Dash for the Delta

Ilia Smirnov’s Pursuit of a Guinness Record

a Carolina Paddler article

by Alton Chewning

What does it mean to dream of doing something big and to be so close to accomplishing it? It means every stroke holds sweet promise. Time has slowed. The helping current has gone slack. Every mile is hard won. What has been a clear objective–just look to the next stroke, the next lock, the next campsite, the next landmark–becomes mixed with last minute complications. The final race to Zero has new challenges.

On May 1st, 2026, Ilia Smirnov put on Lake Itasca, a small glacial lake recognized as the start of the Mississippi River. From Itasca, 2350 miles of river lay ahead before reaching Mile Zero, the official termination of the Mississippi. Sometime in the next few days Ilia will meet up with Walter, a local charter boat captain in Venice (locally pronounced Venus). Anna Morgan, the one woman-support crew of this expedition, will board Walter’s boat and they will creep along behind Ilia for ten miles until he reaches Zero.

Anna was hoping her sister, Aly, would be here for this last leg. Aly had been part of the support team earlier in the trip but her business and responsibilities kept her from staying the whole month.  Anna says Aly is the better photographer but Anna is pretty good herself.  She will be tasked with providing video documentation of the last miles and Ilia’s arrival at Mile Zero, evidence needed to secure the Guinness record keepers’ recognition.

What is Ilia’s goal? The record for fastest descent of the entire Mississippi is held by a four-person canoe team who paddled in shifts almost continuously. With a support crew of twenty, they reached Mile Zero in 16 days, 20 hours, and 16 minutes. Ilia has only a single horsepower, but he is a thoroughbred.

The fastest officially recognized time for a solo paddler is 55 days, set by Traci Lynn Martin in 2021. As Guinness notes, most men attempt the speed descent in teams. Ilia, if he successfully navigates these grueling last miles, will finish in a little more than thirty days.

Right now, Ilia is not counting, he’s paddling. He doesn’t even want to talk about when he’s finishing. His vision is straight ahead, making the next stroke, keeping his eyes open. His world is narrow. Paddle for fifteen hours a day. Get four or five ragged hours of sleep. Wake up and repeat the process. He’s had one shower. He’s seen lots of scenery, some of it beautiful, much of it the industrial waterscape of a working river.

Now the Head of Passes lies ahead. Mile Zero is called the Head of Passes because downriver the river divides into several channels: the South Pass, the Southwest Pass, and the Pass A Loutre. The Gulf lies roughly twenty miles south of Mile Zero.

It’s not a time to let up. Commercial boat traffic is heavy. Hazards increase. In 2021, a four- person canoe crew made it 2200 miles when they encountered heavy waves north of New Orleans. They were evacuated just before their canoe swamped and their hopes sank, after so many miles.

Megan Smirnov, the leader of the team in North Carolina, is coordinating the final plans to get Ilia to the finish line and back home. Their outfitting business has taken her attention and with three children in the mix, it’s been a handful. A dedicated and resourceful staff has kept the operation humming and everyone is excited to be part of a team setting a Guinness record.

Back in March, I asked Ilia why he wanted to do the Mississippi and named a couple of alternative rivers. Ilia said, “All over the world, everyone has heard of the Mississippi. It’s the river in the United States people know.”  Soon, there could be another detail people might know. A paddler from North Carolina, a member of the Carolina Canoe Club, paddled the Mississippi faster than any other single person.