Record time swimming Monterey Bay

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wnissen

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Location
Livermore, Calif.
# of dives
100 - 199
I was incredibly impressed by this swim across all 40 km / 25 miles of Monterey Bay. Doubly so as it looks like her only exposure protection was a swimsuit and zinc/titanium sunblock cream! I guess if you're averaging 3 kph / 2 mph you stay warm enough.
Last week, Amador Valley High School graduate Catherine Breed became one of just six people to swim alone across Monterey Bay, wearing just a swim cap and goggles.

She braved the dark night, chilly Pacific Ocean waters, whale feces, bioluminescence and dozens of jellyfish stings before stumbling onto the shores of San Carlos Beach in Monterey on the heels of a likely record-setting swim that took 12 hours, 42 minutes and 14 seconds to complete the 25-mile course, according to the Monterey Bay Swimming Association. The swim time is pending ratification, the association said.
 
We saw her arrive at San Carlos Beach, last week. Apparently, much of that white material was some analgesic cream for all of the jellyfish stings she incurred over twelve-plus hours.

Yikes . . .
 
Kudos and congratulations and all that to her. Quite the impressive feat! However, I have seen a sufficient number of large White Sharks in Monterey Bay to not have that particular activity on my bucket list. That's one brave girl!
 
We saw her arrive at San Carlos Beach, last week. Apparently, much of that white material was some analgesic cream for all of the jellyfish stings she incurred over twelve-plus hours . . .
Wow, that's really neat! I was under the impression that a skinsuit would protect against jellies, though she might not have been able to tolerate the drag. It seems like there aren't always jellyfish around, maybe a different time would have been better. Though we're getting into the season when you could have windy conditions almost any time, so maybe there was pressure to do it before the water got colder and storms more frequent.
Kudos and congratulations and all that to her. Quite the umpressive feat! However, I have seen a sufficient number of large White Sharks in Monterey Bay to not have that particular activity on my bucket list. That's one brave girl!
Yep, certainly something that would be in the back of your mind. I'm going to have to think twice the next time I complain about a surface swim at San Carlos Beach.
 
I was incredibly impressed by this swim across all 40 km / 25 miles of Monterey Bay. Doubly so as it looks like her only exposure protection was a swimsuit and zinc/titanium sunblock cream! I guess if you're averaging 3 kph / 2 mph you stay warm enough.

I don't stay "warm enough" averaging 4 km/h in a YMCA pool over 90 minutes or so. 13 hours in way colder water: you are getting hypothermic no matter what.
 
40km....good gravy that’s a haul. Makes my 3km swim yesterday in the Red Sea look like a toddler splashing about in the baby pool. I’d be interested how she fueled and hydrated.
 
40km....good gravy that’s a haul. Makes my 3km swim yesterday in the Red Sea look like a toddler splashing about in the baby pool. I’d be interested how she fueled and hydrated.
Yeah, I admit to getting really bored in the pool after a single kilometer. I hope she had good snacks! One calorie calculator said it was 6,000 calories, but I assume with the cold water she was using much more than that. Some of the pages I've seen suggest that you only have about 2 hours being sedentary in Monterey waters before you'd become unconscious!
 
During my last 50K trail race I burned 3,604 calories so I imagine 6,000 was the upper limit. I have to think she had a support boat or kayak. If she towed a swim buoy with her fuel and water on board, that would be truly tough - a self-supported 40km swim is over the top tough.
 
During my last 50K trail race I burned 3,604 calories so I imagine 6,000 was the upper limit. I have to think she had a support boat or kayak. If she towed a swim buoy with her fuel and water on board, that would be truly tough - a self-supported 40km swim is over the top tough.
She was going for the absolute record, so she had a six-person crew, which she discusses on her blog:
https://beyondtheblackline.com/blog/f/monterey-bay
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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