An Australian champ is hoping today to become the first woman to swim around Manhattan against the current — a grueling 28-mile marathon swim through swirling, debris-filled waters accomplished only once before.
Supporters estimate the course will take 18 hours for Penny Palfrey, a 46-year-old grandmother, to complete — more than twice as long as a swim in the other direction.
Palfrey, who has crossed the English Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar, will not take a break as she heads down the East River and back up the Hudson subsisting on liquid nutrients tossed from a support boat.