A seven-year-old Arizona boy successfully completed the 2.2-kilometre swim from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco's Aquatic Park on Monday.

Braxton Bilbrey was accompanied by his coach and two other adults as he swam the chilly tidal waters of San Francisco Bay.

His father scooped him out of the water when he finished the swim as reporters and photographers gathered around.

"I'm so proud of him," Steve Bilbrey said.

"I think it's pretty cool," said Braxton, who has completed several youth triathlons and says he wants to tackle the English Channel next.

Braxton completed the swim in under two hours and will donate any money raised from the event to charity.

A second-grader from Glendale, Ariz., Braxton said he was inspired when a nine-year-old boy made the swim from Alcatraz last year. Johnny Wilson, from Hillsborough, Calif., swam the course in October.

Each year, athletes from around the world swim the distance as part of the annual Escape from Alcatraz triathlon.

Before it was closed in 1963, Alcatraz was home to some of the most notorious criminals in the United States, including legendary mobster Al Capone.



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Jack lalanne once swam it with handcuffs on.

Also used a paddleboard to go from the farallons to San Francisco which is FUCKING CRAZY. It's 30 miles and took him 9 hours.

His parents should be killed. Slowly.

What a stupid foolhardy thing to force a child to do.

you don't let kids throw curveballs and you don't let kids run long distances before their growth plates settle down in their mid-teens. a triathalon is a ridiculously stupid thing to do to your child.

There's no irony that a kid from Phoenix is concerned about water safety. None whatsoever.

When I was 9 years old I swam across the Ohio river! It took me eleven hours!

The Ohio is only about three hundred yards wide in some areas, but it was mid January and the Ohio is frozen three feet thick that time of year! Being as I was about 200 lbs. at 9 years old and subsisted mainly off of red pop, pork rhinds and twinkies I had no problems breaking through the ice!

After graduation I was recruited by the Lake Erie Coast Guard to be a cold water diver. They mainly wanted someone who was heavy enough to break through five feet of ice and swim down and get thier anchor back for them when it got stuck on the bottom.

My mom would'nt let me join though because she said that showing off is a sin and if I left who would mow the grass?

PHATBOY