Boy, 7, completes swim from Alcatraz

[auntAgonist]

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- A 7-year-old boy has become one of the youngest, if not the youngest, person to swim from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco's Aquatic Park.

Braxton Bilbrey is a second-grader from Glendale, Arizona, who has completed several short-scale youth triathlons.

Bilbrey was accompanied on the estimated 1.4-mile swim by his coach, two other swimmers and a Coast Guard boat.

<snip>

Asked what the hardest part was, he replied: "The swimming."

:rofl:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/22/alcatraz.swim.ap/index.html


Have to wonder whose idea it was to have a 7 year old swim from Alcatraz to SF. I don't think I'd want my 7 year old doing it! :shrug:

aA

[sasquatch]

1. Dude, most healthy fit adults couldn't do that

It has cold water, violent waters, and it's heavily shark infested with GREAT WHITES!!
:scared:
Fuck all that shit.

[LeftyMom]

2. The whites don't really go in the bay

Now the waters just outside of the bay have large and numerous white sharks, but they stay out there where the elephant seals and migrating whales are for the most part. They have a higher fat content than the steller's sea lions in the bay, which makes them a better food source for a hungry warm bodied creature such as a white shark.

I still wouldn't put so much as a toe in that water though. It only takes one shark to prove me wrong and ruin my whole day.

[bleedingheart]

3. so your saying a white shark going at a good clip could have eaten this

kid....

[Aiptasia]

4. These kids today

Heh. When I first heard about this story, I thought to myself, "Kids are turning to a life of crime younger and younger these days."

And who names their kid "Braxton Bilbrey?" You'd just be guaranteeing the kid multiple ass kickings in grade school with a whitebread prep school name like that.

[azmouse]

5. He's from my town!

From the AZ Republic:
He is using the swim to help raise money and awareness for drowning prevention in Arizona. Last winter, Braxton saw a story in Splash magazine about a 9-year-old boy who made the crossing and asked his coach, Joe Zemaitis, if he thought he could do it. Zemaitis said, "Sure," thinking Braxton meant sometime before he turned 9.


http://www.azcentral.com/community/glendale/articles/0522AlcatrazSwim22-ON.html

[auntAgonist]

7. that IS awesome indeed. n/t

[GCP]

6. I think he did a fantastic job

1.4 miles in 47 minutes - that little rugrat is a fast swimmer!
Good for him, he's a hero in my book. :D

[gardenista]

8. I'm with you! That water is ccccccccooooooold!

Good for you, Braxton!