James Casey - winning Molokai 2 Oahu, foiling, coaching, surfing

In episode 97, we hear the stories of professional athlete and man of the water, James Casey, who takes us down his path from a young grom taking his beatings in Hawaiian surf to the dominant standup paddle boarder he is today, winning the infamous Molokai 2 Oahu paddle race on his SUP in 2019. James’s stories and perspectives on his love for coaching and foiling, traveling the world, running camps in Thailand and the Maldives, and commitment to family are fun and inspirational. I was lucky enough to have time with James before he took off from his home in Sydney to fly out for the Red Bull Heavy Water event in San Francisco.

Highlights of our conversation:

• M20 win in 2019, top 5 finishes years leading up in the standup paddleboard division
• Working for months to perfect his SUP race boards for M2O with Sunova Surfboards
• Great perspective on top competitors that James battles in paddle contests, including Connor Baxter, Michael Booth, Travis Grant
• James has caught the foiling bug in a big way and is running foil training camps in Thailand
• Growing up splitting time near Sydney and Maui -- right near world class downwind Maliko Run
• How James's father inflluenced him in the water and set him up for today's success (best of wishes go out to James's dad battling health issues!!!)
• Coaching others, how that started, where that is today, and how James loves doing it
• Casey. -- the family business James operates with mom and sister at www.caseyaus.com

Thanks for sharing Jame's ocean life with us. Be sure to check him out on Instagram and dive into the Casey. website. You can also find fun stuff on the ThisOceanLife.TV website, Instagram, and Facebook, and Twitter. Host: Josh Pederson, @surfpaddletailgate