Since 1999, Tim Gair has been the fastest man to conquer the Catalina Channel, holding the Catalina Classic Unlimited record at 5:02:12.
Tim Gair: former record holder, badass paddler, and current Catalina Classic board member.
Both the Stock and Women's records have been broken a few times over since then, but the Unlimited record has remained untouchable. Max First came close in 2019, off the mark by a mere 73 seconds. So, the record has stood unbroken, for over two decades.
1999: Tim Gair sets the UL record at 5:02:12, Gary Fortune sets the Stock record at 5:55:31.
On August 25th, at about 10:54 am, Jack Bark crossed the finish line of the 47th Catalina Classic, clocking a time of 5:54:45. The longstanding record was finally surpassed, by almost eight minutes.
Something that makes a record like this unique is the fact that it's not just a matter of someone being faster than someone else. This isn't a time trial on a track. Speed, skill, training, strength- all of that is essential. We see that since, it's not as if everyone broke this record this year. Only one person did. But, another crucial factor is how the conditions are on the given day. It takes the right year as well as the right athlete to break a record. And this year, it was the right year. And Jack was the right paddler.
Jack's name as an Unlimited record holder will now join the ranks of legendary watermen Rick Grigg, Tom Zahn, Mike Bright, Gene Rink, and of course, Tim Gair.
We're both curious and excited to see how long this record stands. It's going to be a pretty damn tough one to break. Will it be another 25 years? Will Jack break his own record in the future like Lachie did this year? Whatever happens, it's pretty cool to see that now, for the first time, one man has paddled that channel in under 5 hours. The future is bright.
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