Catherine Breed

Pool Swimming

At 15 years old, she qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials and was a 21-time high school All-American.

She made NCAA All-America honors and numerous USA Swimming teams for her middle-distance and distance freestyle events.

In 2014 she was honored with the Walter A. Haas Jr. Community Service Award where she was honored for her volunteer work and community service.

She was a member of the U.S. National Youth Team from 2008-2009 and 2009-2010.

She participated in the 2011 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships where she won in the 200m freestyle and 800m freestyle relay.

She participated in the 2010 FINA World Cup in Moscow where she earned a silver and bronze medal.

She qualified for both the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials.

In 2014 she was honored with the Walter A. Haas Jr. Community Service Award at the University of California Berkeley where she was honored fors all of her volunteer work and community service.

Open Water Swimming Career Highlights

On 11 June 2016, she finished 4rd in the 10 km Lake Del Valle Open Water Swims in Livermore, California in 2 hours 28 minutes 16 seconds at the age of 24.

On 10 June 2016, she finished 4rd in the 10 km Lake Del Valle Open Water Swims in Livermore, California in 2 hours 26 minutes 51 seconds at the age of 24.

On 9 June 2018, she finished 2nd in the 10 km Lake Del Valle Open Water Swims in Livermore, California in 2 hours 24 minutes 22 seconds at the age of 25.

On 9 September 2016, she set a record for a 34.2 km crossing of Lake Tahoe in 8 hours 56 minutes 16 seconds.

She was nominated for the Solo Swim of the Year by the Marathon Swimmers Federation in 2016.

On 26 June 2018, she crossed the 33.5 km English Channel from England to France in 9 hours 50 minutes at the age of 26.

She swam on the winning 2018 Trans Tahoe Relay team, the Sunnyside Sinners that was awarded the 1966 Cup together with captain Chad La Tourette, Mazen Aziz, Allison Arnold, Drew Cosgarea, and Bryan Offutt.

On 26 April 2019, she won the 27.3 km stage across Apache Lake on Day 3 of the 4-day S.C.A.R. Swim Challenge in Arizona in 5:05:28.7 at the age of 26.

On 27 April 2019, she won the 10 km stage across Roosevelt Lake on Day 4 of the 4-day S.C.A.R. Swim Challenge in Arizona in 2:34:07.3 at the age of 26.

On 25 June 2019, she crossed the 35 km North Channel from Northern Ireland to Scotland in 11 hours 6 minutes 40 seconds to become the 65th swimmer and 23rd female to successfully complete this swim.

On 13 July 2019, she won the 45.9 km 20 Bridges Swim around Manhattan Island in New York in 6 hours 54 minutes 6 seconds at the age of 26.

On 23 September 2020, she set the record for the fastest overall and fastest female time across the 25-mile Monterey Bay in California starting from from Seabright Beach in Santa Cruz in a time of 12 hours 42 minutes 14 seconds in 58°F water.

2020 WOWSA Awards

The Monterey Bay crossing by Catherine Breed was nominated for the 2020 WOWSA Awards in the World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year category with the following nomination: With a team of veteran Monterey Bay channel swimmers on her boat, NCAA pool swimmer-turned-marathon swimmer Catherine Breed dug deep and kept swimming through a cold, dark night across the foggy 40.2 km Monterey Bay in northern California. Without any sense of location due to fog that lay on the water surface, Breed could not distinguish between the water and sky for nearly the entire crossing. Effectively blinded by the conditions and guided solely through the fuzzy outline of her escort boat, she relied on the calm and experienced guidance of Kim Rutherford and Amy Gubser. In addition to the darkness of night and the thick blanket of fog, Breed encountered dozens of jellyfish with their painful venomous touch on her face and all over her body. She started in 14°C water and endured passing over the underwater Monterey Bay canyon with its water temperature drop and turbulent currents before finishing on the northern shore in 12 hours 42 minutes, the fastest time in history. For fighting through the pain of jellyfish stings, for completely trusting in her escort crew despite being disoriented throughout her crossing save for the last 500 meters, and for making a successful transition for warm-water chlorinated pools to the always dynamic marine environment with its unexpected obstacles, the record-setting crossing of the Monterey Bay by Catherine Breed of the USA is a worthy nominee for the 2020 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year.