Marathon swimmer Penny Palfrey halts her bid to complete unassisted swim from Cuba to Florida

By Associated Press | Abbey Westbury
July 01 2012 01:40 AM

CP19259868 — British-Australian swimmer Penny Palfrey, adjusts her goggles before jumping into the water to begin her bid to complete a record swim from Cuba to Florida, in Havana, Cuba, Friday, June 29, 2012. Palfrey aims to be the first woman to swim the Straits of Florida without the aid of a shark cage. Instead she\'s relying on equipment that surrounds her with an electrical field to deter the predators. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

KEY WEST, Fla. – A support team member says endurance swimmer Penny Palfrey has ended her effort to become the first woman to swim unassisted from Cuba to the Florida Keys, about three quarters of the way along.

Andrea Woodburn, one of the team members, says Palfrey halted her effort early Sunday about 26 miles south of Key West because of a strong ocean current.

Woodburn says she was in contact with Palfrey’s boat and was told the swimmer had gotten out of the water right around midnight EDT. Woodburn says the British-born Australian is fine but gave no further details.

Palfrey had been swimming steady and strong and reported no physical complaints other than jellyfish stings earlier in the day on the more than 100-mile swim, according to her support team.

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