Croatian swimmer completes grueling oveight ocean crossing from Catalina Island

Greeted by elated, cheering supporters Thursday moing, a 21-year-old woman from Croatia completed a grueling, oveight swim from Catalina Island to the shores below Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes.

“She swam like a champion, like a machine,” said Jill Babajko, who rode alongside Dina Levacic in a boat with the swimmer’s mother and swim monitors.

On her Facebook page, Levacic said this about the ordeal: I’m proud, happy.” Her time? 9 hours, 47 minutes and 53 seconds. “And now I’m going to (get some) deserved sleep.”

Levacic is the first Croatian native to make the ocean crossing from Catalina to the mainland; fewer than 400 people altogether have accomplished it since 1927.

This was the second of three swims required for Levacic to enter the elite ranks of the Triple Crown Project, a swimming marathon that must be completed in 90 days. In addition to the 20.2 miles she successfully swam from Catalina, Levacic in June completed a 28.5-mile swim around Manhattan Island in New York.

Her last challenge comes in September, when she will attempt to swim 21 miles in rough currents across the English Channel between England and France. It is considered the most physically demanding part of the marathon.

Only 143 people are members of the Triple Crown “society” and only four of those have done it within 90 days.

Levacic’s father, Mladen, accompanied her on the Catalina swim the entire way in a kayak. The family is from Split, Croatia, and it was their first visit to the Pacific Ocean.

MORE PHOTOS: Dina Levacic arrives in RPV after Catalina Channel swim

Babajko, the swimmer’s local host, said conditions were near perfect, with the air temperature at 72 degrees and the water about the same. The seas were calm. As the sun began to rise, a container ship passed by.

“Right about that time, a dolphin came leaping up out of the water and then the whole pod passed, heading toward Huntington,” Babajko said.

As they approached the beach shortly after 8 a.m., they spotted a crowd of about a dozen people that had gathered to greet and congratulate her.

“When we were within minutes (of arriving), we were hooting and hollering from the boat and the crowd on the beach began answering back,” Babajko said. “We were all just happy and started crying happy tears.”

Visitors to Levacic’s Facebook page can track her progress and training.

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