Meet the California woman swimming from Oregon to Mexico in astonishing feat

Wild ocean swells have been ripping and rolling along the coast of California all week — but it won’t stop this super swimmer.

Catherine Breed is a 33-year-old Californian swimmer and ocean conservation advocate, and is undertaking a mega swim that covers a 900 mile stretch along the Pacific Ocean coast, all the way from the Oregon border to Mexico.

To this date, she has covered 227 of these miles, with she and her team being currently just past Point Arena in southern Mendocino County.

If she succeeds, she will be the first person in history to swim the entirety of the California coast. 

Breed started the north-to-south journey on July 1, with an estimated completion time of three to four months (according to her Swim California website, which is documenting the project while also detailing the mission of her ocean conservation-focused nonprofit, Sea Dreamers).

It can also be seen on a YouTube livestream through Allez! Sports and Zero Six Zero.

“We have to protect this place,” reads a post written by Breed on the site referring to the ocean where she spends so much of her time, and the call to action she hopes to promote by undertaking this challenge. “There are many ways to conserve what we love: through action, education and inclusion…[We’re] all in this together and there are so many ways we can contribute.”

The Pleasanton local, who once represented U.C. Berkley while specializing in middle and distance freestyle and the U.S. National Team for USA Swimming, later pivoting to focusing on open-water endurance and setting records by swimming across Lake Tahoe, Monterey Bay and the English Channel, is certainly focusing on action when it comes to her Swim California challenge. 

According to ABC7 Bay Area, Breed is being accompanied on her swim — which has been three years in the making in terms of planning — by a 52-foot Beneteau sailboat, which serves as the primary support vessel. She is in the water five hours each day, covering 10 to 15 miles per swim, wearing a wetsuit to protect herself from the elements and ocean wildlife.

Prior to embarking on the ambitious odyssey, which will cover portions of the Lost Coast and Big Sur regions, she told the outlet that she estimated her biggest challenges would be weather-related, including high winds and choppy waters — rather than sharks.

“I actually think that’s very low on our list,” Breed told ABC7 Bay Area, referring to potential dangers (or lack therof) posed by the apex predator.

Ultimately, Breed hopes to inspire everyday people to playing a more active role in conserving the ocean through her efforts.

“The bigger reason, the why that’s greater than myself, is to tell a story of the coast, to raise awareness for the people, places, the problems, ocean conservation issues happening in our very own backyard,” said Breed.

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