Oldest person to complete a two-way crossing of the Catalina Channel (male)

The oldest male – and person overall – to complete a two-way crossing of the Catalina Channel is Antonio Argüelles Díaz-González (Mexico, b. 15 April 1959), who was aged 60 years 134 days on finishing the swim that took place on 26–27 August 2019. The double crossing from the mainland to Catalina Island and back again took 24 hours 17 minutes 49 seconds, and on reaching the mainland Argüelles became just the 11th person to have successfully performed this feat. The record was verified by the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation.

The Catalina Channel is a 20.2-mile-wide (32.3-km) stretch of water between Santa Catalina Island and the mainland in southern California, USA. It is one of the Oceans Seven, the open-water swimming community's equivalent of mountaineering's Seven Summits, overseen by the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA). The other six waterways that make up the challenge are: the North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland, UK; the Cook Strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand; the Molokai Channel between Oahu and Molokai Islands in Hawaii, USA; the English Channel between England and France; the Tsugaru Channel between the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan; and the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain (Europe) and Morocco (Africa).

Argüelles is also the oldest male to have completed the Oceans Seven, aged 58 years 110 days when he successfully finished his seventh crossing (the North Channel) on 3 August 2017.

The oldest female to complete a two-way crossing of the Catalina Channel is Courtney Paulk (USA, b. 5 November 1969), aged 47 years 339 days at the end of her 33-hr 13-min swim which took place on 10–12 October 2017.