There hasn’t been a more watched swim film in history than Touch the Wall, the Missy Franklin / Kara Lynn Joyce documentary that came out in theaters at the end of 2014. And there’s never been a film that made us feel more about swimming than Touch the Wall, either. The first 5 minutes of this film will make you cry; the last 10 will leave you dying to get back to the pool.
Swimmers are an often mis-understood lot; we spend early morning hours stumbling to practice, then late afternoon hours being yelled at by our coaches. We ask our parents to follow us around to countless meets, we always smell of chlorine, and we have the earliest bedtimes of our friends. Outside of the swim community, few people know this. But watching this film makes us feel understood. And that feels good.
Touch the Wall follows then-teenaged Missy Franklin as she prepared for her triumphant run at the London Olympics. The film details her relationship with multiple Olympic-Medalist Kara Lynn Joyce, a seasoned vet who shocked the swim world when she joined Missy and her Denver-based age group Swim club in 2011. Together, they play and compete and support each other through the training. At those 2012 games, Missy won 4 gold medals, broke two world records, and returned home a national hero.
Since the film’s release, Kara retired to teach and coach; Missy returned to high school, then swam collegiately. After winning the NCAA Woman’s Swimming Championship at UC Berkeley in 2015, Missy turned professional and returned home to Denver to train with former coach Todd Schmitz. She’s now sponsored by Visa, Speedo, Minute-Maid, United Airlines, GoPro, and Wheaties.
There’s never been a swim film before that captured the essence of what swimming is the way Touch the Wall has. This epic film encapsulates two great swimmers’ experiences: Missy as the ascendant phenom with the iridescent smile; and Kara, as the veteran pro looking at the downside of her career, and trying to finish it with a bang.
Accompanying the digital release on iTunes are four Extra Movies – short behind-the-scenes movies of Missy and Kara talking about their experiences in the film. Those movies will be part of the larger Special Edition due out later this year.
Touch the Wall can be rented or bought on iTunes as well as Amazon Instant Video, Vimeo, VUDU, Google Play, and Dish network. Don’t miss this film.
I knew nothing about this movie. I found it browsing late night on the Own channel. I think it is a great insight for those that know little or nothing about the swim world. Joyce’s love and struggle w swimming was compelling. It is interesting to watch now knowing Franklin struggled at trials this year. It also made me think there are very few swim movies. Pride probably most viewed. Swim fan was not really about swimming but a good film. Why isn’t there a “Vision Quest” film of swimming? someone should do that!
After seeing TTW multiple times, I’m anxious to see how Missy does at the Olympics and beyond as well as how Kara Lynn’s post-competition career unfolds…
I saw this movie and really didn’t like it. It seemed like it was a bunch of home movies strung together. I never saw Missy being coached or actually taught anything.
Summary: “kid gets in the water at age six and is great. She gets better and better and wins the Olympics.
I liked the storyline about Kara Lynn Joyce better, but there were holes in the story.
I agree…The only thing interesting about this movie was the Kara Lynn storyline. There was struggles there, ups and downs. They never showed any conflict for Missy and definitely came across like a home movie made by her parents
“Pride” was a very popular swimming film. You sure?
About time! This is where they’re gonna make the real money off this film and where the exposure to those outside the swimming community will come. Excited to finally watch.
Who was the producer of the film?
Good question – I had forgotten about this, but your question reminded me of the story:
http://swimswam.com/missy-franklin-touch-the-wall-documentary-breaks-110000-kickstarter-goal/
Since over $100K of the production costs were contributed by the general public, it would seem decent if at least a portion of the net proceeds was going to charity (like USA Swimming Foundation). Does anyone know?
Everything I’ve read about the movie business has said that there never is any net profit. That’s why the only deals worth anything are based on gross.
Finally! Now I can have it in my iTunes library. Happy!
The Fast and The Furious may have been watched more, mostly because it has been around longer though.
The Fast and The Furious really?