Shark bites swimmer’s fin on California coast. ‘I’ve never seen you swim that fast’

A long-distance swimmer training off a California beach had a narrow escape Wednesday when a young great white shark nipped one of his fins, lifeguards say.

“(The lifeguard) saw me come in real quick and he said, ‘I’ve never seen you swim that fast or be that short,’” said Phil Garn, KNSD reported.

Garn, who swam the English Channel and Catalina Channel, was swimming off Coronado Beach near San Diego when he felt a tug on one of his swim fins, according to the station.

He turned around to see a shark biting his fin and swam quickly to shore, Garn told KNSD. He was not hurt in the incident.

The shark left tooth marks in the fin, according to lifeguard Capt. Sean Carey, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Lifeguards cleared the beach and closed it for two days.

“We will be monitoring the waters by boat to keep an eye out for it,” Carey told KFMB.

Nearby surfers who witnessed the incident identified the shark as a juvenile great white, The San Diego-Union Tribune reported.

The beach reopened Friday, KFMB reported.

This story was originally published January 3, 2021 at 11:33 AM with the headline "Shark bites swimmer’s fin on California coast. ‘I’ve never seen you swim that fast’."