Our Catalina Relay is set to launch in about half a day and it’s been a whirlwind of training swims and planning meetings. It’s basically been like one giant swimming themed slumber party here at my house, as we wait to start our swim! If you’ve been following us on social media, you will have seen the bios of each swimmer and kayaker, and know the amazing group of women I am so lucky to be swimming with! Here are some things you may be wondering about the relay.
1. When and where will we start?
The relay will start at 8pm tonight at Terranea beach on the California mainland. We will swim to Catalina overnight, in hopes of landing at Doctor’s Cove in daylight. We will then turn around and head back to Terranea.
2. So it’s a relay, how does that work?
Each relay member swims for one hour at a time, rotating in the same order every six hours. I will be staring us off at Terranea, so will swim hours 1, 7, 13, 19… and so one until we finish. We must swim in the same order the whole time and each swim for exactly hour allotted hour. When making a relay exchange, the new swimmer must swim up behind the leaving swimmer and give them a high five. Just like with a solo swim, relay swimmers cannot use the kayak or anything else for support, while they are swimming their leg of the relay. When we finish a leg of the relay, we must return to the boat until our next swim.
3. How can you support?
You can follow our tracker here and cheer us on from wherever in the world you may be! If you happen to be in the Los Angeles area and want to come watch the finish, contact my mom Kim Bergman to coordinate! I am so excited for this relay and cannot wait to see what we accomplish together!
Open Water Abby 