This video of Rush Sturges on Upper Cherry Creek, CA, is such an awesome example of being an ultra-competent whitewater kayaker. Yes, he swims, but look at all the other stuff that goes on first.
Not only does he get stuck in that hydraulic with a broken paddle and still manage to get out of it and roll up, he also boofs that one ledge hand paddling, does a whole bunch of hand rolls, goes over several ledges, and the reversal he finally swims out of is obviously super sticky - his boat stays in there a really long time.
I like this video because any one of those circumstances is enough to make most people swim, never mind putting them all back to back. So it kind of sets the bar for what's possible and hanging in there.
Oh, almost forgot to mention - he then also manages to get out right away instead of swimming the next seven miles, like I usually do. :)
Holy crap, that was pretty amazing.
My thoughts exactly Cameron! :)