Jesus Samuel Neri Gutiérrez (62, Mexico, MSF bio here, @triton_mexicano) and Hank WIse (58, USA, MSF bio here, @dolphin_boy) are now all tied up in their career Catalina Channel crossings – 10 each.

Yet again, they share the title of the King of the Catalina Channel – and we are convinced there are more Catalina Channel crossings in both of their futures.

Today setting off from Doctor’s Cove on Santa Catalina Island at 3:09 am, Wise brought along a protégé and SWIM Long Beach teammate Brandon Samaniego. They swam stroke-for-stroke and finally crawled up the rocks on Palos Verdes Peninsula after 9 hours 22 minutes.

Wise recalls his long day on the Pacific Ocean, “Hiking up to our cabin on Catalina Island yesterday at 6 pm after dinner was quite a mission, but it was cool to have a place to sleep on the island for a few hours.  We woke up at 12:30 am and met the boat at 1 am, motored up to Doctor’s Cove and prepped from there.

The wind was helpful and blustery off the start and the waves were coming from many directions.

On the other hand during the night hours, the skies were clear and we could see Orion’s belt above us.

Below us, the phosphorescence was putting on a light show underwater – it was particularly bright near Catalina.

There were small strands of jellyfish parts that would sting and go away over time.

After about three hours, Brandon‘s feeds were not reacting well with him. He started throwing up and having a hard time for the next hour and a half. Since his feeds were making him sick, I suggested that he just drink water and eat familiar items. He did that and worked out quite nicely for the rest of the Swim. He bounced back – it was a strong bounce back.

Once he was stabilized and we were back on track, we just began to click the miles off at a reasonable pace with good swell direction and relatively good wind direction. These two elements really helped us get to the other side.

Our kayaker, Adam Luco (@adamluco), was super helpful, straight line drawing and easy-going as a paddler.  He’s just a great guy who’s super smart, energetic, and in love with swimming.

During the daytime, we saw many small jellyfish about 2 meters under us; however, I only saw four fish the whole entire crossing except during our landing in Terranea. There, we saw scattered Garibaldi.

The water temperature was warm the whole time: 22-23°C. It is just such a nice summer for swimming.“

Support team included Adam Luco, Samantha Rollins, Elaine Van Vleck, Jon McMullen, Darrin Wolfgang Perrin. and Captain Max.

Catalina Crossings of Hank Wise, Co-King of the Catalina Channel

1. October 2010, age 42: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Santa Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 8:07:03
2. June 2015, age 47: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from the Palos Verdes Peninsula to Santa Catalina Island in 8:07:37
3. October 2015, age 47: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 10:56:44 at the age of 47.
4. November 2016, age 48: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 8:20:10 at the age of 48.
5. October 2017, age 49: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 10:14:00 at the age of 49.
6. November 2017, age 49: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 10:01:52 at the age of 49.
7. October 2018, age 50: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 7:55:06
8. September 2025, age 57: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Palos Verdes Peninsula to Catalina Island on Arrow Point in 8:07.53
9. August 2026, age 58: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Arrow Point on Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 9:38:35
10. September 2026, age 58: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Doctor’s Cove on Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 9:22:15

Catalina Crossings of Samuel Neri, Co-King of the Catalina Channel

1. September 2011, age 46: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 13 hours 44 minutes
2. July 2013, age 48: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 12 hours 16 minutes
3. October 2014, age 49: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Southern California mainland to Catalina Island in 17 hours 32 minutes
4. October 2015, age 50: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 11 hours 55 minutes
5. October 2016, age 51: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 11 hours 50 minutes
6. June 2017, age 52: 32.3 km crossing of the Catalina Channel from Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 14 hours 40 minutes
7. November 2019, age 55: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 13 hours 7 minutes
8. June 2023, age 59: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 15 hours 17 minutes.
9. November 2025, age 61: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Catalina Island to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 15 hours 27 minutes
10. September 2026, age 62: 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Palos Verdes Peninsula to Catalina Island in 17 hours 46 minutes

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