Catalina Channel — United States

Catalina Channel

32.0 km
Distance: Santa Catalina Island ↔ California mainland

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · Copernicus Sentinel data

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Crossings: 1,136
Swimmers: 1,813
Countries: 58
Women: 39%
Median time: 11:59:10
Busiest month: August

Crossings per year

Each bar is a year, split between skin and wetsuit.

SkinWetsuit and other assisted swimwear

Show the data as a table

Year	Crossings	Skin	Best	Median time
2025	76	76	7:57:40	12:48:12
2024	57	57	8:42:33	12:38:41
2023	60	60	8:38:19	12:43:19
2022	63	63	8:09	12:34:21
2021	51	51	9:05:32	12:20:32
2020	0	0	—	—
2019	92	92	9:22:30	12:36:24
2018	53	53	7:55:06	12:21:29
2017	67	67	8:47:42	11:53:44
2016	77	77	8:20:10	11:50:55
2015	60	60	8:07:37	11:43:24
2014	55	55	8:19:30	11:46:34
2013	45	45	8:04:12	11:59:57
2012	34	34	7:27:25	10:25:57
2011	31	31	8:18:27	11:23:34
2010	34	34	8:07:03	10:51:25
2009	18	18	8:05:44	10:27:46
2008	29	29	8:28:21	10:47:43
2007	12	12	8:51:51	10:16:45
2006	14	14	8:20:48	11:27:29
2005	16	16	8:56:10	11:49:36
2004	6	6	9:36:34	10:27:20
2003	6	6	10:11:13	10:20:13
2002	8	8	10:23:14	10:47:59
2001	5	5	8:33:18	9:47:44
2000	7	7	8:32:49	11:34:10
1999	3	3	10:08:34	12:25:43
1998	12	12	8:42:57	14:31:52
1997	8	8	10:32:42	10:38:20
1996	1	1	—	—
1995	9	9	10:46:47	13:22:09
1994	5	5	7:43:06	11:36:51
1993	9	9	8:14:46	11:49:37
1992	4	4	7:37:31	10:43:23
1991	6	6	10:08	12:17:08
1990	2	2	11:36:43	13:52:11
1989	6	6	13:15:42	14:04:34
1988	0	0	—	—
1987	2	2	10:15	10:24:40
1986	4	4	11:13:23	12:22:50
1985	5	5	9:25:59	13:28:48
1984	12	12	8:54:01	9:33
1983	5	5	8:27:24	15:29
1982	4	4	9:08	11:42:40
1981	3	3	11:17:34	11:22:47
1980	3	3	11:02:14	12:02
1979	2	2	10:03:30	11:08:45
1978	2	2	—	—
1977	7	7	8:31:20	9:40
1976	4	4	7:15:55	9:57:07
1975	0	0	—	—
1974	3	3	8:48	10:20
1973	0	0	—	—
1972	3	3	8:50	9:19
1971	4	4	12:34	12:34
1970	0	0	—	—
1969	0	0	—	—
1968	0	0	—	—
1967	0	0	—	—
1966	0	0	—	—
1965	0	0	—	—
1964	1	1	15:17	15:17
1963	1	1	12:45	12:45
1962	0	0	—	—
1961	0	0	—	—
1960	0	0	—	—
1959	3	3	11:07:30	15:04
1958	2	2	24:00:25	24:00:25
1957	3	3	15:38	17:00
1956	4	4	9:10:30	15:47:11
1955	3	3	17:04	18:54
1954	1	1	13:25:41	13:25:41
1953	2	2	16:38	24:24:26
1952	3	3	13:47:32	18:20
1951	0	0	—	—
1950	0	0	—	—
1949	0	0	—	—
1948	0	0	—	—
1947	0	0	—	—
1946	1	1	22:20	22:20
1945	0	0	—	—
1944	0	0	—	—
1943	0	0	—	—
1942	0	0	—	—
1941	0	0	—	—
1940	0	0	—	—
1939	0	0	—	—
1938	0	0	—	—
1937	0	0	—	—
1936	1	1	33:50	33:50
1935	0	0	—	—
1934	0	0	—	—
1933	0	0	—	—
1932	0	0	—	—
1931	0	0	—	—
1930	0	0	—	—
1929	0	0	—	—
1928	0	0	—	—
1927	5	5	13:35	15:44:30
1926	1	1	—	—

When people swim it

The month with most crossings is August.

Show the data as a table

Month	Crossings	%
January	6	1%
February	2	0%
March	1	0%
April	4	0%
May	4	0%
June	53	5%
July	185	16%
August	390	34%
September	346	30%
October	134	12%
November	9	1%
December	1	0%

Women and men

39%Women

Women202 · 18%
Men311 · 27%
Relays or not stated623 · 55%

Equipment and format

1,136Crossings

Skin · Solo908 · 80%
Skin · Relay228 · 20%

Starting side

1,136Crossings

From Santa Catalina Island1020 · 90%
From California mainland116 · 10%

Single and multiple

1,136Crossings

One-way1107 · 97%
Two-way27 · 2%
3 consecutive crossings1 · 0%
6 consecutive crossings1 · 0%

Where swimmers come from

58Countries

🇺🇸 United States340 · 47%
🇦🇺 Australia64 · 9%
🇬🇧 United Kingdom64 · 9%
🇲🇽 Mexico51 · 7%
🇮🇪 Ireland21 · 3%
🇮🇳 India17 · 2%
🇨🇦 Canada16 · 2%
49 other countries152 · 21%

Time distribution

Solo crossings, in half-hour bands. Mean 12:25:40, median 11:59:10.

Times year by year

Median and best time of each year's solo crossings; higher is faster.

Median timeBest

The record over time

Each step is a crossing that beat the best time up to that day, in its category.

Skin · SoloSkin · Relay

Skin · Solo

Date	Swimmer	Time	Taken off the record
Sep 1, 1976	Penny Lee Dean🇺🇸	7:15:55	−1:32:05
Sep 22, 1974	Lynne Cox🇺🇸	8:48	−0:02
Sep 1, 1972	David Cox^🇬🇧	8:50	−0:20:30
Jun 17, 1956	Tom Park🇨🇦	9:10:30	−4:15:11
Sep 23, 1954	Tom Park🇨🇦	13:25:41	−0:09:19
Apr 24, 1927	Byron Summers🇺🇸	13:35	−1:36:38
Mar 25, 1927	Kyle Leonard	15:11:38	−0:32:52
Jan 15, 1927	George Young🇨🇦	15:44:30	—

Skin · Relay

Date	Swimmer	Time	Taken off the record
Oct 8, 2011	Long Beach Swim Focus	6:53:04	−0:09:41
Aug 11, 1989	U.S. National Team	7:02:45	−1:11:20
Aug 20, 1984	International Relay	8:14:05	−0:44:55
Jun 21, 1981	Santa Monica Masters	8:59	−14:18
Sep 10, 1926	Wrigley	23:17	—

Countries

🇺🇸 United States340
🇦🇺 Australia64
🇬🇧 United Kingdom64
🇲🇽 Mexico51
🇮🇪 Ireland21
🇮🇳 India17
🇨🇦 Canada16
🇪🇸 Spain13
🇿🇦 South Africa11
🇹🇷 Türkiye9
🇧🇷 Brazil8
🇳🇿 New Zealand8
🇮🇹 Italy7
🇩🇪 Germany6
🇫🇷 France6
🇦🇷 Argentina5
🇮🇷 Iran5
🇵🇱 Poland5
🇷🇺 Russia5
🇨🇱 Chile4

Show the data as a table

Country	Crossings	Women	Best	First from the country
🇺🇸 United States	340	100	7:15:55	Henry Sullivan🇺🇸 · Jan 30, 1927
🇦🇺 Australia	64	21	8:04:12	Gemma Jensen🇦🇺 · Aug 1, 2006
🇬🇧 United Kingdom	64	21	8:50	David Cox^🇬🇧 · Sep 1, 1972
🇲🇽 Mexico	51	9	9:56:02	Ramon Ocana🇲🇽 · Sep 14, 1956
🇮🇪 Ireland	21	6	8:50:04	Stephen Matthew Redmond🇮🇪 · Oct 20, 2011
🇮🇳 India	17	4	8:38:19	Taranath Narayan Shenoy🇮🇳 · Aug 25, 1987
🇨🇦 Canada	16	5	8:09	George Young🇨🇦 · Jan 15, 1927
🇪🇸 Spain	13	2	8:11:13	Pieter Christian Jongeneel Anderica🇪🇸 · Aug 19, 2008
🇿🇦 South Africa	11	2	9:45:02	Michele Santilhano🇿🇦 · Sep 17, 2007
🇹🇷 Türkiye	9	4	9:50:44	Ragip Vural Tandogan🇹🇷 · Jul 28, 2017
🇧🇷 Brazil	8	1	8:45:30	Dailza Damas🇧🇷 · Jun 28, 1993
🇳🇿 New Zealand	8	3	9:24:58	Sandy Blewett🇳🇿 · Sep 7, 1977
🇮🇹 Italy	7	1	10:32:55	Paolo Chiarino🇮🇹 · Aug 25, 2005
🇩🇪 Germany	6	1	7:57:40	Matthias Kassner🇩🇪 · Aug 20, 2015
🇫🇷 France	6	0	13:41:14	Paul Chotteau🇫🇷 · Jul 26, 1936
🇦🇷 Argentina	5	1	10:47:32	Matias Juan Ola🇦🇷 · Aug 15, 2018
🇮🇷 Iran	5	1	14:52:45	Jamshid Khajavi🇮🇷 · Sep 1, 1990
🇵🇱 Poland	5	1	10:19:15	Boguslaw Stanislaw Ogrodnik🇵🇱 · Sep 6, 2016
🇷🇺 Russia	5	2	12:51:25	Andrey Bozhko🇷🇺 · Aug 12, 2019
🇨🇱 Chile	4	0	10:11:41	Barbara Hernandez🇨🇱 · Jun 5, 2019
🇨🇷 Costa Rica	4	2	9:16:42	Daniel Vivero Aguero🇨🇷 · Aug 12, 2021
🇨🇿 Czechia	4	3	9:46:47	Kamil Suran🇨🇿 · Jul 27, 2011
🇪🇨 Ecuador	4	1	10:39:21	Manuel Adum🇪🇨 · Jul 27, 2015
🇨🇺 Cuba	3	0	17:14:45	Jose A. Cortinas🇨🇺 · Aug 30, 1952
🇩🇰 Denmark	3	3	11:07:30	Greta Andersen🇩🇰 · Oct 5, 1958
🇪🇬 Egypt	3	0	9:23:06	Mohamed Ibrahim Elwakeel🇪🇬 · Aug 20, 1984
🇮🇱 Israel	3	1	11:59:10	Avishag Turek🇮🇱 · Sep 28, 2018
🇧🇬 Bulgaria	2	0	8:42:33	Tsanko Petrov Tsankov🇧🇬 · Aug 28, 2023
🇨🇴 Colombia	2	0	9:54:51	Jorge Agudelo🇨🇴 · Jul 6, 2022
🇬🇹 Guatemala	2	1	12:16:52	Yesenia Cabrera Fuegos🇬🇹 · Aug 9, 2011
🇭🇺 Hungary	2	0	9:00:48	Gábor Molnár🇭🇺 · Oct 2, 2012
🇵🇪 Peru	2	0	8:54:06	Eduardo Collazos Valle🇵🇪 · Jul 7, 2021
🇷🇴 Romania	2	0	9:47:58	Dan Canta🇷🇴 · Sep 20, 2016
🇸🇰 Slovakia	2	0	10:06:15	Peter Dolnik🇸🇰 · Sep 7, 2016
🇦🇹 Austria	1	0	11:18:40	Mäx Beer🇦🇹 · Aug 6, 2018
🇨🇭 Switzerland	1	0	11:39:06	Romano Mombelli🇨🇭 · Sep 3, 2025
🇨🇳 China	1	0	11:35	Suwei Chen🇨🇳 · Oct 17, 2018
🇪🇪 Estonia	1	0	12:16:29	Teet Daniel🇪🇪 · Oct 18, 2017
🇫🇮 Finland	1	0	12:37:49	Jari Salomaa🇫🇮 · Aug 11, 2023
🇬🇬 Guernsey	1	0	12:26:34	Adrian Sarchet🇬🇬 · Aug 1, 2013
🇬🇮 Gibraltar	1	0	9:34:51	Nathan Payas🇬🇮 · Aug 11, 2017
🇬🇷 Greece	1	0	17:00	Jason Zirganos🇬🇷 · Oct 15, 1957
🇭🇷 Croatia	1	1	9:47:53	Dina Levacic🇭🇷 · Aug 3, 2017
🇯🇵 Japan	1	0	11:32:24	Yuta Tsuboi🇯🇵 · Aug 8, 2013
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	1	1	18:19:37	Anel Sytdykova🇰🇿 · Aug 5, 2022
🇱🇺 Luxembourg	1	1	13:53:59	Paule Kremer🇱🇺 · Aug 17, 2022
🇲🇩 Moldova	1	0	12:01:14	Ion Lazarenco🇲🇩 · Sep 12, 2016
🇳🇱 Netherlands	1	0	9:26:01	Milko van Gool🇳🇱 · Jun 28, 2018
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	1	0	11:56	Joel Matos Ortiz🇵🇷 · Jul 16, 2021
🇵🇸 Palestine	1	0	10:21:40	Hammad Alfalah🇵🇸 · Sep 20, 2023
🇷🇸 Serbia	1	0	10:57:24	Nemanja Spasojevic🇷🇸 · Jun 26, 2016
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	1	0	13:31:17	Abdulrahman Boksmati🇸🇦 · Oct 5, 2025
🇸🇪 Sweden	1	1	12:40:06	Anna Carin Elisabeth Nordin🇸🇪 · Jul 3, 2012
🇸🇬 Singapore	1	0	11:17:02	Jia Long Chua🇸🇬 · Sep 5, 2025
🇹🇼 Taiwan	1	1	13:21:25	Hsu Wen-Erh🇹🇼 · Aug 27, 2024
🇺🇦 Ukraine	1	1	17:43:46	Yana Lohvinenko🇺🇦 · Aug 26, 2025