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[XiaNaphryz]

Woman trying to go from Farallones to bay:

Rogers, 43, plans to start from the rocky shores of the Farallones at 2 a.m. Friday, weather permitting. It should take her 14 to 16 hours, and if she does it - and no one has since 1967 - she'll become the third person known to have accomplished the swim.

To put the distance in perspective, the Farallones-to-San Francisco swim is about 6 miles longer than the English Channel swim, and the water is as much as 10 degrees colder. And did we mention the sharks?

The first successful crossing took place in 1967, after a friendly competition broke out between two famed open-water swimmers - Army Lt. Col. Stewart Evans and a Swede named Ted Erikson.

Erikson's first try in August 1966 was slowed by three sharks, which were chased away with gunshots from a pilot boat when they got within 50 feet of him.

He had to give up after 17 hours - just 2 miles short of the mainland - when he developed hypothermia. When he was pulled into the boat, his left cheek and forearms were covered with jellyfish stings.

Erikson tried again a few weeks later, but extreme sea sickness from a 30-foot swell forced him to quit.

Rogers packed on about 15 pounds of "good fat" to insulate her from hypothermia and provide energy. She's intending to swim in goggles, cap and swimsuit, but not a wetsuit.

She will have to maintain a steady pace - about 68 to 72 strokes per minute to keep her body warm enough, yet not exhaust her.

A flotilla will surround her and chart her course; she'll stop only to chug nutrient-loaded drinks, being careful not to touch the boats.

"I've always felt more comfortable in the water than on land," Rogers said. "Ever since I was a kid. I feel like I belong there, passing through, trying to move from one place to the other. With that thought in mind, I'm really at ease."

Meanwhile - Great white shark warning off California:

(07-01) 08:35 PDT Ventura, Calif. (AP) -- The National Park Service is warning surfers, snorkelers and swimmers that it's the great white shark birthing season off the California coast and the creatures are making their presence known as they attack seals.

Sea lions were recently attacked by great whites on three occasions off Santa Barbara Island, a popular snorkeling area about 40 miles south of Ventura.

A weekend great white off Santa Barbara's East Beach led officials to keep youngsters in the Junior Lifeguard program on the beach Monday and Tuesday. On Sunday, a great white pup was found dead at Rincon Beach.

Marine Conservation Science Institute president Michael Domeier says pregnant females give birth this time of year in shallow California waters.

 

[emomoonbase]

what could possibly go wrong?

 

[itxaka]

 

[Clydefrog]

She's going to go into shock or go into a shark.

Best of luck!

 

[Barkley's Justice]

thread title made me lul. ps - thats far as shit, that swim. the water isnt even blue. it's like black. deep blue. whatever you want to call it. it's crazy.

 

[MisterHero]

it's okay because the baby sharks will eat the other baby sharks

 

[CrocMother]

She will be surrounded by boats while she is swimming so it doesn't matter.

 

[Lamel]

Clever but I think this meme is getting a little stale

Anyway, that swim is amazing, good luck to her and hopefully she's now devoured.

 

[SapientWolf]

She's going to go into shock or go into a shark.

Best of luck!

Those aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

 

[pakkit]

Anyway, that swim is amazing, good luck to her and hopefully she's now devoured.

Hmmm.

 

[OptimoPeach]

I hope she simultaneously drowns and gets eaten by sharks

 

[XiaNaphryz]

She will be surrounded by boats while she is swimming so it doesn't matter.

Pretty sure a shark can swim under the boats and strike without being seen.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Swimmer cancels Farallones-to-mainland bid:

(07-02) 10:32 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A woman who was hoping to become the third person ever to swim the 30 miles from the Farallon Islands to San Francisco said early today that she had been forced to cancel the attempt because of rough seas.

Karen Rogers, 43, had planned to jump into the frigid, shark-infested waters near the Farallones at 3 a.m. She called off the swim after the National Weather Service issued a small-craft advisory and predicted 6- to 8-foot swells outside the Golden Gate.

"The conditions were so rough that we didn't even make it all the way out to the Farallones," Rogers wrote on her blog. "I never put my suit on or had the chance to get in the water.

"The emotions are just starting to set in right now," she wrote. "I am going to sleep it off and go back to the drawing board."

There was no indication if or when Rogers might attempt the crossing.

Rogers, who lives at Lake Tahoe, trained for nearly a year to complete the swim. She expected to be in the 54-degree water for 14 to 16 hours.

Two men swam from the Farallones to the mainland in 1967, but no one is known to have done it since. At least six have come up short. Two weeks ago, a six-person relay attempt ended when the fifth swimmer became disoriented.

Well that was anti-climactic.