Susie Maroney: Caribbean swims

Susie Maroney: Caribbean swims

Straits of Florida #

Route #

  • Body of water: Straits of Florida
  • Route type: one-way
  • Start location: Malecon sea wall, Havana, Cuba
  • Finish location: Zachary Taylor State Park, Florida
  • Route distance: 103.25 miles (166.2 km)

Rules #

Deviations from unassisted rules: shark cage

Swim Data #

  • Start: 12 May 1997 11:45 local time
  • Finish: 13 May 1997 HH:MM TZ
  • Elapsed: 24:31

Media Coverage #

Associated Press: May 13, 1997 #

Australian Is the First Woman To Swim From Cuba to Florida

Battling nausea, stinging jellyfish, high seas and hallucinations of monkeys, an Australian swam 118 miles from Cuba to Florida today to become the first woman to cross the shark-infested straits.

Susie Maroney’s team said she was the first person to swim the Florida Straits from Cuba to the Keys, a claim that was disputed before she even reached land.

About four and a half hours after Ms. Maroney, 22, finished, she fainted on live television while talking to reporters on the beach. Her doctor said that she was dehydrated and immediately regained consciousness and that she returned to her hotel room to rest.

She swam for 24 1/2 hours inside a 28-by-8-foot cage for protection from sharks before climbing out of the surf at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in the Florida Keys, badly sunburned and covered with welts from jellyfish stings. Her tongue was swollen from the salt water.

“It was the best feeling in the world,” she said. “I was so glad to touch sand. Definitely, your dreams can come true. So many times you think, ‘I just don’t want to keep going.’ "

Walter Poenisch made the crossing in 1978 at age 64, but critics said no independent observers watched the trip to verify that he had been unassisted all the way. Unlike Ms. Maroney, he used flippers. His time was 34 hours and 15 minutes.

Ms. Maroney said her team worked with the Guinness Book of World Records to make sure she met all requirements, including having an independent observer aboard an escort boat. Guinness officials could not be reached for comment.

Ms. Maroney’s trip began at about noon on Sunday when she jumped into the water at Havana’s Malecon sea wall after being slathered in petroleum jelly to fend off jellyfish, protect her from the sun and keep her body warm.

The 5-foot-6, 127-pound marathon swimmer made the journey inside her cage attached to her escort boat. She was helped by a swift current and relatively good weather but had to contend with 15-foot seas.

She said she replayed in her head episodes of “Seinfeld” and her favorite pop songs to keep her spirits up.

source

Tampa Bay Times: May 14, 1997 #

Yucatan Straits #

Media Coverage #

CNN: June 1, 1998

Australian completes record Mexico-Cuba swim

HAVANA (CNN) - Australian marathon swimmer Susie Maroney overcame choppy seas, stinging jellyfish and uncooperative bureaucrats to set what organizers say is a world record for an unassisted distance swim in open water.

“I am just so sore and so glad it’s finally over!” said the exhausted 23-year-old after staggering up Las Tumbas beach in darkness at 5:03 a.m. Monday.

Maroney spent 38 hours and 33 minutes in the shark- and jellyfish-infested waters to become the first person to swim an estimated 123 miles across the Yucatan Straits. She left Isla Mujeres, Mexico, at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Maroney made most of the crossing in a cage designed to protect her from sharks. But as she left the cage and swam the last stretch toward the remote cove at Cuba’s western end in darkness, her brothers swam with her to protect her from sharks.

When her feet touched the sandy bottom, she let out a muffled cry of pain and relief.

Cuban officials, international journalists and members of her support team – waiting on the remote Caribbean beach – burst into applause, and organizers sent the news out to the world by satellite telephone.

Breathless and barely able to carry her own weight, Maroney had to be helped out of the water by her brothers. She winced in pain at the jellyfish stings which a special Lycra swimsuit and the shark cage failed to prevent.

But there was no hiding her joy.

“Now I’m all sore and everything, but it’s just the best feeling when you hit land and you see your family’s faces and they’re so proud of you,” said Maroney, her own face a mixture of physical pain and mental delight.

A doctor examined Maroney, and event coordinator Joe Pignatiello told Reuters by telephone: “She’s in good health.”

Asked what the worst part was, she said, “Definitely the night. That was the worst bit.”

“The waves were just so much bigger than last time,” said Maroney, who last year became the first person to swim across the Florida Straits from Cuba to Florida, a journey of 108 miles (173 km). “I swallowed so much water. It was really bad.”

“The first night, the seas were very rough,” said Dr. Michael Smith, Maroney’s physician. “She had quite a bit of seasickness and some vomiting, so we reduced her to small sips of liquids every hour and small bits of baby food.”

But Maroney also said that “as soon as I got through the night, I knew that I would be OK. If I’d gone that far, I wouldn’t quit.”

Intended to swim 145 miles

Maroney reached Las Tumbas after being obliged to swim several extra miles along the coast when Cuban authorities refused to allow her to come ashore at a lighthouse at Cabo de San Antonio and recommended she continue to the beach.

She was also forced to begin her swim a day late when Mexican authorities insist she sign a waiver absolving them of any responsibility should something go wrong.

Maroney prepared for her ordeal on a diet of baby foods, marshmallows and custard, and originally intended to swim 145 miles (233 km) from Isla Mujeres to Maria La Gorda in Cuba.

But as she neared Cuba’s western tip, the Cape of San Antonio, late Sunday, she decided to shorten the final part of the swim and come ashore.

Rough seas during the early part of the trip partly damaged her sharkproof cage, and a hole in the mesh of the cage was patched with a net. Her crew had been especially worried about the danger from sharks when Maroney left the cage at the end of the swim to reach the shore.

After a brief stop on Las Tumbas beach, Maroney boarded her support boat and headed for the Cuban capital of Havana.

Asked what new challenges lay ahead, the swimmer said she wanted to rest in Cuba a couple of days first. Then, she said, “There’s always something that I want to do, but I can’t think of it just now.”

Jamaica to Cuba #

  • Crew & Roles: Pauline Maroney, Sean Maroney, Danny Hatcher

Route #

  • Body of water: Cayman Trough
  • Route type: one-way
  • Start location: Montego Bay, Jamaica
  • Finish location: Marea del Portillo, Cuba
  • Route distance:

Rules #

Deviations from unassisted rules: shark cage

Swim Data #

  • Start: 1999 September 13 HH:MM TZ
  • Finish: 1999 September 14 19:MM local time
  • Elapsed: 35:30