Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Dan Simonelli has been helping others achieve their own dreams in the open water for years, from Catalina to Cuba.

Today, he took matters into his own hands and became the swimmer in question. Guided by Kevin Eslinger, an old-school paddler, and greeted by a whale and dolphin en route to the California mainland, Simonelli completed his first solo Catalina Channel crossing in 10 hours 15 minutes.

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