"attempted by" is correct and can be used in written English.
For example, you could say "The task was attempted by several brave souls, but none of them succeeded."
This was attempted by a proxy fight.
15 Jumped or attempted by Evel Knievel.
Augustus attempted by legislation and propaganda to inculcate moral ideals.
Moser draws a parallel between it and the "cubist portraits in words" attempted by Gertrude Stein.
So it is probably best not attempted by brain surgeons or anyone whose job actually matters.
There should never be any condoning of child assault, as attempted by Hughes or anyone else.
Speakman said it was the largest reintroduction program attempted by any government in Australia.
It can only be attempted by the richest of countries which have low refugee numbers.
As it happens, the last human rescue attempted by Parks employees occurred in 2002.
This was attempted by one highly sophisticated, historically Christian nation in our century, Nazi Germany".
A total of 19 have been attempted by Russia (and the Soviet Union before it).
