Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association

From Openwaterpedia
Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association board of directors at the 2026 International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in San Diego, California
Santa Barbara Channel Islands
John McCarthy created a compilation of crossings between Anacapa Island and the California mainland achieved throughout 2023 for the Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association annual awards dinner
Crossing the Channel documentary film by Ryan Slattery about Rachel Horn's crossing of the Anacapa Channel in California
Paige Kieding in a tandem swim with Vito Bialla across the Santa Barbara Channel completed in 7 hours 53 minutes on 1 October 2018

The Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association (SBCSA) is a channel swimming governing body that supports, observes, and sanctions open water swims in the Channel Islands region of Southern California. The SBCSA governs swims to, from, around, and between Anacapa Island, Santa Cruz Island, Santa Rosa Island, San Miguel Island, Santa Barbara Island, San Clemente Island, and San Nicolas Island. (Swims between Catalina Island and the mainland, and around Catalina, are governed by the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation).

Current SBCSA Board of Directors

  • Peter Hayden, President serving since 2015; President since 2023
    • 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, California, and married his star swimmer, Carol Hayden. Peter and Carol live in Laguna Hills, California; their two sons live in Oakland, California and Gutau, Austria.
  • Amy Appelhans Gubser, serving since 2025
  • Jane Cairns, Vice President serving since 2010
    • 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 CCSF 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 Santa Barbara 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.
  • Karina Garcia, serving since 2021
    • Karina grew up in Ventura County and continues to live there. She works for Ventura County Human Services Agency. 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.
  • Gary King, serving since 2023
    • Gary 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 Roughwater Swim 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.
  • John McCarthy, serving since 2025
    • John is Vice President and serves on the board of a Santa Barbara based R&D company. He trains in the ocean year round in the Santa Barbara area.
    • John learned to swim as a kid in the ocean at Camps Bay South Africa and Laguna Beach, California, but never competed in swimming. Instead he did cross country running, volleyball indoors and beach, collegiate ultimate frisbee, and then as an “adult” USCF road race cycling. Eventually there was a bike crash that forced a long rehabilitation, and that eventually became pool swimming with Sundays in the ocean.
    • In March 2020 the loose band of Sunday ocean swimmers formed Swim Wild Santa Barbara and organized a schedule of ocean swimming that brought a large number of people in the area into ocean swimming every day of the week. Soon SBCSA board member Jane Cairns joined the group. With all of that ocean swimming swim distances became longer, one thing led to another, and…with Jane Cairns, John has done a circumnavigation of Anacapa Island, a two-way crossing of the Anacapa Passage between Anacapa and Santa Cruz Island, and the Anacapa to mainland crossing of the Santa Barbara Channel.

Past Members of the SBCSA Board of Directors

SBCSA Links

Ventura Deep Enders from San Nicholas Island to San Pedro


Courtesy of Lynn Kubasek of the Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association
The Deep Enders relay swam from San Nicolas Island to San Pedro, California on 12-13 October 2015 on an unprecedented 112.8 km crossing of 33 hours 37 minutes 26 seconds. Coached by Theo Schmeeckle, the team comprised of Zach Jirkovsky, Jim McConica, John Chung, Stacey Warmuth, Tom Ball and Tamie Stewart. Escort kayakers and support crew included Allen Ball, Jill Ball, Bob Howell, Patty Howell, Pam Jirkowsky and Carol Lacy. The Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association observers were Lynn Kubasek and Jax Cole. The swim was guided by Bottom Scratcher with captain Gregg Elliott, Craig and Danny.

External links

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