Bay Area Woman Makes History With 17-Hour Endurance Swim

PACIFICA, CA — A Pacifica endurance swimmer, nurse and grandmother notched herself a place in the history books over the weekend, swimming nearly 30 miles to complete what many consider the world's most difficult marathon swim, according to The Mercury News.

Amy Appelhans Gubser, 55, worked her usual shift at UC San Francisco's fetal cardiology unit Friday, clocking out just hours before embarking on the historic adventure early Saturday.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the 29.7-mile trek from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Farallon Islands presents swimmers with considerable hazards, including rough patches of water that ran as cold as 43 degrees. As The Mercury News notes, the path takes swimmers directly through the "shark-infested" Red Triangle, accompanied only by a support team on a fishing boat.

Gubser reached the goal buoy swim in 17 hours, joining just five others who completed the trek in the opposite direction, and becoming the first to do so starting from San Francisco.

>> Read more about Gubser's adventure via The San Francisco Chronicle and The Mercury News.