Catalina Channel Crossing – Triple Crown Complete
Catalina Channel crossing marked a significant milestone in my marathon swimming journey. It was my final swim to complete the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming, following the earlier completion of both the English Channel and circumnavigation of Manhattan. It was also my third of seven channel swims, bringing me one step closer to joining the small group of swimmers who have completed the world’s most iconic channel crossings.
One of the rewards of pursuing the Oceans Seven is the incredible community you meet along the way. In the week leading up to the Catalina crossing, I stayed at Redondo Beach where I was welcomed by the local swimming community. Despite being thousands of kilometres from home, I was immediately made to feel part of the group. Training swims, shared stories, local knowledge and encouragement from swimmers who understand the unique challenges of marathon swimming helped make the lead-up to Catalina a memorable experience in itself. The friendships and camaraderie found within the open water community are as rewarding as the swims themselves.
A few days before the swim, my crew arrived in Los Angeles and we relocated to an Airbnb near the Port of Los Angeles. The location was convenient for race logistics and access to the departure marina, although in hindsight we may have been better off staying in Redondo Beach. Redondo offered easier access to grocery stores, cafés and, perhaps most importantly, good coffee. Any marathon swimmer knows that coffee is an essential part of race week preparation. That said, I certainly cannot complain. The house was comfortable, we were able to prepare our own meals, relax, and focus on the final preparations before heading out to Catalina Island.
Unlike many marathon swims that begin in daylight, Catalina is predominantly a night swim. My crossing started around 10/30p, PM from Catalina Island. The boat ride over was pretty uneventful. I used the time to stretch, think and talk through the swim one final time with my coach. The boat pulls in to the Cove and you then slide into the water and swim over the sea grass to the shore. You then swim back over the sea grass again at the start of the swim…something that is a little spooky in the darkness of the Pacific Ocean. I hadn’t wanted to spend a lot of time thinking about a night swim. I just wanted to get on with it, however I have to say it is quite confronting swimming into a black horizon with only you and the red light placed on the kayak next to you. I didn’t want to dwell too much on this and soon got myself into a rhythm and started to enjoy the peace of the night.
Catalina carries an added psychological challenge. The waters surrounding the island are known as a breeding ground for great white sharks. While actual encounters with swimmers are not common they have occured. This is one of the risks that we accept when we take on this swim and that knowledge is never far from your mind as you swim through the darkness.
Along with your pilot boat, you are provided with three kayakers. Like the Molokai crossing, their presence is invaluable during the long hours of darkness, providing navigation, safety and encouragement when the ocean feels particularly vast.
As the night gradually turned into dawn, the Pacific delivered a moments that will stay with me for ever. Not only was the sunrise over the ocean breathtaking a pod of dolphins appeared and frollicked in the water in fron of me. I heard them first and I asked my kayaker to stop me when he saw them as I really wanted to experience the moment. It was so cool seeing them play around in front of me. That moment at sunrise remains one of the most memorable moments I have experienced in open water swimming.
Despite the beauty of the sunrise and the dolphins, Catalina was one of the toughest swims I have completed. Around the four-hour mark, things were beginning to unravel. My energy were dropping and physically I was starting to hurt. The wheels had fallen off, yet there was still a very long way to go.
In the days afterwards, I reflected extensively on what may have contributed to the difficulties. The only change I can identify was a minor adjustment to my nutrition plan. Whether that was the cause, I actually don’t know but that was the only thing I had changed for this swim. As the old saying goes ‘*Don’t fix what isn’t broken’ *something I seemed to have forgetten prior to this swim. While I could blame the change to my nutrition marathon swimming is often an exercise in managing countless variables, and sometimes there is no obvious explanation. Perhaps it was simply a swim that was meant to test me from start to finish.
What I do know is that Catalina became a battle of persistence rather than performance. The remainder of the crossing required me to break the swim down into manageable pieces, focusing only on the next feed, the next hour and the next stroke. It was a lesson in resilience more than speed. I really needed to dig deep in this swim and truly ask myself how much completing this crossing meant to me. I aslo reminded myself of why I do this – my mantra is ‘I am doing this for me‘. I had to tough this swim out for another 9 hours before I finished. It was a tough day at the office that’s for sure.
Looking back, Catalina was not my strongest swim physically; in fact, it hurt more than it felt good. Yet it may have been one of the most important swims I have completed mentally. Completing the crossing earned me the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming and moved me another step forward in the Oceans Seven challenge. More importantly, it reminded me that success is not always about feeling strong. Sometimes it is simply about continuing to move forward one stroke at a time.
Catalina tested me all the way to the finish. For that reason alone, it is a swim I will never forget.
