David Letterman Top Ten video courtesy of CBS.
Diana Nyad coverage as reported by swimswam September 2nd:
Updated 11:26am ET: Here’s the first Diana Nyad quote at the finish via BBC NEWS:
”I HAVE THREE MESSAGES: ONE IS WE SHOULD NEVER EVER GIVE UP; TWO IS YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD TO CHASE YOUR DREAMS; AND THREE IS IT LOOKS LIKE A SOLITARY SPORT BUT IT TAKES A TEAM.”
Diana Nyad, equipped with her specially designed jellyfish suit for her 110-mile swim from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida has made it to Smathers Beach in Key West, FL. This was her fifth attempt to complete the swim over the last 35 years. In the past, she has faced problems such as allergies and deadly jellyfish, as well as turbulent squalls and unpredictable weather. During this attempt, she has encountered all of those threats, but has managed to complete the daunting 110-mile swim. Her first attempt was in 1978 when she was 29 years old.
Nyad, who turned 64 on August 22nd, began her fifth attempt on Saturday, August 31st at 8:59:02 AM. The rules of marathon swimming state that she has to tread water during every break, and she is not to touch the boat or be supported by any outside person or object at any time during the swim. When asked why she is trying for a fifth time, she had this to say:
Mike Lewis / Ola Vista Photography
“PEOPLE WHO GO TO MT. EVEREST…SOMETIMES IT TAKES THEM 20 YEARS TO MAKE IT, AFTER MOUNTING EXPEDITION AFTER EXPEDITION. NO ONE HAS EVER DONE THIS BEFORE WITHOUT A SHARK CAGE, SWUM ACROSS THE FLORIDA STRAITS FROM CUBA TO FLORIDA, THOUGH PEOPLE HAVE TRIED SINCE THE 1950S. IT’S MORE THAN 103MILES IN OPEN WATER, A NAVIGATIONAL NIGHTMARE, WITH VARIABLE WINDS AND GULF STREAM CURRENTS, NOT TO MENTION SWARMS OF JELLYFISH AT NIGHT NOW MORE THAN EVER BEFORE. IT’S NOT ENOUGH TO BE A STRONG SWIMMER; YOU NEED A LOT OF LUCK, TOO.
SO HERE I AM FOR MY FIFTH—AND LAST—TIME. IT’S A FINE LINE BETWEEN HAVING THE GRACE TO LET GO OF SOMETHING YOU DON’T HAVE CONTROL OVER AND JUST CAN’T BEAT….AND I COULD BE IN THAT PLACE …EXCEPT I HAD TO ASK MYSELF, IS THERE A WAY? SO I’VE MADE PREPARATIONS TO TRY TO PROTECT MYSELF FULLY FROM THE BOX JELLYFISH. I HAVE THE BEST SUPPORT TEAM EVER AND HAVE TRAINED CONSISTENTLY AND RIGOROUSLY FOR FOUR YEARS NOW. I FEEL STRONGER AND MORE PREPARED THAN I’VE EVER BEEN. IT’S A FINE LINE BETWEEN HAVING THE GRACE TO SEE THINGS ARE BIGGER THAN YOU ARE AND THERE’S ANOTHER FINE LINE, AN EDGE, WHERE YOU DON’T WANT TO EVER GIVE UP.
TEDDY ROOSEVELT SAID SOMETHING LIKE, DON’T CRITICIZE THE PERSON WHO GETS IN THE RING. DON’T BERATE THE ONE WHO GETS DIRTY AND BLOODY AND THEN FAILS—AT LEAST THEY ARE THERE; THEY ARE NOT TIMID. I WANT TO BE IN THE RING AND BE BOLD AND JUST GO FOR IT.”
Support boats surrounded her with medical experts as well as shark and jelly fish experts keeping an eye on her and keeping her safe. Throughout Nyad’s swim, she had several feedings consisting of a thin smoothie-type mixture containing bananas, peanut butter, honey and other ingredients that tastes like tea. She also ate peanut butter and honey sandwiches as well as water. Her first feeding was as soon as an hour and a half into the swim.
The crews accompanying Diana Nyad can attest to how dangerous this swim is. One of the boat drivers was diagnosed with dehydration by 3:00 pm on the first day of the voyage. The team doctors accompanying Nyad’s crew, according to http://www.diananyad.com, “administered an IV in his hand and he is currently resting in his bunk aboard Sentimental Journey. He missed his first shift driving, but is feeling better and hoping to get back in the next rotation. Any time a team member is out sick, it puts a strain on the rest of the team to cover duties. This is a wakeup call to everyone to drink plenty of fluids. Temperatures are currently 86 degrees under clear skies.”
During her swim, she ran into some trouble because of storms in the area while she was swimming. There was a lightening storm within 4 miles of her location around 10:22pm on Saturday night. There was one other time during her swim where she had to deal with violent weather.
During her medical examination around 7:15 Sunday morning, the Doctors reported, “her pulse is strong and her lungs are clear. Diana’s shoulders are sore, but not hurting.” The Doctors were very optimistic and said she was looking very good. Diana’s Website, www.diananyad.com, reported Diana had been vomiting every time she drank throughout the night, but once the jellyfish mask was removed she ate some pasta and was able to keep it down. The doctors did not administer any nausea medication. The only medication Diana has taken is Tylenol.
Around 10:00 AM on Sunday Morning 25 hours into her swim, Diana stopped to make sure everyone was still there. She asked the crew if everyone was still there, and when she saw everyone assembled, she stopped and said, “Today is Roger’s birthday and we’re gonna sing him Happy Birthday.” She then floated on her back and led the crew in song!
Diana Nyad swam 80.38 miles by 9:30pm on Sunday night. That distance is farther than anyone else who has attempted to swim from Cuba to Florida.
38 Hours into the swim, at 11:00 PM on Sunday night, winds picked up to 23 knots and the kayakers floating next to Nyad had to be pulled out of the water for safety.
Early this morning, around 7:00am Eastern Time, cruise ships made way for Diana Nyad as she approached to coast of Florida. Shortly after, around 7:15 AM, doctors reported Diana had gotten very cold, so she did not stop for feedings over night.
John Bartlett, Diana Nyad’s Navigator reported that after 102 miles, Nyad has swam “A distance not ever having been close to achieved by any other human being before.”
At 10:40 AM, after almost 50 hours in the water, she stopped to say, “Hi Everybody, I have some bad abrasions in my mouth from the jellyfish mask, so excuse me if I have trouble talking. I am about to swim my last two miles in the ocean. This is a lifelong dream of mine and I’m very very glad to be with you. Some on the team are the most intimate friends of my life and some of you I’ve just met. But I’ll tell you something, you’re a special group. You pulled through; you are pros and have a great heart. So let’s get going so we can have a whopping party. Thank you, all of you, thank you for your generosity.”
Diana Nyad has finished the 110 mile swim successfully in just under 53 hours and was able to walk up the beach without assistance. Her official time: 52 hours, 54 minutes 18.6 seconds.
Another way to evaluate her time is that she averaged 28:51 per mile for 110 miles, which does indicate overall favorable currents, but still extremely impressive given the jellyfish, the compromised respiration, vomiting, etc. Putting aside time, though, compare it with walking, how many of us could even finish a continuous 110 mile walk with the wind at our back? I doubt I could, but even if I did, my rest stops and feeding times would probably have my average walking pace slower than she did swimming.
She has now announced that her next goal will be a continuous 48 hour pool swim, in a temporary 50 meter pool so we’ll be able to evaluate more purely her pace,… Read more »
liquidassets – not that I’m getting involved in this debate, but I think it would be incorrect to presume that walking for 110 miles would necessarily be significantly easier than swimming 110 miles. Yes, at 5 miles, swimming is more of a challenge, but as distances become more extreme, the ware on joints becomes a much bigger factor.
Yeah, just walking down to the donut shop gets me tuckered out.
Hmm I see your point, given the weight-bearing. But I haven’t swum more than a few miles at a time; I imagine the shoulders must get pretty sore and overall more muscle groups are used for swimming than walking. For me, an average joe, I’m thinking that I’d be more likely to be able to finish a 110 mile walk over the course of, say, a week than a 110 mile ocean swim over a week in those conditions, though obviously very slowly. But for an elite athlete trying to do it relatively non-stop, your point is likely valid.
I can agree with that, liquidassets.
If your comment about Diana Nyad doing a continuous 48 hour swim in a pool is true, then I have a tale for you.
There was a USMC Captain named Alan Jones who did all these insane endurance tests like skipping rope for 24 hours and doing 151,000 sit-ups and others just as nutty.
So one day he shows up at the Univ. of Oregon swimming pool (when they still had a team) to swim for 48 hours continuously without stopping. To make a long story short, as time went by he started hallucinating and finally absolutely freaks out and ends up hiding in the men’s room or something similar. It was a long time ago and the details have… Read more »
1:39 per 100 yds is painfully slow, even if you stop to eat once every 30 min, so the pace is entirely believable. If this were a 2 hr swim, I think even I could do that pace, swimming breastroke. But over 52 hrs, that’s a different story… Outstanding achievement, in my opinion, not fishy.
Fred – you’re the reason I don’t read message board comments!
It looks like you do read message board comments………Just sayin’.
Let’s do a little math. She swam 110 miles which equals 193,600 yards in 53 hours which equals 3,652 yards per hour or 60.866 yards per minute which equals 100 yards every 1:38.6.
That does not include stopping for breaks, eating, drinking and all the other stuff that may have been involved.
She must have been swimming in a wake or a current. Sounds a tad fishy to me, but I gotta admit there is absolutely no way I would ever attempt anything that crazy. She is either a lot braver or much crazier than I am. I’m thinking both.
She’s getting a ton of attention which I think was her main goal. JMO.
@Fred:
First off, 1:38.6 per 100 yards is incredibly slow. Second, the current was with her, meaning it really is incredibly slow. Yeah, she was hurting at the end, but even then you could see the current pushing her in fairly fast for how much she was hurting. If you saw video of her at the start of the swim you would have seen she was traveling much faster than that.
It was incredible to do this, but the time is NOT a question.
Not quite sure why you are doubting it given a 35 person support crew and independent observer. Do you really think that many people could/would conspire to lie about this?
Pretty tired of people who cannot… Read more »
Just like Phelps’ main goal was to get a ton of attention? We all need and deserve attention, some of us just deserve more of it when we do something so inspiring. She said in her statement that she was proud of her team and of herself. Who wouldn’t be?
I don’t know if she was aided by a current; I do see from the maps that the first 2/3 of her race were not straight but in a slightly “backwards S” pattern. She may have altered course to take advantage of currents, but I’m guessing she also may have been forced into that course because of currents against her, or avoiding such currents. But anyway, she swam with slowed… Read more »
Left,right..Left right…Left right… So freaking hilarious!!!