LAKE TAHOE, Calif. / Nev. – Catherine Breed was already back to work the very next day after swimming over 60 miles around Lake Tahoe in just over five days.

“I think I’ll crash tonight, but I actually feel fine right now,” she said the day after she completed the swim.

She navigated the lake via The Lake Tahoe Water Trail, a 72-mile water route along the shoreline. A part of her goal with this swim was to draw attention and awareness to the trail, which offers day and overnight routes with wayfinding markers, campgrounds, as well as launch and landing sites posted along the entire route.

She wants to reveal the possibilities of swimming the trail, which is largely kayaked and paddle-boarded.

The adventure required working around Lake Tahoe’s sometimes unruly conditions, forcing her to swim very early at times and late at others. The early and late hours offered unique opportunities to view Tahoe. One of those was near Rubicon Point where large rock formations jut out of the water.

“I just remember the sun was rising and my boyfriend, Dave and I, were at these rocks and I’m just looking at the sun on them and I felt so emotional,” she said, remembering the awe of being the only ones witnessing it in that place and moment.

“I just felt really lucky I got to experience that with someone I love so much” she said.

Tahoe offered ideal practice for an even larger endeavor Breed will set sail on next summer, swimming the entire California coast, from Oregon to Mexico in three months.

A huge endeavor in itself, this Tahoe swim was a testing ground for the over 900 mile ocean mission, taking place June 2026.

“Swimming around Lake Tahoe is about more than distance — it’s about building trust, testing my limits, and preparing for the unknown,” said Breed.

Tahoe’s cold waters and dynamic conditions are similar to the diverse environments Breed will run into along California’s coast. It not only tested how swimming consecutive days felt, but also tested and built cold water resilience, and allowed her team to work through logistics.

A team, she says, is imperative and warns those attempting these types of swims should always have support in the form of someone with them, by boat or kayak, in order to be visible to boats, have cell phone access, food and water.

For Breed, she says, “The Tahoe community showed up in a really big way.” A Palisades volunteer ski patrol, many of the ski patrol members came to help her out.

“It’s a privilege that I, in my life, get to do something like this with people I love and take five days off work to swim around one of the most beautiful places in the world,” she said, “understanding that even if it’s hard, I’m still getting to do this amazing thing.”

It’s not the first time Tahoe has tested her. She currently holds the women’s Tahoe length swim record and held the overall record for 5-6 years.

Breed will continue to train with more swims, community outreach and logistical refinement through the fall and into the summer launch of her over 900 mile swim. The endeavor is not just about physical accomplishments.

“I want to inspire more ocean stewards and raise awareness for ocean conservation through stories and sport,” she said.

With each stroke, she hopes to stir community, awareness, action, and education around access to the ocean.

She’s created the non-profit, Sea Dreamers, to harness the movement and awareness Swim California cultivates, leading to long-term impacts. Sea Dreamers aims to get more women and girls into ocean activities.

The learn more or support Swim California, visit, catherinebreed.com.

To the learn more about the Lake Tahoe Water Trail, visit, laketahoewatertrail.org.