I finally found a moment to watch the Diana Nyad Ted talk about her amazing over 100 mile swim from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Fl. She is incredible and a wonderful source of inspiration. Even after four previous attempts to make the 53 hour swim, where she encountered sharks, venomous jellyfish, rough currents and exhaustion to point of near death, Nyad found drive and determination to do it again. Some of the greatest swimmers in the world have tried since 1950. Diana was the first to do it. When she got to the shore of Key West, her first words were, “Never, ever give up”.
I wanted to share a few of my photos taken of Diana Nyad when she was training for her fourth attempt in 2011. Enjoy.
Diana Nyad prepares for a training session in Key West, Florida. This was from her fourth attempt to cross the 100 mile channel.
Her second words were, “You can chase your dreams at any age; you’re never too old”
Nyad is the only person to have swam from Cuba to Florida without a protective cage. The swim took nearly 53 hours.
The third thing she said on the beach was, “It looks like the most solitary endeavor in the world, and in many ways, of course it is, and in other ways, it’s a team, and if you think I’m badass, you want to meet Bonnie. Bonnie is Nyad’s long time coach.
Bonnies hands over a feeding tube Nyad while she was training for her fourth attempt. During the swim Nyad could not touch the boat or the swim would be ruled invalid.
Diana Nyad portrait taken for Readers Digest magazine.
She never gave up. Let’s all take a page from Diana’s book. A new year is here and a new chance to get one step or stroke closer to achieving your goal.
Here is a video me and Chuck Fadely shot for The Reader’s digest in 2011 when Diana was preparing for her fourth attempt.