Diana Nyad Becomes First to Swim from Cuba to Florida

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Category: World News

Published on Thursday, 05 September 2013 07:57

Written by Janet Walker

Long distance swimmer Diana Nyad, after four unsuccessful attempts, has become the first athlete in history to swim the Florida Straits from Havana, Cuba to the United States without a shark cage or fins.

Nyad, 64, who made repeated attempts to accomplish the 110 mile journey, each year, succumbing to nature’s interference and physical exhaustion, has finally achieved what no other human has ever achieved.

The fifth time, beginning August 31, 2013, proved to be a charm for the former competitive, who began the record shattering swim on August 31, 2013 and completed 53 hours later on September 2, 2013.

Her long distance swimming career in 1970, never an Olympian, Nyad became globally known for her strength and endurance and her ability to mentally dislocate herself from the situation.

Hoping to qualify for the 1968 Olympics, Nyad’s dream of swimming for the gold was sidelined due to endocarditis, an infection of the heart. Her long distance swimming abilities came to the attention of Buck Dawson who introduced her to marathon swimming. The rest, one can say, is history.

Nyad began her miracle swims accomplishing feats uncommon to most. Ten miles, 22 miles, 28 miles, finally in 1978, she launched her first attempt at swimming the Florida Straits. Facing the challenges as all external elements, including the weather, the sharks and jellyfish, which stopped her attempts in that year and in three subsequent attempts, all seem to give way to an historic bid for supremacy.

Nyad credits her early swimming triumphs to her anger and determination to overcome the trauma of sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather and her first swim coach, Jack Nelson. A frequent speaker on sexual abuse, Nyad never misses the opportunity to bring justice to her situation and to encourage those who have faced sexual assault that overcoming is possible.

The sea, the most unforgiving and dangerous of all foes and its predators became symbolic to the victory over sexual abuse and assault. Nyad has been quoted as saying, “I was swimming every stroke with anger at the man and that sexual abuse.”

Nayd’s triumph is one for all humans, who at 64, is among an elite group of explorers who chose to continue to pursue their dreams even after failure, fear and friends good intentions refused to stop the drive, the dream and desire.