LIHU‘E — The attempt at a seemingly impossible journey came to an unceremonious end Saturday night, as Penny Palfrey was forced to cut her Kaieiewaho Channel swim short more than halfway through after being stung by a jellyfish. Editor’s Note:
LIHU‘E — The attempt at a seemingly impossible journey came to an unceremonious end Saturday night, as Penny Palfrey was forced to cut her Kaieiewaho Channel swim short more than halfway through after being stung by a jellyfish.
Editor’s Note: This story is an updated version of what appears in Sunday’s newspaper. The latest report came in after the paper had gone to print.
LIHU‘E — The attempt at a seemingly impossible journey came to an unceremonious end Saturday night, as Penny Palfrey was forced to cut her Kaieiewaho Channel swim short more than halfway through after being stung by a jellyfish.
Palfrey, the 47-year-old grandmother from Australia, had to end her attempt at history after Jeff Kozlovich, her guide aboard a paddleboard, heard her scream out in pain.
Chronicling the trek on his blog and Twitter account, Kozlovich reported that within 10 minutes of the sting, Palfrey had a “violent reaction with cramping and nausea. At the point when she could only do 10 to 15 strokes without vomiting from pain it was decided that her swim had to come to an end.”
Kozlovich reported that she was brought on to the boat with welts on her arms, but that she is alright. The crew headed for Kaua‘i, where they were planning to spend the night before heading back to O‘ahu.
“We applaud her attempt and wish her well,” wrote Kozlovich, 50, an Ocean Safety Lifeguard and EMT from O‘ahu.
The 72-mile, nonstop, unaided swim would have the first ever completed attempt through the Kaieiewaho Channel.
According to her followers, Palfrey was swimming over two miles per hour during the opening stages of her attempt.
The plan was to reach Kaua‘i’s South Shore at some time this morning, with the final destination dependent on her travel path.
Though the day didn’t end the way Penny had hoped, her husband Chris finished off a rare feat of his own, swimming 26 miles from Molokai to O‘ahu in under 13 hours, according to Kozlovich.
Chris is now just the 12th person to complete that ocean swim.
