'Terrified': CA Swimmer Attempts Infamous 30-Mile Ocean Swim: Report

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A 32-year-old marathon swimmer has cast herself into one of the most difficult open swims on Earth: a 30-mile route from Farallones to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Catherine Breed told the San Francisco Chronicle that she's "terrified."

"My mom doesn't want me to do it."

She embarked on the swim early Tuesday and expects to end early in the afternoon. She expects it will take her between 12 and 15 hours, she told the Chronicle.

If she finishes, she would become the seventh person in the 150 years of recorded open-swimming history to have made it between the remote islands to the bridge. Four men have made it, and in the past 10 years, two Bay Area women.

The waters are frigid, even during the summer. The tides are extremely powerful and generate dangerous currents. And not to mention the great white sharks that swim to the Farallones this time of year to hunt.

To keep Breed safe from the white sharks, her team will follow in a fishing boat and a kayak and tow Shark Shields.

Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle: California swimmer attempting notorious 30-mile ocean swim from Farallones to S.F.