American James Crabb from Midlothian, Virginia set a new standard for the 27 km Mayan Channel Swim (@mayanchannelswim), forging his way across a consistently turbulent Cozumel Channel between the coast of Playa del Carmen and Isla Cozumel off the eastern coast of Mexico on June 1st.

Crabb was relentless across the beautiful stretch of water, colorful in its sea greens and azul tones.

The emerging channel crossing is organized by Mexican marathon swimmers Orlando Iván Mejía Tronco (shown on left below) and Juan Fernando Urrutia Valencia (Mexico, 47, MSF bio here, shown on right below). Their recommendation: “Know it, respect it, master it.” But they also state, “In the case of the crossing from Cozumel to Riviera Maya, swimming speed is essential. Despite the fact that we always avoid the hours of maximum current, we cannot prevent a certain intensity of drift during the crossing, depending on the tidal coefficients, so we advise maintaining at least 3.5 km per hour for several hours.”

Crabb was able to maintain a pace of 5.12 km per hour.

For more information in English, visit here. For more information in Spanish, visit here.

Swimmers can register for the following categories:

• solo 27 km crossing
• 2-person duo 27 km tandem crossing
• 3-person trio 27 km tandem crossing
• 4-person quad 27 km tandem crossing
• 2-, 3- or 4-person relay 27 km crossing
• relay pair 27 km crossing (maximum of 3 duos)
• solo 54 km two-way crossing
• duo or trio or quad 54 km two-way crossing
• 2-, 3- or 4-person relay 54 km two-way crossing
• 2-, 3- or 4-person relay pair 54 km two-way crossing

2025 Mayan Channel Swimmers

• María Pérez, 28, Mexico on 12 March 2025 in 6 hours 45 minutes
• John Smith, 34, Mexico on 12 March 2025 in 7 hours 10 minutes
• Laura Gómez, 31, Spain, 31 on 13 March 2025 in 7 hours 20 minutes
• Carlos López, 40, Mexico on 13 March 2025 in 7 hours 45 minutes
• Ana Torres, 35, France on 14 March 2025 in 8 hours 0 minutes

The Riviera Maya is an incredible stretch of Caribbean coastline on Mexico’s northeastern Yucatán Peninsula, known for its numerous all-inclusive resorts, long beaches, and beautiful tropical waters.

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