Penny Palfrey beyond halfway point in Cuba-Florida swim

CREATED Jun. 30, 2012

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KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) -- Endurance swimmer Penny Palfrey has muscled past the halfway mark as she pushes through the Florida Straits in her attempt to become the first woman to swim unassisted more than 100 miles from Cuba to the Florida Keys.
 
Her support team says the British-born Australian is swimming steady and strong and reports no physical complaints except some jellyfish stings. The 20-year veteran of distance swimming is no stranger to jellyfish stings. They forced her to abort two past swims in Hawaii.
 
According to her web site's GPS tracking report, at about 4:30 p.m. EDT roughly 34 hours into the swim, the 49-year-old grandmother was 69 miles from her starting point at a marina in the Cuban capital. She was positioned about 38 miles southwest of Key West.
 
Palfrey set off from Havana early Friday.