Some Interesting Statistics

The SBCSA represents 7 of the 8 California Chanel islands, but two routes (Anacapa to mainland - 12.4 miles and Santa Cruz to mainland - 19.9 miles) represent 85.7% of all our swims (66 of 77 solo swims have been between these two islands and mainland). Listed below is the average time of all swims and the top 5 fastest performances from each of these two islands.

Anacapa (7:25:14 average swim time)

1. Jim McConica 4:38:07
2. Nicholas Vargas 4:58:11
3. Nick Caine 5:03:58
4. Scott Zornig 5:19:25
5. Jim McConica 5:23:53

Santa Cruz (12:24:31 average swim time)

1. Jim McConica 8:59:58
2. Evan Morrison 9:47:39
3. Ned Denison 10:27:06
4. Tina Neil 10:33:09
5. Rendy Lynn Opdycke 10:51:00

We do not have all the historical data regarding success/failure rates of swims from these two islands, but we believe that it is around 50%. In other words, it appears that approximately half of the attempted swims have been successful and half were DNF’s. Anacapa may be only 12.4 miles, but it is usually a tough 12.4 miles due to the conditions. Santa Cruz is .5 miles shorter to mainland than Catalina Island, but most say it is equivalent to swimming the English Channel.

As more swims are attempted and completed, we will be able to draw even more meaningful data from these two beasts.