An Australian woman is attempting to become the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage.

Chloe McCardel, 29, is setting off on the 103-mile (166-km) swim today.

The treacherous body of water known as the Florida Straits is the Holy Grail for marathon swimmers and has been conquered only once, by Susie Maroney, also Australian, who used a protective cage at age 22 during her 1997 swim that glided on ocean currents and enabled her to make the journey in just 25 hours.

Since 2011, four unsuccessful, uncaged swims have been attempted, three by American Diana Nyad and one by Australian Penny Palfrey, and in all, 20 people have tried and failed, McCardel said in a press conference on Tuesday at the Hemingway Marina west of Havana.

‘It’s the hardest marathon swim in the entire world,’ the blond, well-tanned 28-year-old told reporters.

‘This is like winning a World Cup in soccer or getting a world record and a gold medal at the Olympic Games, but it’s possibly harder because no one has been able to do it,’ said McCardel, who works as a first aid trainer in Melbourne.

McCardel trains 50 weeks a year and has a record of accomplishment that includes two double crossings of the English Channel.
She and her husband, Paul, did a thorough study of past failed attempts to see what could be done differently.

Based on their findings, they turned to science to increase the chance of success.

Like past swimmers, McCardel will be surrounded by an underwater electromagnetic field to keep sharks away.

Her support crew of 50 people includes a team of U.S.-based scientists, all experts on the Gulf Stream, to monitor the current and its constant changes as it flows toward the Atlantic Ocean.