- Who
- John York
- What
- 17:349 year(s):day(s)
- Where
- United States ()
- When
The youngest male – and person overall – to complete a two-way crossing of the Catalina Channel in California, USA, is John York (USA, b. 7 October 1960), who was aged 17 years 349 days when he completed the swim on 21 September 1978. The double crossing from the mainland to Catalina Island and back again took just 16 hours 42 minutes. 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 youngest female to complete the Catalina double crossing is Cindy Cleveland (USA, b. 9 July 1955), aged 22 years 89 days on completing the swim which took place on 5-6 October 1977.
The oldest person 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 when he completed the swim, which took place on 26-27 August 2019.
