San Diego: Swimmer Catherine Breed Completes 900-Mile Swim of Entire California Coast in 111 Days
Endurance swimmer Catherine Breed came ashore on a beach in San Diego County, California, on the afternoon of October 19, completing a swim of the entire California coastline — the first person in history to do so.
Breed, 33, entered the water on July 1 near Crescent City, close to the Oregon border, and swam south along the Pacific for 111 days, covering about 900 miles (about 1,448 km). According to the New York Post, she swam about five hours a day, 10 to 15 miles at a time, accompanied by a 52-foot sailboat and a support team.
A former University of California, Berkeley, varsity swimmer and U.S. National Team member, Breed swam the English Channel in 2018 and the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland in 2019. She said the challenge was meant to raise awareness for ocean conservation, adding that for months she measured her world in the next few miles and that every person who cheered her on helped her get back in the water.
She told reporters that a Super El Niño reversed the normally south-flowing California Current this year, leaving her swimming against the current nearly the whole way, and that tropical storms were the hardest part. She said she was more concerned about polluted water than sharks, noting that her team picked up about ten Mylar balloons in a single day off Los Angeles and Orange counties. Her team, Swim California, said data from the expedition will be used for marine conservation research and public education. (GSM, based on New York Post reporting)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons 公有领域 / Vlastula（Mission Beach 实景）
