Peter Hayden

President

Peter is the Sr. Vice President of Engineering for a Los Angeles based commercial real estate developer. He awakens at 4:30 every weekday morning to commute 60 miles to LA’s Fairfax District and fit in a 2-hour workout with the Meridian Swim Club Masters before heading across the street to work. On the weekends, he can usually be found swimming in Laguna Beach waters with the Oak Streakers.

A Los Angeles native, Peter has been a competitive swimmer since age 8, and until 2011, had never done anything longer than a 2 mile pier swim. That changed in 2012, when he completed the 6-mile Semana Nautica and the 12.6-mile Distance Challenge. In 2013, Peter became the 283rd person to successfully cross the Catalina Channel. In 2014, Peter received the Marathon Swimmers Federation’s Yudovin Award, which honors the single most adventurous swim of the year, for his record-setting circumnavigation of Anacapa Island, followed immediately by crossing the Santa Barbara Channel to the Ventura coastline, a total distance of approximately 24 miles.

Peter coached the Pacific Aquatic Masters while attending the University of Pacific in Stockton, CA, and married his star swimmer, Carol Hayden. Peter and Carol live in Laguna Hills, CA; their two sons live in Oakland, CA and Gutau, Austria.

Serving since 2015. President since 2023.

Jane Cairns

Jane grew up swimming on the Mission Viejo Nadadores swim team from 1978-1988. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in Environmental Studies in 1993 while swimming on the Gauchos swim team for 4 years. Jane was named SPMA Open Water Swimmer of the Year in 1997. She has participated in numerous Catalina Channel crossing relays and is a member of the team that still holds the fastest CCCF single and double crossing records. Jane is also a veteran paddleboard racer. She has raced the Catalina Channel 15 times, 8 of which in the 32 mile Catalina Classic and placing 5 times in the men’s division. She has also raced the 32 mile Molokai paddleboard race 3 times.

Jane is very involved in the aquatic community in Santa Barbara. She helps run a weekly summer ocean swim race and has been the director of the SB 6 mile ocean swim race for the past 10 years and still holds the women’s course record. She is currently getting back into swimming shape to hopefully soon start training to swim the Catalina Channel solo.

Serving since 2010

Karina Garcia

Karina grew up in Ventura County and lives in Ventura where she works as a program manager at a non-profit agency called Kids & Families Together. Karina joined a local swim club at age 11 and swam through high school. After college and then living abroad in Chile for a few years, Karina returned to swimming joining the Ventura County Masters. There she made friends with a group of open water swimmers (Deep Enders) who dragged her to the beach one Saturday morning. Despite being a little scared, Karina soon fell in love with ocean swimming because of the focus on endurance and the excitement of the open water. After learning about the accomplishments of her Ventura friends, she wanted to give it a try as well. Karina’s first channel swim was the Catalina Channel in 2016 and since then she has set a new goal each year.

Serving since 2021

Gary King

Gary King grew up on the beach in Southern California and enjoyed ocean sports such as swimming, surfing, snorkeling, SCUBA diving, and sailing.

Gary spent four years in the U.S. Navy, received his BS from Pepperdine, and currently lives with his wife, Kathi, two daughters, and two granddaughters in Simi Valley, California.

Gary is a Lifetime Member and Observer for both the Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association (SBCSA) and the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation (CCSF), a USMS Level 2 Coach, and a USMS Open Water Certified Safety Director.

As a triathlete and open water swimmer since 1980, his highlights include Coronado 12 mile, Seal Beach Rough Water 10 Mile, Santa Barbara 6 mile (3 times), Catalina Channel Relay, Alcatraz (17 times), and SCAR Canyon Lake 9 mile.

Recently retired from his career in Quality Management, Gary now focuses on his passion to mentor swimmers to help transitioning from pool to open water, dropping wetsuits for skins, navigating, open water racing, feedings, etc. Gary organizes and mentors a group of swimmers in Ventura County for ocean swims several days per week with distances ranging from 1-3 miles per day.

Serving since 2023.

Dave Van Mouwerik

Vice President, Observer Coordinator

Dave started swimming when he was 23 years old. He has been a USMS member for thirty five years, and has been a member of various Masters teams for most of that time. Early in his swim career, he gravitated towards longer distance events in pool meets, and to open water swims. He has participated in about a dozen 6 mile ocean swims (in Santa Cruz, Avila Beach, and Santa Barbara), as well as some 10 mile swims (in Boston Harbor, Seal Beach, and Santa Barbara). In 1998 Dave swam solo from Avila Beach Pier to Pismo Beach Pier, a distance of six miles. This swim inspired him to start the USMS-sanctioned Pismo to Avila Pier to Pier Swim, which he organized and participated in from 1999 to 2002. From 2004 to 2007, Dave took a break from swimming, and paddled 6 man outrigger canoes with Pale Kai, a competitive outrigger canoe club in Avila Beach.

Dave caught the marathon swimming bug in 2010, when he was 52 years old. Since then he has swum the Anacapa Crossing, Lake Tahoe (lengthwise), the Catalina Channel, and a 20.3 mile swim in Sweden across Lake Siljan. Dave and his wife, Lisa, live in San Luis Obispo, CA; their two sons live in South Lake Tahoe, CA, and Flagstaff, AZ.

Serving since 2010