HAVANA â Australian Chloe McCardel will battle exposure, swift sea currents, stinging jellyfish, sharp-toothed sharks and her own physical limits when she attempts a record swim from Cuba to Florida this week.
The 29-year-old, who is bidding to become the first person to make the 100-mile (161-kilometer) Straits of Florida crossing without the protection of a shark cage, said Monday that the challenge has great allure for top athletes.
"At the moment it's the most high-profile marathon long-distance swim, and swimmers really want to come here and be the first," McCardel said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It's very important; it's like winning a gold medal."
American Diana Nyad and Australian Penny Palfrey have attempted the crossing four times between them since 2011, but each time threw in the towel part way through due to injury, jellyfish stings or strong currents. Australian Susie Maroney did it in 1997, but with a shark cage.
Seated on a terrace at the Hemingway Marina in Havana, where she arrived late Sunday, a smiling McCardel said she hopes to help bring Cubans and Americans closer by symbolically bridging the gap.
"I would very much love to encourage people to come here as tourists and to engage more with Cuba ... to promote travel and great relations with Cuba," she said. "From what I'm learning it's a very beautiful country, and I feel privileged to have been invited here."
Most U.S. travel to Cuba is barred under Washington's 51-year embargo against the island, although Americans are increasingly coming here on legal cultural exchanges and family visits.
The two nations have been at odds since shortly after the 1959 Cuban Revolution ushered in Fidel Castro's Communist-run government, leading to decades of mutual suspicion and bad relations between Washington and Havana.
