ON THE SIDELINES : Marathon Swimmer Back on Course

The incoming tide helped pull marathon swimmer Vicki Keith back on course today in her attempt to cross the chilly Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Earlier in the day, choppy waves and a strong current pushed her slightly off course.

As of mid-morning, Keith was almost 7 1/2 miles northwest of Ediz Hook in Port Angeles, where she began her swim. But because she had been carried to the west by the current, she had covered only about 5 miles of the 19-mile-wide strait.

The 28-year-old swimming coach from Kingston, Ontario, is attempting to become the first person to make the crossing using the butterfly stroke and only the second person in 33 years to swim the strait separating Washington’s Olympic Peninsula from Vancouver Island, British Columbia.