USA: Nine-year-old boy swims treacherous stretch of San Francisco Bay from Alcatraz to mainland
- 00:01:39
- ITN Source
USA: Nine-year-old boy swims treacherous stretch of San Francisco Bay from Alcatraz to mainland
A nine-year-old boy finished a swim from legendary Alcatraz island across cold, and dangerous waters, to San Francisco on Monday (October 10). Johnny Wilson swam the 1.4 miles (2.25 kilometres) in 62 degree Fahrenheit (16.67 degrees Celsius) water in just under two hours to raise 30,000 U.S. dollars for the American Red Cross' Hurricane Katrina relief effort. When he reached the shore, Wilson was greeted by friends, and a very proud father. "It was really tiring," a shivering Wilson said. The swimmer said the hardest part of the swim was the beginning. "The beginning was the hardest because I was all cold and everything because I just got in," Wilson said. Johnny Wilson and his friends solicited sponsors for the swim. Wilson said they raised the 30,000 dollars (USD), which would be contributed to an American Red Cross fund set up specifically to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. Choppy water, dangerous tides, cold temperatures, and sharks have made swimming that stretch of San Francisco Bay legendary for it's danger. One of the reasons the prison at Alcatraz was considered so secure was the protection the hazardous environment provided.
ITN Source | October 15, 2005
