Seeing a woman wearing a cardboard shark fin swim in the Triton Fountain, Valletta, last week was a bizarre sight. Even more surprising is that 31-year-old Katya Mifsud did not grow a mutant limb or catch an infection from the murky water most would cringe to dip a finger in.

"I can't say I'm surprised. I took all the necessary precautions. I had a mouth piece, goggles and ear plugs. I only suffered from reddened knees which I scraped against the bottom of the fountain," Ms Mifsud said.

Grazed knees were a small price to pay in exchange for the €1,000 she was awarded for maintaining her part of the dare and swim round the fountain five times donning the fin.

Last week, Ms Mifsud was cheered on by her family, bus drivers, tourists and the media who gathered to watch her 15 minutes of fame in the centre of Malta's main bus terminus. The event was the culmination of the Bay Radio Crazy Dare challenge set during the breakfast show Abel and Elinor.

Luckily for Ms Mifsud the fountain had been cleaned out four days before she immersed herself inside it. Almost one ton of waste was removed from the water.

As an extra precaution after her swim, Ms Mifsud's father-in-law poured antiseptic soapy water over her to reduce the risk of infection. And after rinsing off any slime and tending to her red knees she went on to make good use of her prize money and splash out on a new remote-controlled garage door, which she already ordered. Not bad for a day's swim.