T O P I C R E V I E W
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AL STOCK
Member # 1852
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posted
Info on www.ktvu.com
SAN FRANCISCO -- A 9-year-old boy Monday accomplished what the nation's toughest criminals never could -- swimming the frigid, shark-infested distance between Alcatraz island and the San Francisco shoreline.
Johnny Wilson, a fourth grader from Hillsborough, swam the 1.4-mile in under two hours and became one of the youngest swimmers to ever to accomplish the feat. Wilson's swim raised money for Hurricane Katrina victims and he had already drummed up $30,000 in donations.
Wilson -- surrounded by cheering classmates -- said the most difficult part of the swim was the start.
"The hardest was the start," he said. "It was the hardest because I just got in and was all cold and everything."
Once the beach at Aquatic Park near Fisherman's Wharf came into view, the youngster said he began telling himself -- "I Kept on going -- 'I'm almost there, I'm also there.'"
Once on the beach, a beaming Wilson said: "I'm really, really excited...It was really tiring."
Just after sunrise, Johnny took a boat out to the infamous prison island, jumped off at low tide and swam back in a trip that took about an hour.
He knew the swim was dangerous and that it killed several inmates who drowned in the arctic waters as they tried to escape. The prison closed in 1963 and never officially recorded an escape.
Johnny said he has been training in the Bay to get used to the cold water temperature, and now actually enjoys the sensation.
"This is nothing," he said after a practice this week. "This is easy. This is just the way I like it."
But Johnny's mom, Leslie, said she was worried about her son's safety.
"I always ask people if they've seen sharks," she said. "They tell me there haven't been any shark sightings, but I keep looking anyway."
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two-gun kid
Member # 5891
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that pretty amazing for a 9 yr old, he did it for a good cause
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cobraracer46
Member # 1142
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The kid did the swim in a little under 2 hours. When I did the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon a while back, the same swim took me somthing like 40 minuets, so kid did good.
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9Roush8
Member # 2472
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Thats crazy, my dad did that swim a few years back... pretty crazy.
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six 5.0
Member # 3153
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TEST TUBE BABY.......... J/K good for him.
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Bizob
Member # 3768
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Thats awesome, and its even more awesome that he did it for a good cause.
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DOPE 50
Member # 5892
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that kid is crazy but props to him
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sharkattack
Member # 645
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Shark infested waters? Even if it were true, so what.
Pretty impressive for a kid.
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shiftylx
Member # 2670
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haha, typical mom, don't praise the kid, worry about friggin sharks in the water.
oh, i mean sharks with frikkin laser beams on their head
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sharkattack
Member # 645
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quote: Originally posted by shiftylx: haha, typical mom, don't praise the kid, worry about friggin sharks in the water.
oh, i mean sharks with frikkin laser beams on their head
hahahahaha
I hava clllraaaap thata chooke a donkaaay!
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NavidR
Member # 3164
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quote: Originally posted by two-gun kid: that pretty amazing for a 9 yr old, he did it for a good cause
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Luke87GT
Member # 21
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haha, very cool...
Jack LaLane failed at this, but he was in his 80's when he tried it, lol
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