Santa Cruz Channel
The Santa Cruz Channel is between Santa Cruz Island, the largest of the California Channel Islands and the California mainland. For marathon swimmers, it has two potential swim courses: 19 miles (30.5 km) from San Pedro Point to Silver Strand Beach in Oxnard, or 23.5 miles (37.8 km) from Fry's Harbor to Leadbetter Point in Santa Barbara for marathon swimmers. It is one of the World's Top 100 Island Swims.
Marathon Swimmming Courses
The Oxnard route was first conquered by David Yudovin in 1983 (15:15), and the record is held by Evan Morrison (9:47 in 2006). The Santa Barbara route was first conquered by Ashby Harper in 1984 (16:24) with the current record held by Rendy Lynn Opdycke (10:51 in 2007). In total, there have been eight successful crossings from Santa Cruz Island.
Governance
Channel swims across the Santa Cruz Channel are governed and organized by the Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association (SBCSA) that supports and sanctions open water swims to, from, and between 7 of the 8 California Channel Islands in the Santa Barbara Channel, off the coast of Southern California, USA. The 8th Channel Island, Santa Catalina Island, has a separate governing body, the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation. It oversees the Southern California Eight.
