Marathon Swimmer Tackles Tampa Bay

ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- An Illinois woman will begin the New Year with a major achievement. Marcia Cleveland, 54, is swimming the 24 miles across Tampa Bay.

The top marathon swimmer began her journey from the Magnuson Hotel in St. Petersburg around 6 a.m. Dec. 31, and expects to complete her swim by 6 p.m.

While swimming across Tampa Bay is a challenge, it's one she's prepared to take on.

She's been a marathon swimmer for 27 years, tackling Lake Tahoe, the English Channel, Manhattan Island, Long Island Sound and Key West.

Compared to swimming the North Channel from Scotland to Ireland during in 53-degree waters on July 21, she said Tampa Bay's waters will feel like a bathtub. She finished that swim in 15 hours and three minutes.

"It was the toughest swim I’ve ever done," she said. "I am deeply humbled and grateful to have accomplished this swim. As I continue to reflect back, I am overcome by a sense of relief and, at times, a cringing sense how close I came to not making it. The North Channel has confounded countless more capable swimmers than myself, yet I was successful on my first attempt."

Images via Marcia Cleveland

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