Swimmer chases Cuba-Florida dream
Source: Agencies |
August 20, 2012, Monday
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AMERICAN Diana Nyad endured several jellyfish stings as the 62-year-old endurance athlete sought to become the first person to swim unaided from Cuba to Florida without a wetsuit or a shark cage.
A team member posted on Nyad's Twitter account that the American was steadily stroking onward early yesterday despite jellyfish stings to the lips, feet and legs. Her goal: to become the first person to set a record 166-kilometer unaided crossing of the Florida Straits.
"There are so many jellyfish," said one of the tweets, adding, "Diana is swimming backstroke right now leading with the cap-covered part of her head to minimize contact."
While sharks were among Nyad's concerns along with potentially treacherous currents and surprise weather changes, jellyfish that tend to surface at night were a worry, her team signaled. Another tweet said there were jellyfish particles everywhere in the water as Nyad swam through the night. The tweet added "the backstroke is working!"
Nyad, who is less than a week shy of her 63rd birthday, jumped into the warm waters near Havana on Saturday in her latest bid to make the crossing since last summer, when first an asthma attack and then jellyfish stings forced her to abandon separate bids.
Australian Susie Maroney used a cage when she swam across the Straits of Florida in 1997.
A team member posted on Nyad's Twitter account that the American was steadily stroking onward early yesterday despite jellyfish stings to the lips, feet and legs. Her goal: to become the first person to set a record 166-kilometer unaided crossing of the Florida Straits.
"There are so many jellyfish," said one of the tweets, adding, "Diana is swimming backstroke right now leading with the cap-covered part of her head to minimize contact."
While sharks were among Nyad's concerns along with potentially treacherous currents and surprise weather changes, jellyfish that tend to surface at night were a worry, her team signaled. Another tweet said there were jellyfish particles everywhere in the water as Nyad swam through the night. The tweet added "the backstroke is working!"
Nyad, who is less than a week shy of her 63rd birthday, jumped into the warm waters near Havana on Saturday in her latest bid to make the crossing since last summer, when first an asthma attack and then jellyfish stings forced her to abandon separate bids.
Australian Susie Maroney used a cage when she swam across the Straits of Florida in 1997.
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