Woman Begins Cuba-to-Florida Swim

Fighting choppy seas, Susie Maroney entered the water off Havana on Saturday in her bid to become the first person to swim 110 miles across the Florida Straits to Key West. By nighttime, she was more than a third of the way there.

“She looks really good, and she’s feeling really good,” said Connie Pignatiello, president of the company that owns a boat traveling beside the swimmer. “When she was out of the [shark] cage this afternoon, a 40-foot whale swam right by, and [she] was pretty excited.”

Cheered on by 200 spectators, the 21-year-old Australian long-distance swimmer took to the seas inside a protective 28-by-8-foot shark cage topped by a canopy. She postponed her start twice because of poor weather and munched on marshmallows and seasickness pills.

In more than 50 tries by swimmers to cross the straits recognized by the Swimming Hall of Fame, none has been successful. If all goes well, Maroney’s journey should take about 50 hours and end Monday.

After 20 miles, Maroney decided to swim outside the shark cage because the waves were tossing it around, “causing too much water to go down her throat,” Pignatiello said. But calmer seas and winds farther in the straits allowed Maroney to use the cage, keep up a steady pace and swim 42 miles by Saturday night, Pignatiello said.

To achieve her goal, Maroney will not be allowed to grab the side of the cage, touch the bottom or get on board the boat for a break.

She will survive on a diet of warm chocolate milk, chopped bananas, high-nutrition cakes and other protein drinks. She doesn’t plan to sleep, and she’ll have hourly 10-minute breaks.

It’s an exhausting swim, Maroney admitted earlier in a phone interview from Havana.

But she’s not swimming solo. Maroney is accompanied by four boats, including a 50-foot Canadian tender. Her mother, Pauline, and brother Michael, along with swim coordinator Hugh Rule, are traveling with her to offer moral support.

Maroney is no stranger to long-distance swimming.

She is the record-holder of the double English Channel crossing for women, and also holds the record for the single English Channel crossing for both men and women.