»9-year old swims gap between Alcatraz and shore«

A nine-year-old boy has succeeded where hardened criminals have failed by successfully swimming across the freezing and shark-infested waters between San Francisco's Alcatraz prison and the shore.

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

US television station KCBS reports Johnny completed the daring swim in one hour and eight minutes - seven minutes faster than his coach had predicted.

"The beginning was the hardest because I just got in and it was cold," the trembling boy said after reaching shore.

Johnny's achievement, for which he trained for three months, is no mean feat.

No successful escape by a prisoner was officially recorded during the history of the jail, which closed in 1963 after 29 years of operation.

In 1962, three would-be escapees disappeared from the island prison and were never heard of again, leaving a mystery as to whether they made it safely across the treacherous waters or were eaten by sharks or drowned en route.

Johnny's coach Rick Murray was in an escort boat and noticed the boy starting to tire at the 1.6-kilometre mark.

"He looked around, he looked ahead and he could almost see the opening," he said.

"At that point he could almost smell the barn and I noticed his stroke picked up and he got past that one moment that all endurance athletes have to go through. He put his head down, he tucked his chin and did it."

The swim has raised $30,000 for a charity helping victims of Hurricane Katrina, which battered the southern US coast on August 29.

The boy's relieved mother says she is proud of his historic achievement.

"I was nervous but excited for him," Leslie Wilson said.

"He's a good kid. He's excited about it and he's thrilled to have his friends who have been working on a fundraiser with him."