George Young (3 March 1909 – 6 August 1972) was a Canadian marathon swimmer who, on 15–16 January 1927, became the first person to swim the 22 mile channel between Catalina Island and the mainland of California.

Though familiar to the Toronto swimming community, Young was only seventeen and a relative unknown in America, lacking the national recognition of a number of his competitors.

Young's 22 mile swim began with the sound of a starter's pistol on the Northeastern edge of Catalina Island at the narrow point of the Harbor at Isthmus Cove[5] at 11:21 AM on Saturday, January 15, 1927, and ended the next morning after 15 hours 44 minutes at 3:06 AM on the rocky shores of Point Vicente Lighthouse, in Rancho Palos Verdes, South of downtown Los Angeles.

[8] Young later claimed in a story he wrote for Regina's Leader-Post, he had once swum fifteen miles with rests at Muskoka, Ontario's WaWa Hotel in 1922.

He completed several two-mile swims while remaining in the water for 2–3 hours in the cold Pacific, while watched by his coach Henry O'Byrne off Santa Monica in December 1926, a month prior to his Catalina Channel win.

[4][3][1] Classified as a cold-water swim, the Catalina channel was only 54 F (13 C), at the start, with a fog and whitecaps, and though the average air temperature was in the low 60's, there was a cool evening breeze later that night.

Young was fed hot chocolate and chicken broth as needed, as suggested by race consultant Gertrude Ederle who had recently become the first woman to swim the English channel.

[9][16] Young began his race swimming Northeast from the Santa Catalina's Isthmus Cove until a prevailing tide caught him and pushed him towards the finish at Point Vicente Lighthouse, in Palos Verdes, just South of Los Angeles on the California shore.

[17] An offshore current went against his final few miles once he approached the California shore, requiring patience, rest, and additional effort, and he became entangled at times in beds of kelp.

At the finish, the recently constructed Point Vicente Lighthouse guided him in, and spectators flashed their car lights, lit bonfires, and cheered him on.

Race favorites included Charlotte Schoemmell, the first woman to swim around Manhattan Island, and Leo Purcell and Mark Wheeler, top California swimmers.

[19] Two West coast women competitors, Margaret Hauser, and Martha Stager quit the race within two miles of shore and were to receive $2500 from Wrigley for their efforts.

[13][7] According to the Pasadena Post, Young did not receive his share of the Catalina Marathon winnings until 1940, as he was not to be paid until he reached 30, and the money was placed in a trust by Wrigley.

He failed to finish several subsequent competitions, including a well-publicized 21-mile Canadian National Exhibition Marathon in Lake Ontario, the summer after his Catalina swim, which was won by German swimmer Ernst Vierkotter, also Vierkoetter, in August 1927, for a $30,000 prize.

[13][7] In 1928, not a single swimmer of the 199 who started the 15-mile Lake Ontario marathon of the Canadian National Exhibition series on September 6 completed the swim, despite a hefty $25,000 prize being offer to the winner.

According to the Windsor Star, Young completed a lengthy distance, stated as 20 miles, in 3 hours 58 minutes, which seems far too fast a time, but he was pushed by the St. Lawrence's strong Northeasterly current at his back.

That summer, Young was involved in a controversy between two women he was dating who both claimed he had proposed marriage; swimmer Jewel Cheatwood, a 19-year old Terra Haute School Teacher who had trained with George's swim coach Johnny Walker and to whom he had given a ring, and Lorraine Moolenaar.

[28][29] George was forced to withdraw due to cramping from a 15-mile Lake Ontario Marathon Swim, part of the Canadian National Exhibition sponsored by William Wrigley in August 1929 after completing around six miles, and remaining in the water about 2 hours 50 minutes.

[33] Out of 173 starters, nineteen year-old Marvin Nelson of Fort Dodge, Iowa won the August 1930, 15-Mile Lake Ontario Marathon Swim in record time taking the $10,000 prize, though in the previous year's race, he had suffered and been pulled from the water only half conscious.

[46] Oke had financially backed and managed Young when he was training in 1929 for the Wrigley Marathon Swim, part of the Canadian National Exhibition.

[47] Young met Margaret Ravoir of Philadelphia, an early 1930's romantic interest of George's and accomplished swimmer herself, while training for a Canadian National Exhibition in 1930.