Catherine Breed is trailed by a member of her team as she swims off the coast of Los Angeles, Oct. 5, 2026. Breed, who began on July 1 at the California-Oregon border, completed the roughly 890-mile swim of California's coast on Monday morning, stopping about two miles offshore from Tijuana at the California-Mexico border. (Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times)
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Catherine Breed was in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, about three days away from becoming the first person ever to swim the entire California coastline, when the captain of her support boat spotted a mako shark roughly 100 yards away.
Mako sharks are considered the fastest sharks in the ocean. But what would have been a terrifying moment for most people hardly fazed Breed, an endurance athlete who had already encountered hundreds of other sea creatures, powerful storms and unpredictable currents since her ocean odyssey began at the California-Oregon border on July 1.
Breed called the shark sightings “a small part of the journey.” Still, her crew took no chances. “I think within like 10 seconds of me seeing the shark, she was on the boat,” said the captain, Maisie Bristow.
Breed completed the roughly 890-mile voyage on Monday morning, stopping about 2 miles offshore from Tijuana at the California-Mexico border. She celebrated her historic feat with a small group of friends and crew members aboard the 52-foot sailboat that has been her floating home throughout the expedition, called Swim California.
“It feels surreal being done, this has been my entire life for nearly four months,” Breed, 33, said in a text message shortly after finishing.
Averaged Nine Miles a Day
The entire expedition took over 100 days, with scheduled rest days and dangerous weather keeping Breed out of the water for 18 of those days. She averaged more than 9 miles on the days that she swam.
Near the north coast of California, she swam in water that was 48 degrees Fahrenheit. Near the end of the swim, the water reached 75 degrees, though Breed still wore a wet suit for sun protection.
About a week before reaching the finish line, Hurricane Rachel swept toward Southern California. Breed rested the day the hurricane hit and was back in the water the next day.
“She is an incredible athlete with just incredible mental determination,” said Quinn Fitzgerald, the executive director of the World Open Water Swimming Association, or WOWSA, which is ratifying Breed’s swim.
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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
By Nick Romeo/Gabriela Bhaskar
c.2026 The New York Times Company
