Sidney Russell completes Catalina double
Sidney Russell is a busy mum, swim coach and swim volunteer – yet she still finds time to train for big solo swims. We wanted to know how she does it all.
Sidney Russel set off from mainland California at 11 in the morning on 21 July 2025. Some 27 hours, 52 minutes and 9s later, she returned, having swum to Calalina Island and back.
This swim made her only the second person ever to complete both the Catalina Channel double and the Santa Barbara Channel, according to the Marathon Swimming Federation (the first was Cindy Cleveland in 1977-78).
We caught up with Sidney last week, after she’d had time to recover from the swim and reflect on her success.
What attracts you to marathon swimming?
I am attracted to marathon swimming because I am a process-driven person. I appreciate that training hard for months or years can be manifested into a single physical action. I love how making mistakes is how you get better.
What was your motivation to do a double Catalina swim?
The first time I swam the Catalina Channel, I looked back at the island and knew at that moment that I was going to come back and swim a double. It wasn’t until I had a very challenging English Channel swim that I had the confidence to go for this.
Tell us about the conditions during your swim
Heading to Catalina, the water was quite bumpy with perpendicular swells and the afternoon winds. A few hours after sunset, the ocean became like a lake with an abyss of bioluminescence, creating a galaxy below me. The water was about 70°F (21.1°C) for almost the entire swim. The next day, it was overcast, and the sun only appeared in the last two hours of my swim. Conditions were reasonable at the end, like a typical afternoon on the Catalina Channel.
Can you tell us how you manage to fit training around your busy life?
I coach other swimmers on and off the pool deck as well as a high school diving in the spring. I also spend a good amount of time kayaking for other marathon swimmers throughout the year. Frequently, I must make sacrifices somewhere, whether that means missing my training, swimming extremely early to get back in time for a school drop-off, or simply forgoing proper sleep. After a multiple-hour training swim and then standing on the pool deck, I will rush home to pick up my kids and take them to their after-school activities. The day after my double crossing, I got home just in time to take my kids to an outdoor movie screening of The Lego Movie with their friends.
Do you deal with the mental pressure of having so many demands on your time? Are your friends and family understanding and supportive of the time you spend swimming?
I will say how incredibly important having a supportive family is to make these dreams a reality. My husband is in my corner 100% and I would never be able to do what I am doing without his support and the extra love and time he devotes to our family.
What was your lowest moment in the swim and how did you respond?
The lowest moment in the swim is when the sun did not come out after swimming through the night. It was so cloudy and overcast that it stayed darker much longer than expected. It wasn’t until I asked my crew chief for some stats and she replied “NO” that I got mad. I used that to fuel myself and get out of the pit of despair I was sinking into. I would periodically do short bursts of sprinting to stay fired up and to warm up from being so tired.
Were you ever scared during the swim?
I only felt afraid once when I saw creatures zipping around in the bioluminescence and my kayaker yelled quickly to get to the boat. These two things were completely unrelated but my mind grouped them together. I believe the creatures I saw swimming in the bioluminescence was a school of flying fish while my kayaker yelled at me to get to the boat because I was too far out.
What advice do you have for other swimmers with busy lives and marathon swimming ambitions?
You are capable of more than you think. Even if you believe you don’t have enough time to train there is always a way to make these big swims possible. There is no one way or exact right way to train for a marathon swim and you just need to find what works for you.
The images for this story were provided by Steve Sutton, who was part of Sidney’ crew for her swim. He contacted us to say:
Sidney is such an inspiration to so many people and she spends so much of her time in life helping others. I really think this is a story that should be told and that your readers would enjoy and get inspiration from it.
We agree! Do you know anyone who has an inspiring swim story to share? Let us know.
Simon Griffiths
I started Outdoor Swimmer in 2011 (initially as H2Open Magazine) as an outlet for my passion for swimming outdoors. I've been a swimmer and outdoor swimmer for as long as I remember. Swimming has made a huge difference to my life and I want to share its joys and benefits with as many people as possible. I am also the author of Swim Wild & Free: A Practical Guide to Swimming Outdoors 365 a Year, I provide one-to-one support to swimmers through Swim Mentoring and I'm the creator of the Renaissance Swimmer project.
