Why this Redding teacher is aiming for the 'Triple Crown' of open water swimming

A Redding art teacher recently did something fewer than 700 people have officially accomplished.

On Sept. 25, Lura Wilhelm swam across the Catalina Channel, a 20-mile wide stretch between Santa Catalina Island and the Southern California Coast.

It took her 11 hours and 16 minutes, according to the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation.

The University Preparatory School teacher fell in love with long-distance swimming bit by bit, during excursions to Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. “Ever since I moved out to Redding” from San Jose 13 years ago, Wilhelm said, “Whiskeytown Lake has been my sanctuary."

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A swimming enthusiast since “day one,” Wilhelm trained at the lake for triathlons and one- to two-mile swims. “Feeling unfulfilled, I researched open water swimming and found 10K swims,” including ones held in Oregon and Montana, she said.

She still wasn’t satisfied, so she started researching and training for open water swimming.

Thousands of jellyfish, hundreds of stings, 58 degree water

For her first big swim, Wilhelm crossed the English Channel. She left England a little after midnight on June 22, 2023, and swam 26 miles to France in 12 hours and nine minutes.

“The water was smooth, but it was 58 degrees, which is 10 degrees cooler than the Catalina Channel,” said Wilhelm, who passed through clusters of jellyfish. “It was like swimming through an aquarium."

While painful, she said, the jellyfish "kept me warm with every sting.”

Three months later, she was on her way to Catalina Island.

She said she chose to swim the Catalina Channel because she wanted an undertaking close to home, but one that still challenged her.

Wilhelm and her partner, Redding photographer Andreas Fuhrmann, took the two and a half hour boat ride to Catalina Island from Long Beach, battling seasickness part of the way.

That and several other challenges face people who swim the channel, according to the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation. Strong currents push against a swimmer, meaning they actually swim even further than the official 20-mile distance.

Other challenges include sudden drops in water temperatures, risks associated with swimming in the dark and swiftly changing ocean currents, according to the foundation.

Pacific Ocean waters between Catalina Island and mainland California are as deep as 500 fathoms. That's about 3,000 feet or .57 of a mile.

As of 2015, just over a third of the people who officially completed swims across the Catalina Channel were women, according to Wilhelm.

'Like having sparklers on my hands'

Wilhelm started her swim at 10:52 p.m. on Sept. 24, still feeling seasick after the boat trip over to Catalina Island through rough waters. During nighttime hours, the water around her lit up with every stroke, she said.

That phenomenon was caused by phytoplankton, the microscopic organisms that populate the waters around Catalina Island and "flash a blue-green light" when disturbed by waves, predators or swimmers, according to the Catalina Island Marine Institute.

The light distracts some natural predators. For Wilhelm, "It was like having sparklers on my hands."

Her first large animal encounter in the water came while it was still dark and a dolphin swam with her for several miles. She said the animal "scared me once by swimming right in front of me." It was before sunrise, but "I could see it because of the luminescence" and the sounds the dolphin made, she said.

Wilhelm swam the 20 miles northeast to Smuggler's Cove, near Long Beach, battling four-foot swells and a .2-knot current that pushed her southwest.

A certified observer aboard the guide boat made sure Wilhelm never touched the boat and that she truly swam the whole way.

Fuhrmann kayaked with her, providing encouragement and taking photos. A guide boat kept her on course while Wilhelm’s longtime friend, Amanda Elliot, passed along bottles of electrolyte carbohydrate drinks to help Wilhelm stay hydrated and steady her blood sugars level. Elliot also "kept an eye on us the entire time to make sure we didn't drift from the (guide) boat," Wilhelm said.

Several pods of dolphins joined her and her escorts during the last two miles, and more jellyfish popped up at the end of her swim. She got a few more stings, but they were nothing serious, she said.

While sharks inhabit waters near the island, Wilhelm said she wasn't worried about them. Sharks usually circle their prey before they attack, and her team watched for them, especially at dawn when they tend to feed. "I think I saw small sand sharks near the end of my swim," she said.

Wilhelm arrived at Smuggler's Cove at 10:10 a.m. on Sept. 25.

It was "a difficult swim," but she "felt good" about it, she said. "I was strong the entire way. I was swimming at a steady pace, definitely not my (Whiskeytown) lake pace," the entire time, she said.

Wilhelm said swimming helps her “think without distractions (and) allows me to think creatively about my work and my artwork. I figure out ways to keep my students engaged.”

After a rest and the trip home to Redding, Wilhelm was back in her U-Prep classroom on Thursday, Sept. 28. Her sixth and seventh grade students "thought it was cool and weird" and wanted to know about the animals she saw.

Her eighth graders were baffled by the incredible length of her journey and her high school students wondered what she was thinking for 11 hours and 16 minutes, she said.

For her next big challenge, Wilhelm will train to swim 28.5 miles around Manhattan Island in New York. Together with the Catalina and the English Channel competitions, the three are considered the "Triple Crown" of open water swimming, the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation says.

But first, Wilhelm plans to take on a “few smaller swims,” she said: The 10-mile Tennessee River Gorge and the 10-kilometer open water swim in Utah’s Salt Lake.

She plans to spend October and November resting, she said, and will "get a few runs in with my running friends.”

Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and news stories. Follow her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic and on Facebook. Join Jessica in the Get Out! Nor Cal recreation Facebook group. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Redding art teacher swims across the Catalina and English channels