#671: Australian Swimmer Plans Haiti-Cuba Bid Reuters100599 from Slavin (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:JPS390@aol.com

Australian marathon swimmer plans Haiti-Cuba bid

  
HAVANA, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Fresh from her grueling Jamaica-Cuba swim through 
storm-churned waters, Australian marathon swimmer Susie Maroney is planning 
another aquatic feat. 

Cuba's state news agency, Prensa Latina, said Maroney, 24, plans to become 
the first person to attempt to swim the 50 miles (80 kms) from Haiti to Cuba. 

If she does it, Prensa Latina said, it would be Maroney's 10th world record. 

Cuban President Fidel Castro, a fan of Maroney's, in September honoured her 
as a ``heroine of world sport'' for her marathon swims to and from the 
island. 

Maroney, who considers Cuba her second home, picked up the award just days 
after her 90-mile (145-km) swim through shark-infested waters from Jamaica to 
Cuba. 

The accomplishment, completed in 36 hours, was more difficult because of 
storm-whipped seas from Hurricane Floyd. She swam the entire way inside a 
shark cage designed and donated by Castro. 

Maroney swam from Cuba to the United States in 1996 and from Mexico to Cuba 
in 1998. 

17:17 10-05-99

Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.