A world-class long-distance swimmer…
Back in the 1970s, Diana Nyad was a long-distance swimmer without parallel, breaking numerous world records, including the mark (which has since been broken) she set in 1975 for circling Manhattan Island, a swim that hadn’t been attempted in half a century. Following an unsuccessful try at swimming 100 miles from Cuba to Florida in 1978 (due to poor weather conditions and difficult currents), she made a 102.5-mile swim from the Bahamas to Florida in 1979, setting a record that has yet to be broken.
… who didn’t swim for more than 30 years…
Following that long swim, Nyad seemingly abandoned swimming. She turned to journalism, working in TV, radio and print, including such outlets as CNBC, ABC, NPR and the New York Times among others. But despite the apparent burnout from swimming, there was something still gnawing at her, after all those years, something that would make itself much more clear in 2009. As she noted on her website, “… approaching 60 last year threw me into the existential angst of wondering what I had done with my life. I felt choked by how little time seemed left.” So she started to swim again, first just a few laps, but then her workouts started to increase, as did her motivation.
… and now plans to swim from Cuba to Florida.
And now, more than 30 years after her first attempt, she’s going to try and fulfill her dream of swimming from Cuba to Florida, and, as she noted, “this time, without a shark cage.” Yikes. To prepare for that grueling swim, this Saturday Nyad will take her first test swim, aiming to swim for 24 hours consecutively off the Florida coast. To keep tabs on her swim, you can go to KCRW, which will be posting updates when available, or you can follow Nyad on Twitter. And because the swim from Cuba to Florida involves much more than just her, she’s looking for financial assistance, so you can donate here.
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Screengrab from DianaNyad via YouTube.