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An Athlete in His Own Right Prolific sports photographer heads to Copenhagen to vie for world paddleboard championship D ONALD MIRALLE IS USED TO being in the water. A competitive swimmer from age 8, Miralle progressed to swimming at the Division 1 level at UCLA. So, as he launched his career in sports photography, water photography was a natural extension. "I think being a water athlete has actually helped my type of photography," he says. "It really enabled me to push water photography [about] 26 years ago." Over the course of his impressive career, Miralle has covered every major sporting event imaginable, both in and out of the water; the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Ironman triathlons, Super Bowls, major professional golf tournaments, Major League Baseball, professional hockey are a very abbreviated list of what he's shot through his lens. As his workload — and his family — expanded, Miralle's own competitive pursuits in the water took a backseat to capturing the action from behind the camera. But when life started to regulate a bit, the Leucadia resident connected with a paddleboarding group in North County, and a passion was sparked. He began entering prone paddleboard races (where the paddle boarder is on their knees or lying down or on their board with no oar). "It started off [as] just short local races, and then the next thing you know, you're trying to go for the longer races and the bigger races, and then you're going to the Catalina Classics, which are the old, prestigious races," he says. "en, you go to Molokai for BY DEANNA MURPHY connect people At the 2023 ISA World Championships last year, "Just having the American flag on me and standing up there on stage with [the winners] was pretty cool. Like, absolutely, one of the pinnacles in my career," says Donald Miralle (photographed), who placed fourth ranchandcoast.com 100 SEPTEMBER 2024 RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE DONALD MIRALLE: PHOTO BY MARK JOHNSON