John York (64, USA, MSF bio here) of Manhattan Beach, California has an enviable record of channel swimming – but he certainly put in the time and effort to accomplish numerous fast channel crossings over the course of his prolific career.
At the start of the Dwight Crum Pier-to-Pier Swim in Hermosa Beach, he spoke of his legendary ocean workouts from Seal Beach to Manhattan Beach with the pioneering Orca Marathon Swim Club [see video above].
- In September 1976, he crossed the 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Santa Catalina Island to the Southern California mainland in 8 hours 49 minutes at the age of 15.
- In October 1977, he crossed the Catalina Channel in 8 hours 41 minutes, again at the age of 16.
- In 1977, he failed with only a hundred yards to go in a two-way 64 km 19 hour 30 minute crossing of the Catalina Channel.
- In September 1978, he completed a two-way crossing of the Catalina Channel in 16 hours 42 minutes at the age of 17. His first leg was 7 hours 41 minutes – one of the fastest times in history; his second leg was 9 hours 0 minutes at the age of 18
- In August 1984, he won the First International Open Ocean Swim, a 41.09 km Catalina Channel crossing from Isthmus Beach of Santa Catalina Island to Cabrillo Beach on the Southern California mainland in 8 hours 54 minutes at the age of 23 as a showcase to IOC and FINA members to start considering marathon swimming as an Olympic event.
- In September 1988, he crossed the 33.5 km English Channel from England to France in 8 hours 52 minutes at the age of 28.
- In October 2000, he crossed the Catalina Channel in 8 hours 42 minutes at the age of 39.
- He managed the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation for many years, together with Dale Petranech, Linda Bamford, Paula Selby, David Clark, Carol Sing and Penny Dean. To this day, he raises money for the Dottie York Scholarship Fund to help financially support deserving channel swimmers.
- He assists and observers numerous Catalina Channel crossings including that of Team Tripod.
- He served as the assistant coach of the record-setting English Channel relay of Jay Wilkerson, Chad Hundeby, Martha Jahn, Karen Burton, Sid Cassidy, and Dirk Bouma that set three English Channel relay records that stand to this day: 6 hours 52 minutes on their first leg (England-to-France), 7 hours 26 minutes on their second leg (France-to-England), and the fastest overall and fastest 2-way relay (England-to-France-to-England) in 14 hours 18 minutes in 1990.
- He was a member of the ATI Team 2, a 6-person team that completed a 64.6 km circumnavigation swim relay around Santa Catalina Island in September 2018 in 41 hours 54 minutes 45 seconds together with John Blair, Ivanka Gavanski, Robin Hipolito, Mina Elnaccash, and Amber Baker.
- In August 2021, he was a member of the Laughing Dolphins relay across the Catalina Channel in 10 hours 54 minutes 26 seconds with Maiken Pardon, Grace O’Connell, Katie Stone, Dylan Davidoff, and Melissa Brill.
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