Fast and Clean

Fast and Clean

a Carolina Paddler Article

By Alton Chewning

-“I waited over 35 years to see this film! First brought to my attention while reading a description in William Nealy’s Whitewater Home Companion book on the Potomac River. While reading the description for the rapid, Wet Bottom Chute, it mentioned ‘Some great dynamic footage was shot here for the movie Fast and Clean.’ I was instantly intrigued!” -Jeff Vogel

Now you don’t have to wait 35 years to see Fast and Clean. Just come to the CCC December meeting. Sure, you can scrape around the internet and find a version of the film but here’s your chance to see the HD remastered version with an audience of paddlers. The thrills and excitement of world class competition, seen with your pals.

From the Fast and Clean Remastering Team:

“It has been 44 years since the iconic film about whitewater slalom and the journey of several U.S. athletes to the 1979 World Championships was released. Now after hundreds of hours of painstaking work and support from around the world, we are ready to have the theater experience this film deserves.

Fast and Clean follows a group of US whitewater paddlers attempting to make the US Canoe/Kayak Slalom team and then competing in the 1979 Canoe/Kayak Slalom World Championships held in Jonquiere, Quebec, Canada. It captures the essence of the sport in the late 70’s and early 80’s. For paddlers of later generations, it was an inspiration for them to join and compete in the sport. The film was made by Russ Nichols and Louise Holcombe Nichols (Morris) in 1979 and released in 1980. While the sport has evolved and some rules have changed since 1979, whitewater slalom remains similar and the goal of “FAST & CLEAN” holds true for today’s competitors.

The film was shot on 16mm film and was later converted to standard definition VHS and then DVD but was never widely available on a digital streaming platform. The movie had been around for 43 years, when Jef Huey, a C-2 paddler of that era and a production assistant on the original film, retired as a video editor and began a two yearlong restoration project. Dan Isbister, a K-1 paddler also of that time, joined the production effort and raised money from people who had been depicted in the film and other paddling friends from this period of history. With a tremendous amount of Jef’s work, some hired labs, advanced digital tools and volunteer experts from Jef’s editing world, this revised version of the film is now available.”

Point of View

A few POV “helmet-cam” shots appear in Fast and Clean. Of course, this was decades before the pervasive use of GoPros and the like.  Since the project was shot on film, the equipment was a touch heavier.

Larry Norman sent Paul Grabow this photo of a POV cam set-up, with a Bell-Toptex helmet with a film camera on one side and a battery on the other for power and counterweight. The filmmakers constructed a spinner made of plastic to throw water off the lens.  The spinner wasn’t successful. Jef Huey, who led the technical side of the remastering, was in the bow of a C-2, with his partner, Paul Grabow, in the stern. They shot some practice runs on the Savage, with Jef hoping to stay in the boat. Mike McCormick shot all the POV footage at Jonquiere in his race K-1, after the last race ended and before the gates were removed.

The Bell company has been making helmets since 1954. The Bell-Toptex line was designed for motorcycle wear but was adopted by mountain climbers in the 1960’s.

The film camera likely used could have ringed another bell, Bell & Howell.  The Bell & Howell camera company is even older than Bell helmets, starting in 1907. They made thousands of 8mm and 16mm film cameras.

More Comments from Viewers

“40 years ago, this movie blew my mind. In the UK in the mid 80s this, along with Bill Endicott’s books ‘To Win the Worlds’ and ‘The Ultimate Run’, were never far from my thoughts. A few junior internationals in Scandinavia and Czechoslovakia, representing GB were the zenith of my C1 career. For years I’ve hoped to find this on YouTube. Amazing film making for the time, and amazing work to restore. Thank you.”   -Ian Green

“I saw this film the first time in 1985 from a VCR tape a friend gave. It changed the trajectory of my life, for the next 10 years, I chased white water padding in a cudamax and loving life wide open. That film helped me see what was possible. Thanks to those paddlers, coaches and supporters who made it and the supporters and folks who made the restoration. I found myself on whitewater and that self is still with me.”  -William Fontaine, Jr.

“I started my paddling career watching films of heroic paddling exploits on unknown white water rivers. In those days the term “16mm film” was something everyone understood and many paddlers had at least an 8mm camera.

Fast and Clean was one of the early films available [on VHS tape and DVD],  documenting the 1979 Whitewater World Titles and a great showcase for the paddlers, styles and equipment of the day. It was an inspiration watching slalom paddlers in action and it spurred me on to paddle a couple of novice slalom competitions in Victoria, which was a mere 1600km round trip on a weekend.” –Rodney Biggs

“The Paris 2024 Olympics just ended during which Jess Fox won two golds (C1 & K1) and her sister Noemie won gold in the Kayak Cross too! And then, incredibly, I watch this stunning record of slalom from 1979 in which I see their father, Richard, racing and medalling! In addition I see Myriam Jerusalmi on the result board – now Myriam Fox, their mother!” –ParkerArchitectural

“Thanks for the amazing restoration, you took me right back to my formative teen years ( I must have watched it 100+ times at Riversport camp). The film & Bill’s “Ultimate Run” book helped form a core of my belief system, that through consistent hard work, dedication to craft and association with other experts in the field, one can become a champion (in sport or any other endeavor). If not best in the world, at least among the best.” –Brad Nelson

A Classic Kayaking Film Reborn

This is one of the best kayaking films you’ll see, partly because of the character of the people involved, the drama of this moment in history, the vitality of the participants.

The film has beautiful photography, different in resonance from what you see now, and a great sense of timing. The moments in the film take on a weight, a gravity that belies the youth of the participants involved. There are many good moments.  Bill Endicott, long time USA coach giving concise advice on gates. Cathy Hearn despising and loving the cold and Kent Ford shrugging off not placing.   A camaraderie exists between the team members, male and female, that goes beyond the forced boundaries of marketed athletes. The stage is big and yet small, quaint by today’s measure. The heart is as big as all the world.

Jamie McEwan

The remastered version of Fast and Clean is dedicated to the memory of Jamie McEwan, winner of the bronze medal in the 1972 Olympics, the debut of Olympic canoe slalom.

McEwan was part of the Washington, DC paddling scene as are many of the racers featured in Fast and Clean.

McEwan died from cancer in June of 2014.  He was 61 years old.

 

Many thanks to Jef Huey and Dan Isbister who allowed us to have a HD version of this film to show to an audience and to Ed Gertler for giving us this wonderful lead. And, of course, to the Nichols Productions and the participants in Fast and Clean.

Fast and Clean will be shown at the Carolina Canoe Club Holiday meeting.  Details available here.  The film runs 37 minutes.

See a teaser for Fast and Clean.

For those people still reading, here’s a fun fact.  Dan Isbister (see above) read the article and then sent this message:

“And one thing I just realized, the Nealy mention of WetBottom as the site of those surfing shots is wrong.   All of those shots were taken just upstream at the first wave in the Rocky Island Rapid.  No big deal, but between 3.8 and about 4.2 ft on the Little Falls gauge, Rocky still has those good waves..”

SOURCES:

Whitewater Slalom Alumni and Friends FB page

basecampvintage.com

Fast and Clean, the Movie, You Tube.

“Whitewater Home Companion, Volume II” by William Nealy, Menosha Ridge Press 1984.