The Ivindo River winds through the Gabon Rainforest, with elephants and hippos, thick forest, and a maze of rapids untouched by whitewater paddlers—until recently.

Four-man elite kayak team of Adrian Mattern, Dane Jackson, Kalob Grady and the late Bren Orton tackled a 90-mile (145 km) expedition on the river with the goal of the first descent of four major rapids on the Ivindo River in Gabon, a country on the central African Atlantic coast bordered by Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and the Congo. The Red Bull film Gabon Uncharted documents the depth of their drive to complete the expedition.

Meet the SEND collective

The team, self-named the SEND Collective, includes some of the top names in whitewater kayaking and as the film cheekily notes, most definitely the top names on whitewater kayaking Instagram.

Dane Jackson is often called the GOAT (greatest of all time) whitewater kayaker. Kalob Grady grew up on the banks of the Ottawa River and is now the head coach for World Class Academy. Bren Orton was the first European to paddle the 128 ft (almost 40m) Big Banana Falls in Mexico. In May 2024, Orton tragically passed away while kayaking with a group on the Melezza River in the Swiss Alps.

For the last member of the team, Adrian Mattern, the driving force behind the trip, the Ivindo has been a childhood dream to follow the expedition of Olaf ‘Big O’ Obsommer in 2007. On Obsommer’s Ivindo expedition they portaged most of the major rapids due to a lack of local knowledge and resources.

This attempt is different—with new technology and beta from Obsommer’s 2007 trip, the SEND collective seems set up for success. The ultimate game-changer this time around boils down to drones. Not only useful for capturing videos from above, drones allowed the paddlers to scout the rivers from the skies, virtually creating an aerial map of the area.

Is there more to the SEND Collective than big water and money shots?

Gabon Uncharted: Sending Ivindo Falls is not just another big water film. The film, produced by videographer David Arnaud who narrates and seems slightly skeptical of the SEND collective and their Instagram hype, on one hand sets out to make an epic whitewater expedition video.

But the film also asks a question—when you peel back the photos of epic drops, flips and thousands of likes, what’s left?

In the film, we watch the SEND collective pore over route plans and water level data prepared by Mattern. The SEND collective spends three days inspecting the area, and meets with local park rangers of Ivindo National Park, as they take extra care to minimize the impact of their expedition on the environment and pay astute attention to their own safety in the context of an extreme wilderness sport.

“We were told that there are most likely, almost certainly, perhaps not that many crocodiles in this area,” Orton jokes as they begin their journey.

The first major rapids on the Ivindo fan out through the forest in a labyrinthine rapids complex over a mile wide. On this first send, Arnaud describes the SEND collective as “joyful kids on an awesome playground.”

While there’s plenty of exciting big water shoots in the film, just as interesting, if not more so, is the group’s approach to risk management. In a move that seems to surprise the filmmaker, the SEND collective of Instagram fame unanimously chooses to play it safe and portage one of the large, iconic waterfalls they came to descend.

“Too often, group dynamics, biases, and egos lead to stupid decisions. Here it’s the opposite,” narrates Arnaud. “The SEND team navigates these pitfalls with grace and humility.”

Throughout the film we watch the SEND collective run incredible rapids, read their favorite books and get bug bites. We also watch as they help team member Mattern come to terms with the idea that one of the falls he’s dreamed of paddling is likely unrunnable and delicately handle the line between safety and the drive to push their skills for “the send.”

What’s compelling about Gabon Uncharted isn’t that you’re watching top whitewater kayaking athletes do inspiring athletic things—it’s that you’re watching top whitewater kayaking athletes work as a team, manage risk as a team, and ultimately just be people in a way that is inspiring to paddlers wherever they are with their own “send.”

Dane Jackson Descends Steepest Runnable Section Of Waterfalls In The World (Video)

On September 11, 2024 Kyle Parker set the new record for the Fastest Known Time (FKT) for solo canoeing the Wisconsin River, paddling the 430-mile river in five days, 19 hours and 57 minutes. While Parker was in a solo canoe, he was quick to share that the record in many ways was a team effort.

The Wisconsin River is the longest river in the state, running from its border in Michigan in the northeast to where it joins with the Mississippi. Parker had long been interested in paddling the Wisconsin River, and decided to go for an FKT attempt when he struggled to find the time in his schedule to paddle the entire river.

“It’s kind of in my backyard.” Parker shared. “I have a full time job, so while trying to balance how much vacation time I can take off, and when will be the best time, I started looking into how fast it could actually be done.”

Training for the Wisconsin River FKT

In summer 2024, Parker reached out to the previous FKT holder, Dr. Joe Spenneta, whose own FKT came out to around six days and three hours, to learn more about paddling the Wisconsin River for speed, and Spenneta encouraged Parker to go for the record and offered guidance on everything from gear needed to river beta.

While Parker had a fair amount of experience canoeing having worked summers at an outfitter in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, endurance paddling was new to him, but Spenetta coached him through it.

In order to secure the record, Parker would need to average 73 miles a day. Factor in time needed to eat, sleep and portage— 73 miles a day is no easy task. Over the next three months, training came down to getting on the water as much as possible.

“After work I would go out for an hour or two, sometimes three or four times a week,” Parker explained. He would tackle longer paddles on weekends, with his first long paddle beginning at 20 miles.

“Starting out at 20 miles on that very first long paddle… I was like actually this is really hard. I don’t know if I can do this,” Parker said.

As the weeks went by Parker added 10 miles a week, modeling his training after how runners train for marathons. Three weeks before his attempt he did his longest training paddle at 63 miles on the Wisconsin River. It took him over 36 hours.

“I was way behind on what I actually needed to do, but during that time I also had some more gear on me… a tarp, a sleeping bag, so about ten pounds of gear, self-supported. That was another eye-opener.”

Two weeks before his record attempt Parker tapered his training form 130 miles per week all the way down to zero miles in the five days before the river.

Support team, including previous record holder, plays key role in success

Parker met Dylan Durst while working at an outfitter in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It was here that both Parker and Durst began to take canoeing more seriously, spending days off challenging each other and coworkers to see how many lakes they could paddle in a day. Durst went on to become one of Parker’s regular paddling buddies, and was the main support person on his Wisconsin River FKT.

Support from Durst included essentially everything off the water, including all the food and water drops, finding a place to spend the night and helping film so that the only thing Parker had to worry about was getting to the next portage or checkpoint.

“That’s honestly the biggest factor to my success,” said Parker.

For the five days and 19 hours of Parker’s paddle, Durst would drive ahead and walk the portage beforehand to scout to make sure the land portion of Parker’s journey went as smoothly as possible.

Around the Wisconsin Dells, Parker was warned by another paddler that there was construction ahead and he likely wouldn’t be able to use the portage. Rather than paddle back upstream, Parker opted to keep paddling and risk it.

“I get to the portage and there’s an excavator and a barge, and a bunch of guys there, and then I see Dylan,” Parker shared. “He’s just like, sitting up there talking to the construction workers.”

In scouting ahead for Parker, Durst already had eyes on the construction and simply explained that his friend was going for the FKT on the Wisconsin River in a solo canoe. He asked if they would be willing to hold off work for a little bit to let Parker through.

“They just stopped their work for like a half an hour and waited for me,” Parker said. “Without that I could’ve had to paddle back upstream.”

Durst also helped with cooking food, setting up the tent, helping Parker pace, and any logistics along the way, including communicating with previous record holder Spenneta for beta on the river ahead.

Spenneta not only gave Parker guidance the entire way through training but walked Parker and Durst through all the routes as they encountered them, tracking Parker’s route live along the way.

“It was almost like Joe was our eyes in the sky… Joe would text Dylan to say okay, the next section is going to be really fast and then it’s gonna slow down and then there’s trees on this side,” Parker explained. “Everything he said was spot on. He’s done the river about a dozen times in his life.”

On September 11, 2024 after five days, 19 hours and 57 minutes of paddling over the course of 430-miles on the Wisconsin River, Parker achieved the time. Later that day, he heard from Spenetta, who congratulated him on the record.

“He said training starts today. You’re in trouble. I’m gonna beat it next year,” Parker shared, laughing. “We’ve got a little friendly rivalry going on. We’ll see what happens next year.”

Canoeing And Kayaking The Lower Wisconsin River

On August 12, 2024 45-year old Ryan Borgwardt left home with a kayak; he did not return. Months after his disappearance and the costly search and recovery effort, Borgwardt has come forward to share with police that he is alive and well, living in an apartment somewhere in Eastern Europe.

“The great news is we know that he’s alive. The bad news is we don’t know where Ryan exactly is,” shared Sheriff Mark Podoll in a press conference.

Kayaker presumed drowned faked his death and is now living in Eastern Europe

Borgwardt’s disappearance on Green Lake, WI in August was considered a likely drowning. Search and recovery efforts included dive teams and sonar and spanned several months. In those months Borgwardt’s wife and three children mourned the loss of their husband and father.

Search teams scoured the lake every day through August, September, and October, finding Borgwardt’s kayak, his phone and wallet, a floating PFD and his fishing gear, but no sign of Borgwardt himself. By mid-October, Sheriff Podoll suggested it was time to consider that perhaps Borgwardt wasn’t in the lake at all.

Shortly thereafter, police found records showing Borgwardt’s passport was checked by Canadian authorities. On his laptop they found questions about moving funds to foreign banks, a life insurance policy for $370,000 purchased in January, and communications with a woman in Uzbekistan.

November 11, the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office made contact with Borgwardt through a Russian-speaking woman.

According to Sheriff Podoll, the primary concern was that Borgwardt was safe and well. They asked Borgwardt a number of questions about his family and life to confirm his identity, then asked for a video.

Borgwardt supplied a video, in which he shares his new apartment in Eastern Europe and says “I am safe, secure, no problem.”

Police do not know what country he may be in, and Sheriff Podoll was unable to comment on the identity or information regarding the Russian speaking woman.

How Ryan Borgwardt faked his death via kayak accident

The morning of August 12 Ryan Borgwardt came prepared. He had researched the deepest lake in Wisconsin, and planned his fishing trip accordingly.

Borgwardt stashed an e-bike near the boat launch. Then, he hopped in an inflatable, child-sized boat and paddled with his own kayak in tow to the deepest part of Green Lake. He overturned the kayak and threw his phone and wallet into the water. Borgwardt then paddled his inflatable boat to shore, got on the e-bike and rode through the night over 70-miles to Madison, Wisconsin where he then boarded a bus to Detroit.

Borgwardt crossed the border into Canada and caught a flight to Eastern Europe.

Presently, Borgwardt has no plans to return to his wife and children in Wisconsin.

Authorities continue to be in communication with Borgwardt, and are stressing the importance to Borgwardt of his return home to “clean up the mess he created.” No warrants have been issued yet and Sheriff Podoll stated that no warrants may be needed if Borgwardt cooperates and returns home soon.

Reportedly Borgwardt’s biggest concern is how the community is going to react to him should he choose to return home. In addition, Sheriff Podoll also shared that Borgwardt didn’t expect authorities to go more than two weeks searching for him on the deepest lake in Wisconsin.

Borgwardt shared his reasons for faking his own death and fleeing the country with the police.

“He just had personal matters going on and felt this was the right thing to do,” said Sheriff Podoll. “There was talk about the insurance plan he took out. It wasn’t for him, it was for his family.”

According to Sheriff Podoll, Borgwardt has expressed remorse for what he has put his family through, as well as for the amount of hours and resources put in by the community for the search and recovery effort.

“We keep pulling at his heartstrings,” said Sheriff Podoll. “We’re not going to give up. We’re going to continue because he needs to come home to his kids.”

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Photo of Ryan Borgwardt, the missing kayaker who faked his death. Feature Image: NBC News | YouTube