Karen Rogers cancels Farallones swim

(07-02) 10:32 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A woman who hoped to become the third person ever to swim about 30 miles from the Farallon Islands to the mainland called off an attempt early Friday after high winds and 12-foot waves made the seas too dangerous to cross.

Karen Rogers may have to wait weeks or months to make another attempt, one of her coaches said.

Rogers, 43, had planned to jump into the frigid, shark-infested waters near the Farallones at 3 a.m., but the boat she traveled in encountered choppy seas and unexpected rough weather.

"The conditions were so rough that we didn't even make it all the way out to the Farallones," Rogers wrote on her blog. "I never put my suit on or had the chance to get in the water.

"The emotions are just starting to set in right now. I am going to sleep it off and go back to the drawing board."

Bob Roper, one of Rogers' coaches, said it appeared the high seas would run through the weekend, reducing Rogers' chances of making another attempt before Wednesday, a self-imposed deadline.

"The window doesn't look good," Roper said. "That's one of the biggest challenges with this swim; you're taking your chances with the weather, and it's unpredictable."

Roper said calmer seas outside the Golden Gate generally arrive during the fall. But that's also when the shark population in the area rises.

"Karen's a fighter," Roper said. "She's not a quitter. It might not happen soon, but it will happen. She'll conquer this swim."

Rogers, who lives in Lake Tahoe, trained for nearly a year to complete the swim. She expected to be in the 54-degree water for 14 to 16 hours.

Two men swam from the Farallones to the mainland in 1967, but no one is known to have done it since. At least six have come up short. Two weeks ago, a six-person relay attempt ended when the fifth swimmer became disoriented.

E-mail the writers at wkane@sfchronicle.com and jberton@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page C - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle