iStockphoto / Alessandro De Maddalena
A long distance swimmer in California required medical rescuing overnight after being attacked by what was assumed to be a white shark during a swim from Catalina Island to the mainland.
The Catalina Island channel is a world renowned spot for long distance swimmers. It is about 20 miles from Catalina to mainland California and the crossing, known as the Catalina Channel, is part of the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming which includes the Catalina Channel, the English Channel between England and France, and the ’20 Bridges Swim’ which is a complete circumnavigation of Manhattan (30.1 miles).
Great White Shark Attack Off Catalina Island, California
The unidentified swimmer is believed to be between 50-55 years old. And the shark attack occurred approximately 12 miles off Catalina Island at around 1:30 AM.
While shark attacks are exceedingly rare in this area and everywhere for that matter, chances only go up at night when visibility is low and sharks are unable to see what is disturbing the water. Furthermore, this is an area well that is known to great white sharks. So going for a 20-mile swim in the middle of the night would be inadvisable to most people.
According to a report from KTLA 5 in Los Angeles, LAFD Fireboat Pilot Shaun Corby says “it sounded like about a three to four-foot white shark just nipped at his leg and his foot and then took off.”
The swimmer had a pace boat with him and was thankfully not attempting the 20-mile swim from Catalina Island to the mainland solo. Once the pace boat realized a shark attack had occurred, they called in the incident and pulled the swimmer out of the water.
LAFD Fireboat Pilot Shaun Corby added the unidentified swimmer “had minor wounds to his leg, and they were already wrapped up.” He went on to say “we just grabbed the victim and transported him back to our station, and transported him to the hospital.”
Why swim that Catalina Channel at night?
It is natural to wonder why someone, anyone, would swim the 20-mile distance from Catalina to the California mainland in the middle of the night. There are several reasons, none of them particularly good.
While sunlight would offer visibility in the water the lack of sunlight could also offer some protection from the sun and fatigue to a swimmer.
It is also a very long swim, obviously. The Mainland to Catalina Island record was set by Penny Lee Dean in 1976 at 07:15:55. Grace van der Byl holds the Catalina Island to Mainland record at 07:27:25, a record set in 2012. These are the FASTEST times ever swam between Catalina and the Mainland so if you wanted to time it to arrive at sunrise or shortly thereafter then leaving in the middle of the night is your only option.
Furthermore, anyone attempting a 20-mile swim is an endurance athlete and in IronMan races the swim always comes first. Those races typically start at daybreak or close to it. Training close to racing conditions is always best so attempting endurance swims in the middle of the night could be part of a training regimen.
Furthermore, endurance athletes only have so many hours in the day. You cannot cut corners when training for triathlons, you either put in the miles or you fail on race day. So yes, there are several reasons to swim the Catalina Island channel at night but again, when the risk of a shark attack is higher I cannot fathom how the benefits outweigh the risks here.