Catalina Channel
- 32.0 km
- Distance
- Santa Catalina Island ↔ California mainland
The Wrigley Race, January 1927
The history of Catalina begins with a commercial bet. William Wrigley Jr., who had controlled the company that owned the island since 1919, wanted to attract tourists there even in winter. In August 1926, a few days after Gertrude Ederle’s English Channel crossing, he invited her to swim the channel. She refused, and Wrigley decided on a race open to everyone: 25,000 dollars to the winner, and 15,000 to the first woman.
On January 15, 1927, at 11:21 a.m., 102 people—87 men and 15 women—set off from the island's isthmus in 12 °C (54 °F) water, in front of more than 3,500 people. The betting odds were 8 to 1 that no one would make it. After an hour, thirty had already retired; by ten in the evening, only twelve remained in the water.
Only one arrived. George Young, 17, from Toronto, touched the coast at Point Vicente at 3:05 a.m. on January 16, after 15 hours, 44 minutes, and 30 seconds^1, in front of thousands of people on the cliffs. During the race, his mother had telegraphed him via radio, «I know you will win, George», and he had replied, «You can bet on it, for you!». He had taken off his swimsuit two and a half miles (4.0 km) from the island and emerged covered only in grease. By accepting the prize, he lost his amateur status and the 1928 Olympics. Two female swimmers who retired after more than nineteen hours each received 2,500 dollars from Wrigley (Penny Lee Dean, history of the channel).
After the race
Two weeks later, on January 30, 1927, the American Henry Sullivan, the same one from the 1923 English Channel swim, crossed in 22 hours and 45 minutes: he was the first to have swum both channels. On February 5, the first woman arrived, Myrtle Huddleston, 30, from Long Beach, who had started swimming the year before: in the fog, she lost the boats for three hours and was bitten by a barracuda, but she arrived in 20 hours and 42 minutes. Some contested her, because she had consumed alcohol and had stopped a few meters from the shore; the federation keeps her in the register, like all crossings swum before 1981^5.
In 1946, King Benny Nawahi, a 48-year-old blind Hawaiian, crossed from Avalon to Point Fermin by following the sound of a bell on the pilot boat. In 1952, Florence Chadwick, on her second attempt, lowered the crossing record. In 1953, the Cuban Jose Cortinas was the first to swim from the coast to the island, in 32 hours and 10 minutes. On October 5, 1958, Greta Andersen made the first round trip: on the way out, in 10 hours, 49 minutes, and 41 seconds, she also set the record from the island to the coast^5.
The Seventies
On August 14, 1971, four kids from the Seal Beach Swim Club crossed together: Lynne Cox, Stacey Fresonke, and Dennis Sullivan were 14 years old, Andy Taylor was 12. Taylor is still the youngest in the register today, and under 14 years old, one can no longer attempt it today. On September 1, 1976, Penny Lee Dean started at midnight from the coast and arrived at Doctor's Cove in 7 hours, 15 minutes, and 55 seconds: it is still the shortest time ever on the channel, in either direction. Five years later, she became the first president of the federation.
Today's times
From the island to the coast, the shortest time is held by Grace van der Byl: 7 hours, 27 minutes, and 25 seconds, on October 5, 2012. Samuel Neri has swum the channel nine times. On June 29, 2023, the Frenchman Stève Stievenart set off for the first triple crossing, island-coast-island-coast: 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 43 seconds. The first Italian in the register is Paolo Chiarino, on August 25, 2005; the first Italian woman is Sabrina Peron, on August 22, 2015.
Timeline
Computed from the recorded crossings: the first, the first by sex, the first from each country and every record broken.
- First crossingWrigley23:17
- RecordWrigleySkin · Relay · 23:17
- RecordSanta Monica MastersSkin · Relay · 8:59
- RecordInternational RelaySkin · Relay · 8:14:05
- RecordU.S. National TeamSkin · Relay · 7:02:45
- RecordLong Beach Swim FocusSkin · Relay · 6:53:04