Good morning. Nick Romeo, a Bay Area journalist, recently profiled Catherine Breed, a rising star of open water swimming who is pushing the limits of what’s possible.
A Bay Area Athlete Embarks on the Swim of a Lifetime (and Coastline)
Many swimmers will start this morning with a workout measured in yards. Catherine Breed, an endurance athlete, is starting her day by embarking on a roughly 900-mile swim along the California coastline. If Breed pulls it off, she would become the first person ever to swim the entire length of the California. I’ve been swimming in the San Francisco Bay for a few years. But as I learned when I profiled Breed and joined her on a training swim beyond the Golden Gate Bridge this spring, the open Pacific Ocean poses far more unique challenges. Beyond facing strong currents, big waves and sudden storms, Breed could encounter great white sharks, elephant seals and stinging jellyfish along the way. “I’m just feeling very nervous and excited,” Breed, a 33-year-old Bay Area native, told me this week. “I think the crew is very dialed in, and we’re doing the last finishing touches to get Catalyst ready to go,” she added, referring to the 52-foot sailboat on which she and a support team of five will live during the expedition. The first day of the journey, called Swim California, will be relatively relaxed — at least by Breed’s standards. She plans to enter the water at 6:15 a.m. from a beach in Crissey Field State Park, near Brookings, Ore., right at California’s northern border. She wants to cover six to eight miles in two to four hours on Wednesday morning before strong winds pick up later in the day. If the rest of her epic swim goes as planned, she’ll average roughly 10 miles a day, with periodic off days for rest or storms, and reach the waters at the California-Mexico border near Tijuana in September or October. Whenever Breed is in the water, a small inflatable boat will shadow her, so that an observer for the World Open Water Swimming Association can document her swim and a safety scanner can watch for dangerous sea life. Her progress can be followed on a live tracker that will show her location throughout the swim, and she will come ashore for public events at roughly a dozen spots to raise money and awareness of marine conservation issues. To learn more about Breed and her swim, read the full profile here.
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