Grace van der Byl (born June 13, 1978) is an American open water swimmer and National level pool swimmer and waterwoman from Solana Beach, California. She also the record holder for the Catalina Channel solo crossing from Catalina Island to the California mainland in 7 hours 27 minutes. She is also an active Observer for the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation and was one of only two individuals (besides Rondi Davies ) to finish all 7 stage swims of the 2012 8 Bridges Hudson River Swim , the longest competitive open water swim in the world. She also won the first 9.5-mile stage swim in Saguaro Lake , the second 9-mile stage swim in Canyon Lake , the third 17-mile stage swim in Apache Lake , and the fourth 10 km night race in Roosevelt Lake at the 2013 S.C.A.R. Swim Challenge in Arizona. She also won the 15.1-mile (24.3 km) inaugural Cape Circumnavigation Challenge around Cape May , New Jersey in 2013, the 28.5-mile Manhattan Island Marathon Swim in June 2014, and the 25-mile In Search of Memphre marathon swim on 5 September 2014 in 11 hours 33 minutes across Lake Memphremagog from Newport, Vermont (USA) to Magog, Quebec (Canada).