over the trench

The Rottnest swim is this month, and the number of news stories about the event should move from a trickle to a shower.

Here's one from WA Today: a 23-year-old from Melbourne wants to swim there. And back. And to Rottnest again. All in the one go.

'Only two people have completed a double crossing, so McCardel wants to create race history and go the extra distance.

"The longest I've ever swum is 40 kilometres and that's in a pool so I'm looking for a challenge and a lot of excitment and to be part of the history, so that will do that all in one go," McCardel said.'

Ye gods. She has a nice pink cap, so good luck to her. Here's some insight from another swimmer about the swim, which goes over the Rottnest Trench:

"One of the things I found during my first swims across there is that you're going across very deep water. I used to have my eyes open in the water and you'd see very dark shapes in the deep water and it really freaks you out," he said. "You don't know if it's a big fish, because you do see stingrays over there and dolphins and sometimes hammerhead sharks, or if it's a cloud creating a reflection or a big mass of seaweed so one of my suggestions is don't look … you're better off not knowing."