The California Triple Crown of Marathon Swimming [Farther, Colder, Rougher]

Thanks to Dave Van Mouwerik’s diligent work in compiling historic and recent Lake Tahoe swim data, it’s now possible to publish an authoritative list of the California Triple Crown of Marathon Swimming, hereby defined as successful unassisted swims of:

• the Catalina Channel
• the Santa Barbara Channel (cross-channel swims between any of Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, or San Miguel Islands and the mainland)
• the lengthwise (North/South) axis of Lake Tahoe.

These three swims represent arguably the most significant solo marathon swims in California in terms of:

History

• Catalina Channel - first solo swim in 1927 (George Young), and over 400 total.
• Santa Barbara Channel - first swum as a relay in 1926, first solo swim in 1978 (Cindy Cleveland), and 83 total.
• length of Lake Tahoe - first solo swim in 1955 (Fred Rogers - swim still not fully verified) or 1963 (Leonore Modell), and 45 total.

Current Popularity

In 2016, there were six Tahoe lengthwise swims, seven Santa Barbara Channel swims, and 61 Catalina Channel swims.

Accessibility

The California Triple Crown swims are reasonable goals for a dedicated amateur marathon swimmer, with distances of 20 miles (Catalina), 21.25 miles (Tahoe), and 12.5-27.5 miles for the Santa Barbara Channel, depending on which island you use.

If you live in California and hate traveling, or don’t want to wait years for a good English Channel window, or aren’t rich enough for the Oceans7, this could be for you!

For a full and updated list of California Triple Crown swimmers, see the Marathon Swimmers Federation LongSwims database.

The information provided below was current in March 2017, but will not be updated.

As of March 2017, three swimmers have completed the California Triple Crown:

1. Kevin Murphy

• Lake Tahoe - 13 hours, 56 minutes on July 24, 2003.
• Catalina Channel - 15 hours, 23 minutes on August 8, 2003.
• Santa Barbara Channel (Santa Cruz Island to Santa Barbara) - 17 hours, 31 minutes on September 23, 2007.

2. Dave Van Mouwerik

• Santa Barbara Channel (Anacapa Island to Oxnard) - 7 hours, 0 minutes on August 7, 2010.
• Lake Tahoe - 13 hours, 51 minutes on August 14, 2011.
• Catalina Channel - 12 hours, 9 minutes on August 6, 2012.

3. Tina Neill

• Catalina Channel - seven times, 2007-2014, in both directions, including a two-way, using both freestyle and backstroke.
• Santa Barbara Channel (Santa Cruz Island to Oxnard) - 10 hours, 33 minutes on July 15, 2011.
• Lake Tahoe - 11 hours, 18 minutes on August 31, 2015.

Two out of three…

30 swimmers have completed the Catalina and Santa Barbara Channels, but not yet Lake Tahoe:

• Thomas Ball
• John Chung
• Cindy Cleveland
• Marcia Cleveland
• Ned Denison
• Carol Schumacher Hayden
• Peter Hayden
• Lynn Kubasek
• Stanley Leventhal
• Marc Lewis
• Michelle Macy
• Anthony McCarley
• Jim McConica
• Evan Morrison
• Jim Neitz
• Forrest Nelson
• Rendy Lynn Opdycke
• Penny Palfrey
• Kelley Prebil
• Suzanne Riedinger
• Claudia Rose
• Kimberly Rutherford
• Walter Bean Scott
• Tamie Stewart
• Scott Tapley
• Peter Urrea
• Kathleen Wilson
• Hank Wise
• David Yudovin
• Scott Zornig

16 swimmers have completed Catalina and Lake Tahoe, but not yet the Santa Barbara Channel:

• Asha Allen
• Patti Bauernfeind
• Kimberley Chambers
• Cliff Crozier
• Jim Fitzpatrick
• Michael Goble
• Amy Gubser
• Tom Hecker
• Ernie Hoftyzer
• Scott Kaloust
• Karl Kingery
• Elaine Kornbau Howley
• Craig Lenning
• Joe Locke
• Kirk McKinney
• Sarah Thomas