Catherine Breed, 33, is nearly midway through her journey to swim around 900 miles, from the California-Oregon border to Mexico. The long-distance swimmer is believed to be the first to attempt swimming the entirety of the California coast, an attempt she began on July 1 and is expected to conti nue through November. Breed is swimming in the open ocean, accompanied by a boat and a team helping her along the way. Breed grew up in Pleasanton, graduating from Amador Valley High School. She went on to swim for U.C. Berkeley and the U.S. National team. After college, she developed a love for open water swimming through the Dolphin Club in San Francisco. Breed has now achieved several ultra-long-distance swims, including swimming the length of Lake Tahoe and swimming from San Francisco to Half Moon Bay. At each stop along Breed’s swim, she is holding community events to highlight community organizations and coastal issues. “How do we stop and make it a little poetic, and make it a love letter to the coast, and enjoy this place?” Breed explained to a crowd in San Francisco. Friday evening, she stopped in San Francisco near Crissy Field for a meet-and-greet event to promote local ocean conservation efforts, hosted by the Greater Farallones Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries and partnered with the Bay Area-based Marine Mammal Center. “It’s just so wonderful to see Cat doing something that celebrates our ocean and bringing the community together, so that we can learn how to all care for [the ocean] to the best of our ability,” said Katie D’Innocenzo with the Marine Mammal Center. D’Innocenzo noted that during Breed’s swim, she is encountering the same coastal issues the Marine Mammal Center is tracking, such as warming El Niño ocean waters. Many of Breed’s friends and family from the Bay Area showed up, as did a number of people who’ve been following her journey on social media. “Being home has been really special, because I do get to be home, I get to see my family, I get to see my friends,” Breed told NBC Bay Area News in an interview on Friday. “It’s also challenging because it’s the middle of the swim, and because I still have a long ways to go,” she continued. But Breed noted getting to be around her Bay Area loved ones was “just a perfect morale boost after getting through one of the hardest stretches of Swim California.” Swim California is what Breed is calling her journey. As of Friday, Breed swam a total of 450 miles of the state’s coast, with 550 more miles remaining. She is hoping her swim inspires others — especially women — to explore and care for the ocean. “What I want people to know is how amazing the ocean is, and how much I am learning with every stroke that I take,” Breed said. She encouraged Bay Area residents to “come to a community event and learn about what’s going on in the ocean conservation space in your backyard.” Breed will continue her swim Saturday morning in San Francisco, continuing her swim south from Ocean Beach. ...read more read less