Blind Aussie Swimmer Makes Successful Crossing of Catalina Channel

By Stephen J. Thomas

SYDNEY, Australia, September 18. AUSSIE marathon swimmer James Pittar arrived home yesterday after completing the twenty-one odd mile swim from Catalina Island to the mainland last Friday morning. The remarkable aspect of this individual crossing of the Catalina Channel, which had its first recorded completion way back in 1927 is that Pittar is blind.

The 36-year-old became the 132nd person to make a successful solo crossing (either way), the first Aussie male and only the second blind swimmer. Pittar completed the swim in 11 hours 36 miutes. The first blind swimmer to make the crossing was Hawaiian King Benny Nawahi in September 1952 in a time of 22 hours and 50 minutes.

Pittar told Swimming World Magazine on his return, “The hardest aspect of the swim was the preparation, as we started at 11 p.m., to align with the tides and swam through the night. It was hard to adjust my body clock to sleeping during the day and staying awake at night to prepare for the swim, especially when we had the time zone changes coming over from Australia.

“We had good conditions, so we were very lucky, I was happy with the time but the conditions play such a big part in this. I think being blind made swimming at night a little easier, I think it would be tougher for sighted people,” he remarked modestly.

This swim marks the final leg of Pittar's personal challenge to complete a marathon swim in six continents of the world.

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