About David

Water Transforms David

David Yudovin, 11 hours and 37 minutes marathon swim between Maio Island to Santiago Island, Africa. June 30 2013

David Yudovin was an American from California who became known around the world as a channel swimmer. With more than a 35 Year career, David completed numerous channel swims that nobody has ever done.

There are no gold medals, no loving cups, and no elaborately inscribed certificates to laud David Yudovin’s all-time world record achievements. Using only cap and goggles with determination and true grit, David holds multiple world records and was inducted into the Marathon Swimmers’ Hall of Fame in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida joining an honor roll of only about 130 other swimmers from around the world.

David started on a swim team when he was six and a half. From the beginning, he had almost a spiritual connection with the water. “It touches every chord of my heart and soul that triggers remarkable surges of creativity.”

During his adult swims of up to 15 hours plus, he battled and defeated deadly whirlpools, thousands of jellyfish stings, hot water, cold water, nasty currents and highly uncooperative tides and weathers.

David’s goals were never been about speed. Instead, he decided to make his mark in swimming by being the first to complete channel swims around the world and to plan his swimming career for longevity.

He applied an adaptive strategy by considering his age and health during the different phases of his life so that he could continue to pursue his life long passion and simply channel swim for the whole of his life.

David is one of the world’s most accomplished long-distance channel swimmers and his determination kept him passionate about life. David has a long list of first completions to his name. He has swum the 20 miles from or to Catalina Island four times, starting in 1976. He swam and conquered the English Channel in 1996, and he conquered dangerous straits in Japan, Mexico, Hawaii, New Zealand, to and from Java and from Morocco to Gibraltar.

David’s Biography

At age six, David begged a coach at the Beverly Hills YMCA for a spot on the swim team. Normally participants were required to be at least eight years old. Sensing an abnormal determination, the coach said if David could do the crawl for a mile nonstop, he’d qualify. David did. “I liked what it did for me physically and what it did for my mind.”

David attended the Northern Arizona University of Flagstaff AZ where much of his time he learned how to swim long distance in the pool.

He came back to Los Angeles determined to complete his first channel marathon. David suffered a near-fatal heart attack during his second marathon and this experience gave him massive philosophical proportions “giving me a profound appreciation of life and its opportunities.”

In 1981, David went to Oregon to work in a fish-packing plant to acquire the skills needed to start an independent brokerage; Ocean Crystal Seafood.

In 1984, David decided to set up his own business. Enter Beth, one of the very few female investment bank officers in Tulsa Oklahoma. They met while co-chairing a half-ironman competition to benefit the Special Olympics. Beth had never been on the ocean until meeting David. Beth was his coach and manager.

David Survived Cancer

In 1988 David was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia.  He was given a prognosis of less than a 50/50% chance of survival over the next few days.  David persevered through the treatments and in 1990 made the record books again by being the first to swim the Tsugaru Channel in Japan.

Succession Planning for Retirement

In 2005, David sold his business, Ocean Crystal Seafood, to the employees. All the planning was in place for a successful retirement. He and Beth began devoting much of their time to volunteer work of various organizations they believe in.

Incredible Track Record

During his 60′s,  he had an enviable track record. David’s resume includes the crossings of the English Channel, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Cook Strait in New Zealand, the Sunda Strait in Indonesia, the Tsugaru Strait in Japan, among others.

His marathons were planned in meticulous detail with the help of Beth accompanying him on all trips. “It is she who knows about me, she knows what I need to keep in shape and to have the necessary conditions for optimum concentration and best effort.”