Turning dreams into reality: Catalina channel relay swim
Dr Guruprasad Bhat works as a medical oncologist from Kanachur institute of medical science Mangaluru, who recently completed the 13-hour Catalina swimming relay in California, USA. This 6 member team included Tanvi Deore (who has completed 34km English channel swim -solo in 17 hours onJuly 29th,2024), Divya Hitendra Mahanjan (one of the youngest Indian to complete Catalina channel solo swim of 20 miles at the age of 15 years), Deepika Rana ( a helicopter pilot and national level swimmer from Haryana), Rounak Siddaiah ( an IT professional from Bangalore working in San Francisco) and Deepak Bhosale ( a 63 year old spirited veteran swimmer from Nashik). The team was rightly named: Dreams to live- channel chasers. This team successfully completed a single crossing of Catalina channel on September 9th 2025, with the help of Kevin bell- the navigator and support crew of charter vessel-bottom scratcher. This team was coached by Srikaanth Viswanathan who is triple crowner (solo swim of English Channel, solo swim of Catalina channel swim and solo swim of Manhattan 20 bridge-48.5km swim) and Tenzing Norgay national awardee.
My past swimming experience:
Open water ocean swim has always been challenging for me. Had drowned and was rescued in the pool at age of 12, and the fear of water was always there. So, when my son started going for his swimming class I joined him, to remove my fear. This happened 3 years ago when I joined the Alloysius swimming pool at the age of 40 years. Crossing this 50-meter pool, end-to-end without drowning was a big deal. Initially it takes a lot of energy, but once we improve the technique swimming becomes more relaxed. Over time my fear waned, and I ventured out into the Arabian sea under the watchful guidance of SanketBengre. He is a professional swimmer and my local coach in tanner bhavi beach. Sea swimming is easier compared to pool due to greater buoyancy. But unlike the pool, one cannot rest every 50 meters. Since there are no direction of swimming in the sea it is easy to get lost. There are rocks, submerged ships, fishing nets, jelly fish, which are the added challenges of open water swim. Cramps and nutrition for long distance swim (the tongue is swollen and mouth feels raw in long swims due to salt water) are other things which we need to worry.For my Ironman triathlon had swum 3.8km swim in around 85 minutes with wet suite, after this have done a couple of 5km and 10km swim in goa swimathon. Since Mangaluru sea is more of a surfing sea, I was used to rocking sea swim rather than a calm sea swim.
How did you choose this channel swim:
I was looking for a new challenge after completing my full ironman in Italy. Was initially thinking of Palk strait swim, but this had a lot of diplomatic hurdles and paper work. As my swimming speed was not above 3km/hour long solo marathon open water swim were out of my league. So, relay swim was what I was looking for. The iconic open water swim and called the Everest in open water swim is the English Channel swim. This 34 km crossing between England and France is one of the most physically demanding and challenging swims in the world due to cold water ranging from 12–17-degree Celsius, strong tides of Atlantic Ocean and North Sea, jellyfishes, and the busy shipping lanes. The swims difficulty is underscored by its low success rate, estimated at around 7% for solo attempts, which is significantly lower than the success rate for climbing Everest. This swim is part of prestigious challenge like the triple crown of open water swimming (English Channel swim, Catalina channel swim and Manhattan 20 bridge swim) and oceans seven (include English Channel, Catalina Channel swim, North channel-Ireland to Scotland, Cook Strait- New Zealand’s north and South Island, Molokai channel in Hawaii, Tsugaru strait in Japan, and strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco). This is not same as the classical seven oceanic bodieswhich we call the saptha Sagara (Artic Ocean, Antarctic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean, and Indian ocean).
Discussing with our coach the team decided on two channel relays in a span of two weeks: the English Channel relay and night Catalina channel relay.
What are the rules of the relay swim:
The swim in English Channel is governed by two bodies which are channel swimming association and channel swimming & piloting federation. We need prior approval from one of these bodies, book a pilot, boat and get approval before we start swimming. The shortest line across the English Channel is just 32 km- but thanks to strong cross current, swimmers rarely go straight. Instead, they trace a S-shaped route, often covering much more distance. The journey begins at Dover- England with dreams of finishing on the beach at Cap Gris Nez- France. Each relay swimmer takes an hour swimming shift before tagging the next, braving icy water of 15-18 degree Celsius. The harder part may not be the swim itself, but waiting for your turn in rocking boat under windy condition and avoiding vomiting due to sea sickness. The relay rules include
- No wetsuits-only swimsuits allowed
- No touching the boat while swimming your hour
- Team order of swim is fixed- no swap
- No one can swim for another teammate
- Miss your turn-and entire attempt fails.
For Catalina channel relay night swim: this is governed by the Catalina channel swimming federation in California. Prior approval is needed from this association before we swim. The rules for the relay remain the same, except that this swim is night swim. With complete darkness, the vison is impaired and dept perception is compromised. Swimming and orienting oneself with glow sticks of the kayak as your only guide can be challenging. The goal was to duplicate what it was like in 1926, when George Young became the first swimmer to cross the Catalina Channel.
How was the preparation:
To qualify for relay swim, we needed to swim atleast 1.5 to 2 hours in open water of 160 Celsius or less before April 30th. We did this in Nainital lake and this was my first cold water swim.
Hypothermia is a serious risk during any cold-water swim. Acclimatization requires prolonged exposure to temperature range of 14-22 Celsius. My practice swim in Nainital in march 2025was not great. I literally froze while swimming and was shivering vigorously after the swim. But other members of the team did exceptionally well, they were faster than me, had better swim technique and were sighting better too. So,my coach suggested cold shower daily and full immersion in cold water of 14-16 Celsius, weekly once staying in it for atleast an hour. Gradually the shivering stopped and was calmer in cold water.
For stroke correction, I went monthly once to my coach to meet in person. There were problems with my kick (adult swimmer rarely kick compared to childhood swimmer), had sinking legs, there was a no glide in swimming, core was not engaged, no proper catch and ineffective pull. Made some progress in some areas and became worse in some other areas, more than me my coach had a tough time guiding. With help of my friends would record my swim and send it to my coach who would suggest changes in stroke. Most of my swims were in the night in Alloysius pool, after my days work in hospital and evening time with family.Dhanraj my co-swimmer, Maneesh my sons swim coach and Roopa madam in Alloysius pool helped a lot during this phase.
To increase speed, was given a lot of interval session training. Other session with pullbouy, training aid like paddle or fins helped to broke the monotonous of long swims. Was able to improve some parts of my stroke- hand entry, breathing, recovery, but pull and leg beats were still not up to the mark. Was swimming around 5 sessions per week.
Being a thin swimmer was also a problem. Thin swimmer have less metabolically active brown fat, which is needed for cold water swimming.
So, lot of thoughts were running during these practice sessions, about endurance, technique, mental training to focus only on the positive sides. While some days all fell in place, some days were just a total mess in timing, thinking and technique.
English Channel relay swim attempt:
When we landed in dover, the city was celebrating Captain Matthew Webb (the first person to swim the English Channel on 25th august 1875) 150th anniversary swim. An open water swimming competition was held to commemorate this occasion, and one of our teammate Divya Mahajan- came 2nd in under 16 category. We stayed in Kevin Murphys place (he is titled the king of English Channel as he has done 34 channel swim crossing, the most by a man). And he still wanted to try again next year for his 35th channel swim at the age of 75 years. Seeing all his achievements gave a lot of goosebumps.
We practiced daily in dover beach. We were number 3 in English Channel swim slot. Our tide window was 29th august to 5th September 2025, with sea leopard boat. There was a storm in dover, and our slot got washed away. As in any adventure sports where environment remains unconstrained, unlike defined boundaries of traditional sports, nature ultimately prevails due to its inherent power and unpredictability. Win swim this channel some other day.
Catalina channel relay swim:
This is a demanding 32K swim in Pacific Ocean, between Catalina Island and Californian coast. Midnight is the ideal time to start the Catalina swim, winds then are typically calm for about 12 hours, leaving the ocean peaceful. We started at 11.23pm on September 9th 2025. Was greeted by sea lions at the start of the swim. Divya was the first swimmer followed by Deepika; I was the third swimmer. Night swim in pitch dark is disorienting, as we are clueless with the direction. There were also powerful swells and eerie silence of the night. I felt like I was seeing things, but I knew I wasn’t, so I had to get over that. There is bioluminescence- each time you pull the water- our hand glows and even the fish glows in the dark sea waters. There was huge full moon, and this was a blessing of mother nature.
Slept after my first hour of relay, got up again and went for my turn in morning relay. This was in crystal clear water, where we could see great depth, had seen underwater kelp forest, had company of pod of dolphins and lot of sea gulls. This was a sharp contrast from the night swim. The only problem that I encountered after my swim, was minor chafing.
There will be one boat, two kayaks, and 8 crew members to help guide the direction, hydrate, check air, wind, and water temperature as well as swimmers’ stroke per minute. As we approached the LA coast, the whole team jumped in the water to swim behind the lead swimmer. We finished the relay in 13 hours and 20 minutes, celebrating our achievement by collecting pebbles as souvenirs. This swim helped most of us overcome our fear of the dark. With the right guidance, teamwork, and determination, even the crossing of wildest and darkest oceans seems beautiful in the end.
