Maya Merhige

Maya Merhige is an American marathon swimmer from the state of California.

Career Maya completed her first marathon swim in August 2020 with the True Width of Lake Tahoe. The following year, she became the youngest woman to swim the Catalina Channel, a 20.1 mile stretch between Santa Catalina Island and Long Beach, CA. She completed this swim on September 6, 2021 in 10 hours and 58 minutes.

In 2022, she continued swimming in California, this time completing the 21.3-mile Length of Lake Tahoe overnight. She was 14 years old.

In January 2023, at 15 years old, she became the youngest person to ever swim the Molokai Channel, also known as the Kaiwi Channel and the ‘Channel of Bones’. It is a 28-mile stretch between Molokai and Oahu islands in the Hawaiian islands. After fighting headwinds and jellyfish for more than half the swim, Maya touched shore after 27 hours and 33 minutes. She became the world record holder for the longest successful crossing of the Molokai Channel. It was her second of the Oceans Seven.

Later that year, in July 2023, Merhige swam a 28.5-mile route around the island of Manhattan in 8 hours and 43 minutes.

According to Swim Across America, Merhige has raised a total of $190,000 as of September 2026. She hopes to raise an additional $10,000 this year.