Nine-year-old completes Alcatraz swim

A NINE-YEAR-OLD boy has succeeded where hardened criminals failed by swimming the freezing, shark-infested waters between San Francisco’s Alcatraz prison and the shore.

Schoolboy Johnny Wilson on Sunday became the youngest person ever to swim the 2.2-kilometre stretch of water between the notorious prison set on an island and the West Coast city of San Francisco.

No successful escape was officially recorded during the history of the jail, which closed in 1963.

Johnny completed the daring swim in one hour and eight minutes.

“The beginning was the hardest because I just got in and it was cold,” he said after reaching the shore, trembling and with blue lips.

The swim raised €25,000 for Hurricane Katrina victims.