Diane Nyad

There are few things that I'd rather not do more than my not wanting to swim from Cuba to Florida (or the reverse). This has never been my dream. However, I am truly impressed by the guts of anyone willing to try it. In the case of Diane Nyad, she had the guts to, over a 35-year-period, attempt the 100+ mile swim from Cuba to Florida not once or twice, but five times. According to an article at CNN by Matt Sloane, Jason Hanna and Dana Ford, updated 8:23 AM EDT, Tue September 3, 2013:

The swim was a long-awaited triumph for Nyad, who was making her fifth attempt since 1978 and her fourth since turning 60.

The first four tries were marked by gut-wrenching setbacks; if the rough, strength-sapping seas didn't force her to quit, an hours-long asthma attack or paralyzing and excruciating jellyfish stings did.

But for this swim, besides donning a suit meant to protect her against her jellyfish nemesis, she wore a special mask to prevent jellyfish stings to her tongue, a key factor in her failed attempt last year.

Nyad, who was 29 when she first tried the swim, said last week that she wanted to show that "you can dream at any age."

"This time, I am 64. So, the years of my life are shorter to the end," she said at a news conference in Havana on Friday. "So this time I am, all the way across ... going to think about all those life lessons that came up during the swim."

But...that wasn't the end of Ms Nyad's story. She recently completed a 48-hour, 96-mile pool swim in New York to benefit the victims of last year's Hurricane Sandy hit to the upper east coast of the contiguous 48 states of the USA. According to Reuter's, in an article by Luke Swiderski, NEW YORK | Thu Oct 10, 2013 3:26pm EDT:

Her [Nyad's] 48-hour continuous charity swim in New York City raised more than $100,000 for Hurricane Sandy recovery, and came little more a month after the 64-year-old made her historic swim across the Straits of Florida. At 96 miles, her pool swim was shorter than her 110-mile (177-km) swim in the sea.

The fundraising total, still growing from online donations, was destined for AmeriCares, a humanitarian relief organization, which said it will use the funds to address the health needs of Hurricane Sandy survivors.

With more than 25,000 people still displaced from the storm, many survivors need help for basic healthcare access. Others face anxiety, depression and symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), said Lindsay O'Brien, who manages the organization's Hurricane Sandy Relief program.

Color me impressed. My hat is off to the intrepid Ms Nyad! I doubt that we have seen/read/heard the last from Ms Nyad.

I would be remiss were I to fail to credit Frazz by Jef Mallett for the idea behind this posting.

Comments

[Ingineer66]

She is awesome. I remember watching her first attempt on Wide World of Sports. That is great she finally made it and she is doing so much for charity.

[Cop Car]

Ingineer--You are ahead of me. I had no TV in those days. However, I probably saw it in a newspaper and have, since, forgotten.

[M.E.]

jellyfish stings by her tongue?? good god. hats off indeed! hats off to you for posting about her NY swim for charity. thanks!

[Hattie]

I've heard conflicting responses to her achievements, but I am totally impressed by her.