Hank Wise

48-year-old Hank Wise from Huntington Beach, California with 3 Top 10 crossings and 7 career crossings in the Catalina Channel. Photo by Peter Knapp on 5 November 2016. He is scheduled to attempt his 8th career crossing at the end of October 2021

Hank Wise's Catalina Channel 7th career crossing in 2018 was nominated for the 2018 World Open Water Swimming Performance of the Year by the World Open Water Swimming Association

Team Poseidon and Team Neptune on 21 September 2019 before crossing the 32.3 km Catalina Channel, coached by Hank Wise

Hank Wise, Head Coach of Swim Focus and Rocket Fish

Hank Wise, nicknamed the Catalinator clearing the water on the California mainland after a Catalina Channel crossing

Hank Wise (born December 1967) is an American pool and open water swimmer, waterman, surfer, coach, and reigning King of the Catalina Channel from Long Beach, California, U.S.A. He sails, dives, paddles, kayaks, rows, body surfs and teaches in and about the waterways of Naples Island. He is married to celebrated artist Kristin Moro.

Open Water Swimming Highlights

• He is among the fastest five Catalina Channel swimmers of all time.
• He has swam and surfed throughout California, Mexico, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Fiji, Italy, Greece, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Tahiti.
• He placed 1st in his age group and 11th overall in the 3-mile Naples Island Swim in 2021
• He won the Aquatic Capital of America Dick Miller Waterman of the Year award twice.
• He won the 2018 Aquatic Capital of America Athlete of the Year award.
• He was instrumental in developing the Killer Bees at the Long Beach Yacht Club, Swim Focus, Rocket Fish, Beach Swim Club Masters and the Sea Monkeys at the local level.
• Wise currently coaches at SWIM Long Beach at the new Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach, California.
• He coached two 32.3 km tandem relays across the Catalina Channel from Santa Catalina Island to the Southern California mainland on 21-22 September 2019 in 9 hours 54 minutes and 9 hours 55 minutes with Team Neptune and Team Poseidon.
• He graduated from and swam for Long Beach Wilson High School (1990) and Stanford University (1994).
• He won at the Junior Olympics, CIF (Southern California division), USA Swimming Junior National Championships, U.S. Olympic Committee National Sports Festival, and was a USA Swimming Olympic Trials qualifier (1988) as well was a member of the NCAA Championship-winning Stanford Swim Team of 1986.
• He was the long-time record holder of the Huntington Beach Pier Swim in Huntington Beach, California (for 21 years)
• On 24 June 2016, he won the 4-mile ocean swim at the 48th Annual Seal Beach Rough Water Swim in Seal Beach, California.
• He was the paddler for Craig Dietz, the Limbless Waterman, during the 2012 Swim Across America event in Long Beach, California.
• On 4 October 2010, he crossed the 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Santa Catalina Island to the Southern California mainland in 8 hours 6 minutes 4 seconds at the age of 42.
• On 16 June 2015, he crossed the 32.3 km Catalina Channel from the Southern California mainland to Santa Catalina Island in 8 hours 6 minutes 46 minutes at the age of 46.
• In October 2011, he was part of the Long Beach Swim Focus Catalina Relay that set the overall Catalina Channel record of 6 hours 54 minutes 4 seconds.
• On 25 October 2015, he crossed the 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Santa Catalina Island to the Southern California mainland in 10 hours 56 minutes 44 minutes at the age of 46.
• On 9 October 2016, he crossed the Anacapa Channel from Anacapa Island to the mainland in 4 hours 56 minutes 54 seconds for the second fastest crossing in history at the age of 48.
• On 5 November 2016, he crossed the 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Santa Catalina Island to the Southern California mainland in 8 hours 20 minutes 10 seconds at the age of 48.
• On 26 October 2017, he crossed the 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Santa Catalina Island to the Southern California mainland in 10 hours 14 minutes at the age of 49 under the escort of pilot Greg Wise, his older brother, and Dan Simonelli and Chris Geer as CCSF observers.
• On 11 November 2017, he crossed the 32.3 km Catalina Channel from the Southern California mainland to Santa Catalina Island in 10 hours 1 minute at the age of 49 under the escort of pilot Bob Little to join John York and Samuel Neri as King of the Catalina Channel.
• He aimed to complete the inaugural Sea Monkey Challenge, a year-round program to swim in Seal Beach, California initiated by the Sea Monkeys, a pod of ocean swimmers who train and compete up and down the Southern California coast and many places around the world.
• On 14 October 2018, he crossed the 32.3 km Catalina Channel from Santa Catalina Island to the Southern California mainland in 7 hours 55 minutes 6 seconds at the age of 50 to set two Catalina Channel records: the most crossings by an individual and the fastest CM time by a male.
• On 8 June 2019, he finished 4th in the Huntington Beach Pier Swim in Huntington Beach, California in 9:34 at the age of 51.

Fastest Catalina Channel Crossings in History

1. 7:15 by Penny Lee Dean, USA, MC in September 1976
2. 7:26 by Grace van der Byl, USA, CM in October 2012
4. 7:46 by Pete Huisveld, USA, MC in August 1992
4. 7:41 by John York, USA, MC in September 1978 (first leg of a 2-way)
5. 7:44 by Karen Burton, USA, CM in October 1994
6. 7:55 by Hank Wise, USA, CM in October 2018
6. 8:05 by Todd Robinson, USA, CM in August 2009
8. 8:06:04 by Hank Wise, USA, CM in October 2010
9. 8:06:46 by Hank Wise, USA, MC in June 2015
10. 8:14 by Chad Hundeby, USA, CM in September 1994
11. 8:20 by Gemma Jensen, Australia, CM in August 2006
12. 8:26 by Jim McConica, USA, CM in October 1984
14. 8:28 by Rendy Lynn Opdycke, USA, CM in August 2008
14. 8:41 by John York, USA, MC in October 1966
15. 8:42 by John York, USA, CM in October 2000

Team Poseidon and Team Neptune

Wise coached Team Poseidon and Team Neptune on 20-21 September 2019 on a successful crossing of the 32.3 km Catalina Channel in a time of 9 hours 54 minutes and 9 hours 55 minutes.

WOWSA Live Interview

with Hank Wise, Lyle Nalli, Ted Bramble and Benjamin Landis

External links

• Hank Wise Experiences Eudaimonia on Dryland and In The Ocean
• Pet, Don't Punch...At Least With Lemon Sharks
• What Should A Swimmer Do In A Dolphin Stampede?
• Solo versus Relay Records in the Channels
• Hank Wise Dunkin' Donuts Along The California Coast
• Are You Tough? Really Really Tough? Check Out History's Tough Swimming Workouts
• Ryan Bullock, Kathleen Hohwald Win 3-mile Naples Island Swim In Long Beach
• When The Speedos Come Off, Ted Bramble Gets Creative
• Long Beach Swim Focus Catalina Relay On WOWSA Live
• Shooting The Gap and Other Open Water Swimming Moves
• Hank Wise To Be Honored By Iconix Fitness
• Catalina Channel Crossing 006
• Hank Wise In The Winners Circle
• Cameron Castro vs. Jude Williams Rivalry Continues In Huntington Beach
• Antonio Argüelles Readies For A Double With A Two-Way
• 7-Up: Hank Wise vs. Samuel Neri Across The Catalina Channel
• 2018 World Open Water Swimming Performance Of The Year Nominees
• The Colors Of Catalina Crossings
• Teamwork Makes The Dream Work: Neptune & Poseidon
• The Sea Monkey Challenge Is A Year-round Commitment
• Hank Wise Dips His Toes In Many Pools
• Hank Wise In Catalina
• Swim Focus Website
• Kristin Moro
• Open Water Swimming
• Catalina Channel Record Swim
• A Wiseman's Victory At Sea
• USMS Features Catalina Channel Relay Record
• Records in Catalina Channel vs. English Channel
• The Joy and Exultation of Open Water Swimming
• Dynamic Duo Croons Carols
• Nicknames In The Open Water Swimming World
• Shark Encounters Of The Strangest Kind
• /Insta-Bros Is How It Goes
• Magical, Instantaneous Camaraderie - Insta-Bros
• Channeling Dolphins In The Oceans
• Summer Surfing In The Swim
• Paul Reusch Has A Bark And A Bite
• Heading Around Huntington Beach
• Swimming In Surf City
• 64th Annual Huntington Beach Pier Swim
• World Open Water Swimming Association
• Kids Heading Out To Sea
• Tough As Nails Across The Catalina Channel
• Catalina Channel Swimming Federation
• Sea Monkeys Hang Around Seal Beach Pier
• Swim Long Beach Have Serious Fun
• What Are Swimmers Known As?
• Catalina Channel vs English Channel, Which Is Faster?
• Competitive Awareness In The Open Water
• More 65-Year-Olds To Do The 65th
• Wise Words In The Water
• Rocking And Rolling To Clear The Water
• Return to the Black Velvet Under Bright Planets
• World Open Water Swimming Association
• Hank Wisely Goes Old School
• Inequality In The Open Water, Part 1
• World Open Water Swimming Association
• Marathon Swimming
• Olympic 10K Marathon Swimming
• Habits And Idiosyncrasies Of Open Water Swimmers
• Be Wise In The Open Water
• Karen Burton Reeder, Flying High In The Open Water
• Hank Wise Back With Fox Across Catalina Again
• A Wise Man's Approach To Crossing Catalina
• A Wise Choice For 2016 Waterman Of The Year
• Hank Wise, Abigail Bergman Win Seal Beach 4 Miler
• Marathon Swimmers Federation bio
• Kings Of The Catalina Channel
• Will Hank Wise Go Six For Six?
• Hank Wise Gets His Six Pack
• Swimming With Dolphins
• Hank Wise Honored By The Aquatic Capital Of America
• Living The Dream In The Open Water
• 006, A Wise Man
• Marathon Swimmers Federation bio