The sharks weren’t the problem for Diana Nyad, who made her third attempt at the Cuba to Florida swim this year. It was the jelly fish. The Marathon swimmer gave up after forty hours in shark infested waters, without a shark cage, because her doctors told her that more stings from the Portuguese man o’ wars that had already left her face red and swollen might be deadly.
The sixty two year old surpassed 100,000 strokes, but the prospect of absorbing more venom was just too dangerous for her to continue.
“I trained this hard for this big dream I had for so many years, and to think these stupid little Portuguese man o’ war take it down,” Nyad told The Associated Press. “It’s a huge disappointment.”
Nyad, who says she’s in the best shape of her life, was blinded by the stings. ”You go into convulsions, your spine feels paralyzed. I’ve had kidney stones. Nothing compares to the pain,” Nyad told the AP. “It just took the life force out of me.”
It’s a hard blow for Nyad, who maintains that she was capable of the swim, if not for the jellies. This is also, tragically, likely to be her last chance to try the swim.
But, forty hours of swimming (including breaks to tread water while eating and drinking) is nothing to sneeze at. And she made it longer than her previous try, in August.
Australian swimmer, Susie Maroney, successfully swam from Cuba to the Keys in 1997, using a shark cage. Nyad, who made her first attempt at the swim in 1978 in a shark cage, wanted to one up Maroney by going cageless. She is still struggling with her disappointment, but she’s trying to see beyond it:
“I can live beyond it and think of all the good that’s come of it, just to live a life of passion.”
Diana…..I am a former race director of 5 RACE ACROSS AMERICA qualifiers (’87-’91). And gave Lon Haldeman’s qualifer in Capron, IL a shot in ’85 when I was 48. However, I came up short but finished the qualifer of 700 mi. in 62 hrs…..Anyway, just wanted to tell you how I always admired the coverage that you and Jim Lampley provided during those RAAM early years. However, the fact that you were an experienced endurance athlete and “knew” what the riders were going through made it really special.
I am sorry that things didn’t work out for you on your latest attempt. However, you continue to have my admiration and respect. My wife of 55 yrs.and I have watched your RAAM COVERAGE over and over during these many years….
All the best to you,
Jack Papa
Yeah, it was kinda disappointing when I heard this news last year. But no one can stop her from doing what she wanted to do. Diana Nyad keeps on inspiring us. You keep on motivating us on achieving our goals in life. Thanks for being a role model.
Kevin