Marathon swimmer Catherine Breed set a new unofficial record for long-distance swimming in Lake Tahoe after swimming 60.91 miles around the circumference of the lake over consecutive days.
Breed followed the Lake Tahoe Water Trail, a multi-day route around the lake that is mainly used by kayakers and stand-up paddle boarders, to become the first person to swim the circumference of Lake Tahoe over consecutive days.
Her journey around the lake took her five days to complete, setting out on Wednesday, July 16 and finishing up her final swim on the night of Monday, July 21.
Breed’s record-setting swim is likely to remain unratified, as there is no clear route around the lake with which to accurately judge time and compare results.
A 32-year-old marathon swimmer from Mill Valley, California, Breed already holds multiple records for swimming in large, open bodies of water.
Breed divided the feat at Lake Tahoe into multiple segments to be completed over sequential days, making stops at Sunnyside, Rubicon Bay, Baldwin Beach, Cave Rock and Sand Harbor along the way. Despite scheduling her swims to be early in the morning or late at night, Breed had to contend with wind, choppy waters, watercraft and even the occasional water plane landing.
Following the rules of marathon swimming, Breed wore a normal swimsuit with no wetsuit and did not touch any of the boats or kayaks used by people supporting her swim.
On the final day of her endeavor, Breed swam 12.5 miles along the North Shore to get back to the beach at Skylandia Park, battling a lake wind advisory and rough waters along the way. When she finally emerged from the water at Skylandia Park after her final swim, she celebrated with her boyfriend by cracking open a beer.
Breed and her boyfriend work as ski patrollers at Palisades Tahoe, a ski resort in California, and several of her coworkers from the ski patrol came to support her throughout the swim by paddling alongside her or offering meals and places to sleep.
Other individuals have been known to swim portions of the Lake Tahoe Water Trail or to complete the full swim over a longer period of time with days off. Breed is the only person confirmed to have swum the complete distance over consecutive days.
A lifelong swimmer, Breed attended UC Berkeley from 2011-2015, where she swam for the Golden Bears all four years. She wrapped up her collegiate career ranked among Cal’s all-time top 10 in the 500 free, 1000 free and 1650 free.
Breed took up marathon swimming after college; she set a record for swimming the length of Lake Tahoe in 2017, following the 21.3-mile course that runs south to north. She also became the first person to swim from the Golden Gate Bridge to Half Moon Bay in 2022.
Breed’s recent journey around Tahoe is a stepping stone towards an even bigger feat: she plans to attempt a 900-mile swim along the entire California coast, from Oregon to Mexico, which she will start next summer.
Lake Tahoe is gorgeous, the water, and surroundings.
The views must have been amazing!
Well done Catherine. That is an impressive feat. I noticed there is a no wetsuit rule for open water records.
The Pacific Ocean is notoriously colder than the Atlantic. Are there allowances for water temperature? My recollection is that Northern California currents top out in the upper 50s.
I wish you all the best.
An exciting version of swimming and viable spectator sport!