The water does not discriminate race, gender, religion or class and all have equal opportunity for success. Our story highlights an underserved sport that promotes diversity like few others can and aims to promote inclusion through its focus on multiple characters from varying backgrounds.

Every year thousands of elite competitive swimmers isolate themselves from the outside world beneath the surface of cold, blue water, training for hours on end preparing for a single race whose outcome can singlehandedly label their entire season a success or failure. They repeat this demanding cycle year after year, surrendering their lives in hopes of experiencing this elusive perfect race. Yet long after their days of competition are complete, all that remains is an unbreakable bond to the water, which over time becomes a second home to them. THE WATER IS MY SKY is a feature length documentary that shares the experiences of elite competitive swimmers through the stories of two individuals from the same hometown, competing a decade apart, both chasing their dream of becoming the best swimmer in the world.

 

 

In the span of a decade Middletown, New Jersey, produces two Olympians, both undersized athletic superstars and both in the sport of swimming. Tom Wilkens and Connor Jaeger each make significant improvements late in their careers, which propel them to the top of America’s swimming rankings as they prepare to graduate from college. By pursuing careers as post-collegiate professional swimmers, both encounter the struggles of reaching the pinnacle of success in a sport outside of the mainstream landscape. Rather than chasing fame or fortune, Jaeger and Wilkens revel in the opportunity to test themselves against the best in the world and push the limits of their potential.

 

(left: Connor Jaeger; right: Tom Wilkens)

 

The film’s narrative unfolds through two storylines, weaving through the past and present: Wilkens, long since retired and now coaching his son’s YMCA team reflects on his career and how it continues to shape his adult life, and Jaeger, a current professional, attempts to qualify for a second Olympic Games while enrolling in graduate school with eyes on a life after swimming. We hear from each character as they describe and encounter both the positives and negatives of a life devoted to swimming, a sport built around monotonous training that builds to one meaningful international competition every four years. The film mirrors the experiences of swimmers from around the world, as we bear witness to the pure joy of personal victories, the crushing pains of defeat, and the shared love of the water that is universal to the sport.

 

 

THE WATER IS MY SKY concludes not at the Olympics, but in the aftermath, once the sport has disappeared from headlines, and times, places and records that once seemed important have all been forgotten. What endures is the water, the singular component bonding all swimmers to one another.

 

(left: editor/writer Kiel Nowakowski; right: director/producer Brian Tremml)

 

DIRECTOR STATEMENT

From the first time I picked up a camera and learned how to edit clips together on iMovie, I have wanted to produce a film that accurately depicts the journey of the elite competitive swimmer as a way of giving back to the sport that has provided so much to me. 

 

As a former swimmer and current coach, I feel strongly that swimming offers many stories that celebrate the best and purest parts of what makes sports important in today’s culture. Swimming is a brutal, demanding, and unforgiving sport that prepares its athletes for success in adulthood like few others can. 

 

In choosing to highlight Tom Wilkens and Connor Jaeger, we have crafted a narrative encompassing several elements common to the everyday, year-round swimmer. In fact, I see certain parts of myself within both of them, and this will be my hope for all swimmers who see the film.

 

From the outset, I did not want to highlight the sport’s superstars, for I feared that framing a film around individuals with excess amounts of talent would end up as a celebration of superior genetics. Instead, I wanted to find athletes both successful and relatable. By using their stories as a metaphor for thousands of other swimmers encountering similar challenges and difficulties, we have created a film representative of both our characters and the sport itself. Through our film, viewers will gain a better understanding of the individuals who decide to become swimmers and appreciate what the sport teaches them on a broad scale.

 

WHAT WE ARE RAISING MONEY FOR

With your help, we are seeking to secure enough funding to carry us through the final phase of our production journey. We are done capturing footage from our character's respective stories and the film has been edited into a rough cut.

 

Upon reviewing this cut, we felt a burning need to plan and execute one scripted shoot with the sole focus on capturing the most beatiful moving images of swimming possible. These images will be used throughout the film as ellipses as we transition between storylines and serve as an underlying metaphor for our grand theme which is focused on the sport itself and the connection between swimmers and the water.

 

With this shoot completed, we will be able to turn our rough cut into a final cut and fully move forward into post production with eyes on a forthcoming release!

 

CASE FOR OPTIMISM

Given the current climate of doping, paying amateur athletes and sexual assualt scandals running rampant through the world of athletics, I feel that now more than ever our film is pivotal to provide a Case for Optimism by highlighting all that is positive about the sport of swimming. It is necessary to reassure audiences that hard work and dedication still mean something and that not all segments of sport have been tainted. 

 

Please consider joining our team so that we may bring this inspirational story to life!