Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. "That shark [in the Beyond Avalon relay] was moving so fast that momentum itself guaranteed some form of physical contact between [Dave Speier] and the shark. I didn't even have time to get my mask on, much less enter the water to fend off the shark," recalls Lee Grove. Although the 76-mile (122 km) Beyond
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. Grace van der Byl became the third person in history to do a unique swimming + paddling double crossing of the Catalina Channel. The tough-nosed marathon swimmer turned paddle boarder completed Sunday's 32-mile Catalina Classic Paddleboard Race from Catalina Island to Manhattan Beach. The first person to
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. Doug Stanley was going to shift the paradigm of open water swimming with the constant global, real-time coverage of selected open water swims, especially those unprecedented ultra-marathon swims across lakes, channels and oceans. Utilizing the SmackDab platform, fans can view open water swimmers no matter
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. Beyond Avalon was prepared for anything and everything in their unprecedented 76-mile (122 km) relay attempt from Santa Catalina Island to La Jolla Cove near San Diego. But 40 miles into the swim, they had to unexpectedly call the swim. They really had no choice. Penny Nagel explains, "After the first
Gotta respect those endurance athletes from Seal Beach, California. In a town made famous by extreme swimmer, renowned ice swimming inspiration and channel record holder Lynne Cox, another Seal Beach resident decided to challenge himself in a low-key, unprecedented manner. The swimmer, runner, paddle boarder and all-around endurance athlete wanted to do
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. The world has innumerable locations for incredibly hard open water swims. Rough conditions, cold water, sharks, jellyfish, tides, currents, long distances, high altitudes and logistical considerations are the primary obstacles. What are some of the swims in the Northern Hemisphere that would be on the
The firemen of Long Beach took the long route from Catalina Island to the California mainland today and it was not easy. Led by Long Beach's Curtis Bowman, fellow firefighters Mitch Berro, Keith Dixon, Mike Alger, Matt Gruneisen, and Kazu Miyahara rotated 30-minute shifts for over 11 hours under unexpectedly rough conditions across the Catalina Channel.
During the third night of the Night Train Swimmers 228-mile southward journey along the California coast, the team passed within 2 miles of the town of Avalon on Catalina Island. Like Cindy Cleveland and Forest Nelson, the only humans to ever circumnavigate the island, the team had to opportunity to swim along Catalina Island as opposed to swimming to and
Every swimmer remembers the feeling of finishing an open water swim, especially a marathon swim, competitive race, or channel crossing. The feeling is great. But what happens afterwards? We asked Kimberly Chambers who just completed her fourth channel of the Oceans Seven across the Catalina Channel yesterday as she sat at her work office less than 18
It is not often when open water swimmers can meet the largest creatures on Earth. But swimmers crossing the Catalina Channel in California may have that opportunity over the next several weeks as the annual migration of blue whales continues from the warm southern waters to the more northern climes. Just south of the primary route between Catalina Island
