Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

After a slew of attempts and two successful solo swims by Stuart Evans and Ted Erikson from the Farallones Islands to the California mainland in the 1960’s, the open water swimming community generally shifted their interests from the shark-filled, cold, rough waters west of San Francisco to other venues for four decades.

Now, this June, there is renewed interest in this treacherous, desolate body of water – and a planned solo swim in early June by Karen Rogers and a relay attempt around June 19th by the Phil Cutti, Vito Bialla, Joe Locke, Matt Davie, Michelle Deasy and Paul Lundgren.

Rogers, Cutti, Bialla, Locke, Davie and Deasy will all follow the traditional channel swimming rules (i.e., no wetsuits or neoprene swim caps) as they brave strong currents, 55-55°F water (10-13°C) across the 30 miles of the Pacific Ocean.

Bialla refers to ever-present Great White Sharks present in this area as ‘wildlife’ – a term that speaks of the confidence and caution that everyone has.

On or around June 19th, fans can track their relay attempt via Windfinder technology here.

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