Bay Area native smashes record for fastest-ever swim from Farallon to Golden Gate

A Mill Valley woman has set a new benchmark as she shattered the record for fastest-ever and one of the most challenging long- distance swims from treacherous Farallon to Golden Gate waters.

Bay Area swimmer Catherine Breed started her daunting journey from the Farallon Islands late Monday night, swimming just over 30 miles and reached Golden Gate Bridge in less than 14 hours.

The 34-year-old completed her fastest-ever swim in 13 hours, 54 minutes and 10 seconds. Her time is still not certified by the official record.

Her swimming time was just 4 minutes short of the record set in 2014 by Mill Valley’s Joe Locke.

In an Instagram video posted by Catherine, she summed up her daunting yet beautiful journey, “A swim measured in times I wanted to stop, times I said I was too cold, times we had to make adjustments, and ONE very critical point where I decided to just Fcking Fight. Of all the swims I have done this one was the mentally hardest despite almost perfect conditions.”

Catherine became the seventh person and third woman to complete 30-miles swim in frigid Pacific Ocean, grappling with strong water currents and hungry sharks roaming freely in the waters.