64-year old Diana Nyad, as of an 11PM Eastern time update on Sunday, had been in the water for 38 hours, but weather is getting worse-and-worse as she surpasses history.
Her team reports that winds have risen to 23 knots, which was enough to prompt the team to pull kayakers out of the water for their safety, but not enough to stop Nyad’s swim. Divers who are following her and watching for sharks remain in the water.
Earlier this evening, at around 9:30 eastern time, she crossed 80.38 miles: meaning that she surpassed the distance done by Penny Palfrey in 2012 to put her closer to Key West than anybody has done without a shark cage (though note: Palfrey made it further than anybody without a shark cage or jellyfish protection suit that Nyad is using: Palfrey’s attempt was eventually derailed by a jellyfish sting, as most of these attempts are).
The current map on her blog, DianaNyad.com, appears to put her within 30 kilometers of land in Key West, Florida (under 20 miles) as of 12:24 AM on Monday morning Eastern time. That means that Nyad will likely be arriving at her final destination some time in the late morning or early afternoon on Monday, which would actually put her ahead of the 50+ hours scheduled.
The total journey is over 100 miles.
