Oldest person to swim the Catalina Channel (female)

The oldest woman to swim between Santa Catalina Island and the California mainland, USA, is Carol Schumacher Hayden (USA, b. 30 July 1950), who was aged 66 years 59 days on 27 September 2016. She completed the crossing in 15 hours 2 minutes 41 seconds, piloted by Greg Elliot on board Bottom Scratcher. 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 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).

The oldest person overall to swim the Catalina Channel is Pat Marzulli (USA, b. 13 November 1948), who was aged 69 years 312 days when he completed the swim on 21 September 2018.

The youngest person to swim the Catalina Channel is Andy Taylor (USA, b. 8 April 1959), aged 12 years 128 days on 14 August 1971; note that under-14s are no longer sanctioned to attempt the crossing for safety reasons.