When most people think of conquering Lake Tahoe, they imagine hiking its trails or shredding its ski slopes. But Catherine Breed? She decided to swim the entire 60-mile circumference, and make it look almost casual.

Breed, a 32-year-old marathon swimmer from Mill Valley, isn’t your average athlete. She’s a former UC Berkeley swimming star who’s been quietly rewriting the rules of open water endurance. Her latest feat? Swimming the Lake Tahoe Water Trail over consecutive days, setting a unique first that’s part training, part pure adventure.

A Swimmer’s Perspective

Imagine swimming up to a half-mile from shore, dodging jet skis and water planes, with nothing but your own determination and a support team in a kayak. That’s how Breed tackled Tahoe, following marathon swimming rules, no wetsuit, just raw skill and incredible mental fortitude.

“The human body can do really, really cool things if you prime it,” Breed says. And prime it she has. From sunrise swims in Rubicon Bay to navigating choppy waters near Stateline, she transformed the lake into her personal training ground.

Beyond the Swim

This epic swim isn’t just a personal challenge, it’s a stepping stone to an even more audacious goal: swimming the entire California coastline next summer. From Oregon to Mexico, 900 miles of continuous swimming await her.

Breed’s approach is refreshingly uncompetitive. “This wasn’t a record, it wasn’t even a big first, it was just something I wanted to do and enjoy,” she reflects. Her celebration? A simple Pabst Blue Ribbon with her boyfriend at Skylandia Beach after completing 60.91 miles.

What’s Next

For Breed, the Tahoe swim was a taste of what’s to come. Her next training swim? The treacherous route from the Farallon Islands to the Golden Gate Bridge, a challenge that makes Tahoe look like a warm-up lap.

“Swim California is totally possible and is going to be very fun,” she says with the kind of understated confidence that defines true adventurers.

Because sometimes, the most incredible journeys aren’t about setting records, they’re about pushing personal boundaries and discovering what’s possible when you dive in, literally and figuratively.