BETH  BARNES  BIO

Beth Barnes, a Long Beach, California native was part of twelve Catalina Channel Crossings during the 2010 CCSF Season.  At an early age, she learned to sail at the Leeway Sailing Center on Alamitos Bay and became a certified SCUBA diver at 15.  She took her love of the water to San Francisco where she earned her Business Economics degree from the University of San Francisco and spent her spare time sailboarding in the San Francisco Bay and swimming with the famous San Francisco Dolphin Club in the City by the Bay. 

Beth has trained  with swimmers who come to Southern California to swim the 21-mile Catalina Channel. She's at 'home' on her Cobra kayak while swimmers are at home next to her in the ocean.   She has also swum  throughout the world including the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Tuamotus in the South Pacific, the Negev Desert and Dead Sea in Southern Israel and the Isle of Eigg in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides. 

Restless and suspecting there might be more, she sold it all on her 30^th birthday and said goodbye to Corporate America.  After a 13 month sojourn around the world with her backpack, she lived in England for 12 years before returning to Long Beach.  She returned in 2001 and since then has been a devoted and outspoken volunteer for Surfrider Foundation and Algalita Marine Research Foundation.  Beth will always  stand strong in her commitment to preserving the marine environment and the rights of all people to enjoy not only the coastal oceans, but all natural bodies of water. 

Safety for swimmers and kayakers is Beth's top priority.  She hopes that by setting her safety standards very high, others will follow.  She has consulted with Southern California Lifeguard Departments, Marine Rescue Consultants and the US Navy SEALS to try to understand what to carry on her kayak to provide for emergency situations and how to respond to unexpected difficulties.  Her quest continues...

Beth's inspiration in life comes courtesy of her beautiful daughters Emma and Malia and her adventurous, tireless and supportive Mom.

Special thanks to Lynne Cox, friend and mentor.

 
IKAYAK4U Owner, Beth Barnes ready for a training swim at Seal Beach, CA

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"We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give back"
    Winston Churchill 

                                                                                                                            

Volunteering on the feeding pontoon at the Pan Pacific Open Water 10K
8/22/2010
Marine Stadium, Long Beach, California




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