William Wrigley introduced long distance swimming competition to Catalina

CATALINA ISLAND — Long distance swimming might not be the most efficient mode of transportation across the Catalina Island. Competitive long distance swimming, however, was both a means to draw attention to the island and part of a larger craze during the height of William Wrigley’s foray into Southern California. The chewing gum magnate sponsored Wrigley Ocean Marathon in 1927, a few months after New Yorker Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to cross the English Channel. Of course crossing the Catalina Channel would be a slightly longer course – 22 miles from the Isthmus/Two Harbors to Palos Verdes Peninsula, compared to the 21-mile trek across the English Channel. The media coverage of Ederle’s trans-channel swim in the summer of 1926, according to the official Catalina Island tourism page, had motivated Wrigley to host a long-distance swimming event of his own. Hosting such an event out of Catalina Island could help bring added publicity to island, Wrigley hoped. More than 100 men and women would ultimately sign up and compete in Wrigley’s event, which started at the Isthmus and featured swimmers navigating across the channel to Point Vicente 22 miles away. The ocean marathon began Jan. 15, 1927. Only one person would finish – 17-year-old...