Nine-Year-Old Boy To Swim Alcatraz To S.F.

A 9-year-old boy will attempt to become the youngest person to swim the frigid, shark-infested waters between Alcatraz island and the San Francisco shoreline.

Johnny Wilson, a fourth grader from Hillsborough, will attempt the 1.4-mile swim on Monday just a few weeks before his 10th birthday - and just time to beat the age record set two weeks ago by a 10-year-old girl, said his coach, Rick Murray.

Johnny said he is raising money for Hurricane Katrina victims and has already drummed up $30,000 in donations.

Just after sunrise, Johnny will take a boat out to the infamous prison island, jump off at low tide and swim back in a trip he estimates will take about an hour.

He knows that the swim killed several inmates who drowned in the arctic waters as they tried to escape. The prison closed in 1963 and never officially recorded a successful escape.

Johnny said he has been training in San Francisco Bay to get used to the cold water and now actually enjoys the sensation.

"This is nothing," he said after a practice this week. "This is easy. This is just the way I like it."

http://cbs5.com/watercooler/local_story_281141000.html

UPDATE
Nine-year-old sets Alcatraz escape record

A nine-year-old boy has succeeded where hardened criminals have failed by successfully swimming across the freezing and shark-infested waters between San Francisco's Alcatraz prison and the shore.

Schoolboy Johnny Wilson has become the youngest person ever to swim the 2.2-kilometre stretch of water between the notorious prison, which is set on an island, and the West Coast city of San Francisco.

US television station KCBS reports Johnny completed the daring swim in one hour and eight minutes - seven minutes faster than his coach had predicted.

"The beginning was the hardest because I just got in and it was cold," the trembling boy said after reaching shore.

Johnny's achievement, for which he trained for three months, is no mean feat.

No successful escape by a prisoner was officially recorded during the history of the jail, which closed in 1963 after 29 years of operation.

In 1962, three would-be escapees disappeared from the island prison and were never heard of again, leaving a mystery as to whether they made it safely across the treacherous waters or were eaten by sharks or drowned en route.

Johnny's coach Rick Murray was in an escort boat and noticed the boy starting to tire at the 1.6-kilometre mark.

"He looked around, he looked ahead and he could almost see the opening," he said.

"At that point he could almost smell the barn and I noticed his stroke picked up and he got past that one moment that all endurance athletes have to go through. He put his head down, he tucked his chin and did it."


http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1479110.htm

Geez, I hate cold water!!!!!

What about the sharks?? How do they keep them away???

I think his parents need to have their heads examined!:furious:

I think I agree.


I also think that if a 9 YO could do it with only 3 months trainng then a criminal could have done it with the motivating factor of having to go back to prison.

poco said:

What about the sharks?? How do they keep them away???

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I have read that sharks don't usually bother humans if the human is not attracting attention. If the kid got into trouble in the water and started thrashing around, or if he got cut and began to bleed, there might be a problem. But I don't think sharks would bother to attack him while he was merrily swimming along, as there is easier prey.

Plus, I don't think this kid was alone. I bet he had someone in a raft alongside him the whole time who could have rescued him if necessary.

My boyfriend, incidentally, says sharks don't like the taste of humans: they take one bite and then go away, presumably gagging. The problem is, one bite is usually enough to be fatal.

Linda7NJ said:

I think his parents need to have their heads examined!:furious:

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That's what I was thinking when I read the first post. Then to see a little girl's parents allowed her to do so as well!!!! WTF? :doh:

I thought there was some kind of law now that prevented children from doing such dangerous things. I recall reading something about it after a very young child died while flying a plane. If I recall correctly Guinness no longer has such categories.

But then again...I could be recalling it all wrong

If something goes wrong and something bad happens to that child I would hope his parents will be held criminally responsible!