At 61, Di plans to swim into history
Source: Agencies |
August 9, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ENDURANCE swimmer Diana Nyad stroked through the Florida Straits early yesterday, trying to accomplish at 61 years old what she failed to do at 28 - swim more than 160 kilometers from Havana, Cuba, to Key West.
If she makes it to the Florida Keys after an estimated 60-hour swim, Nyad will become the first person to traverse the strait without the aid of a shark cage, relying instead on technology and divers to fend off the predators.
Tanned and freckled from long hours of training in the Caribbean, she expressed confidence before starting off on Sunday evening. She said the still air and shimmering flat water were perfect conditions for her swim.
"The adrenaline is flowing now," Nyad said at a jetty in western Havana as she looked at the still water. "This is what I dreamed of - a silver platter."
She kissed the commodore of the Hemingway Marina in Havana, who helped arrange logistics for the trip, changed into a black swimsuit and blue swimming cap and displayed her goggles - light blue for night vision and smoky charcoal to protect from the sun.
She said it has been a lifelong dream and she hopes her feat, if successful, will inspire people to live vigorously during their later years.
She said: "Thirty-three years ago I stood on a beach close by here and looked out at a giant sea. Now I am almost 62 years old and I am standing here at the prime of my life. I think this is my day."
Nyad first attempted the crossing in 1978, when she swam inside a steel shark cage for about 42 hours before sea currents put her off course.
The following year she set a world record for open-water swimming without a shark cage, traveling 165km from the Bahamas to Florida, then retired from competitive endurance swimming.
But she said the failed Cuba swim stuck with her all these years, and, on turning 60, she decided on a comeback.
Nyad's team is deploying an electronic boom to surround her with a current that is imperceptible to humans but strong enough to keep most sharks at bay.
Some sharks are not deterred by the field, so divers will be standing by gently to discourage those creatures that get curious without harming them.
Five support vessels are carrying 45 navigators, nutritionists, doctors, shark wranglers and a film crew documenting her story.
If she makes it to the Florida Keys after an estimated 60-hour swim, Nyad will become the first person to traverse the strait without the aid of a shark cage, relying instead on technology and divers to fend off the predators.
Tanned and freckled from long hours of training in the Caribbean, she expressed confidence before starting off on Sunday evening. She said the still air and shimmering flat water were perfect conditions for her swim.
"The adrenaline is flowing now," Nyad said at a jetty in western Havana as she looked at the still water. "This is what I dreamed of - a silver platter."
She kissed the commodore of the Hemingway Marina in Havana, who helped arrange logistics for the trip, changed into a black swimsuit and blue swimming cap and displayed her goggles - light blue for night vision and smoky charcoal to protect from the sun.
She said it has been a lifelong dream and she hopes her feat, if successful, will inspire people to live vigorously during their later years.
She said: "Thirty-three years ago I stood on a beach close by here and looked out at a giant sea. Now I am almost 62 years old and I am standing here at the prime of my life. I think this is my day."
Nyad first attempted the crossing in 1978, when she swam inside a steel shark cage for about 42 hours before sea currents put her off course.
The following year she set a world record for open-water swimming without a shark cage, traveling 165km from the Bahamas to Florida, then retired from competitive endurance swimming.
But she said the failed Cuba swim stuck with her all these years, and, on turning 60, she decided on a comeback.
Nyad's team is deploying an electronic boom to surround her with a current that is imperceptible to humans but strong enough to keep most sharks at bay.
Some sharks are not deterred by the field, so divers will be standing by gently to discourage those creatures that get curious without harming them.
Five support vessels are carrying 45 navigators, nutritionists, doctors, shark wranglers and a film crew documenting her story.
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