Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Following along the courageous, hard-nosed wake of her Australian predecessors like Annette Kellerman, Susie Maroney, Linda McGill, Shelley Taylor-Smith, Tammy van Wisse, Melissa Cunningham, and Penny Palfrey, 29-year-old Chloë McCardel has the DNA and confidence of an extreme athlete.

“The conditions are just about perfect,“ McCardel said about her 127 km (78.9-mile) ocean swim in the Bahamas where she will not benefit from any positive currents and most probably will face adverse currents. “The weather could become unsettled in the coming week, so it’s a great time to make a start. This is not a race, so the good conditions over the next few days means that I can pace myself, maintain a good rhythm and know that there is clear water is ahead of me for the next 127 kilometres or so.”

McCardel will begin her swim on Monday morning from Lighthouse Beach on the southern tip of Eleuthera and is expected to finish on Montague Beach at Nassau. Her progress will be tracked by GPS which can be followed here.

She is expected to swim through Monday night and part of Tuesday night before finishing what is being touted as the longest open water solo continuous unassisted marathon swim conducted under the auspices of the Marathon Swimmers Federation. While other organizations like the Guinness Book of World Records have recognized longer solo swims, McCardel’s swim is conducted under the most stringently defined rules of the Marathon Swimmers Federation.

Her team is accompanied by Channel Seven Australia, her television media partner for this attempt, David Barra representing the Marathon Swimmers Federation, and a select group of experienced professionals who will help confirm her record-setting swim. Her course can be tracked here.

Copyright © 2014 by World Open Water Swimming Association