Turkish swimmer Ece Demir completed the Catalina Channel crossing between Santa Catalina Island and the mainland in California, United States, in 16 hours and 43 minutes. With this time, Demir was identified as the youngest Turkish athlete to cross the Catalina Channel and reached the California coast after a prolonged open-water challenge.
The crossing, held on September 13-14, 2026, marked a significant stage in Demir’s international open-water swimming career. The approximately 35-38-kilometer route runs through open waters between the island and the mainland and is known for its changing conditions. Currents can make the actual distance swum longer than the route’s standard measurement.
Completed under challenging conditions
During the crossing, Demir faced challenging conditions including night swimming, cold water, waves and currents. A boat and kayak provided support throughout the swim to ensure her safety. The hours-long challenge showed that the Catalina Channel route requires not only endurance over a long distance but also the ability to adapt to sea conditions.
A graduate of the Department of Physics at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Demir is also an athlete with the ÇOMÜ Sports Club. In an announcement, the university highlighted her 16-hour-and-43-minute crossing, her status as the youngest Turkish athlete to complete it and the achievement’s importance as a step toward her broader open-water swimming goals.
A new stage after the Manhattan crossing
Before crossing the Catalina Channel, Demir completed the approximately 48-kilometer 20 Bridges Swim Manhattan course in New York on September 21, 2025. That result marked an earlier significant stage in her career on long-distance open-water courses. The Catalina Channel crossing represented the continuation of that journey.
Demir’s Catalina Channel achievement emerged as a new stage in her open-water swimming journey, which is linked to the goals of Ocean’s Seven and the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming. However, the crossing does not mean that she has completed either of those titles; it represents a stage in her progress toward those goals.
