poise with her steadfast determination to take in all that Dog Patch – San Onofre has to offer. Gentle, consistent 3-4′ south swell with consistent sets offered up a feast of learner friendly stacks.
Thank you very much to Kim Mcrae, Dennis Forte, Mark Thornton (for donating his wave skis), Steve Boehene (Infinity Surfboards) and Mike Johnson for your time in helping this team launch!
High Five!
