Two Minds One Goal: Olympic Dreams with the McCann Twins

Some people are born with a deep connection to the water. For Ford and Marshall McCann, that connection runs as deep as their bond as brothers—and twin Olympic sailors.

I first met Ford and Marshall in Southern France while filming a documentary for their Olympic trials. It didn’t take long for us to become friends. You don’t spend weeks on the road with people like that without building something real. A few months later, we linked back up in Miami to shoot a Chasing Passion episode as they trained off the coast—and it was one of the most cinematic, soul-filling days I’ve ever spent on the water.

This shoot felt like more than documenting their sport. It felt like filming a philosophy.

We launched the chase boat at sunrise, me behind the lens and my buddy Garrett Stone at the helm. Garrett and I ran charters together for years, so working together on the water just feels like home. The twins sliced through the waves like it was second nature—because it is. Their rhythm is unreal. Like watching instinct in motion.

“Sailing is the rawest connection we have to Mother Nature,” one of them said during our interview. “You feel so in touch with the purity around you—it reminds you of life’s true nature.”

That moment stuck with me. Because that’s exactly what it felt like. Pure. Powerful. And focused.

What makes their dynamic so rare is that they’re not just athletes—they’re mirrors of one another, constantly sharpening each other.

“We didn’t want to be separate, but we couldn’t help but compete,” they told me. “Being twins means you have the best sparring partner in the world.”

They’ve each leaned into their strengths—one the scientist, the other the artist—and together they’ve formed a sailing style that’s part calculation, part poetry. They spoke about the wind as if it were a dance partner: not something to fight, but something to move with, to trust.

“If you’re scared of it, it’ll own you. But if you understand it, believe in it, and trust yourself, it turns from a grind to a groove.”

That’s the kind of quote you don’t forget.

Their story isn’t just about sailing. It’s about discipline, curiosity, and embracing uncertainty with open arms. They don’t chase control—they chase understanding. And that’s what makes them special.

We ended the day like every Chasing Passion shoot should end—wet, sunburnt, high on life. We even tied up to a buoy and surfed behind the rib boat as the sun dropped low over the water.

Olympic dreams, brotherhood, the sea—this story had all of it.

The McCann twins aren’t just chasing gold. They’re chasing the edge of what’s possible—on the water, and in life.

Watch the full episode of Chasing Passion: Sailing with the McCann Twins → https://youtu.be/I-2msfQPBdE?si=PaMOb9zRz6TDlAOZ