LIZETTE ALVAREZ
MIAMI — The
New York Times News Service
Her speech slurred and
her face red and swollen, Diana Nyad conquered the treacherous Florida Straits
on Monday and completed a 53-hour, 177-kilometre swim from Cuba to Key West.
Ms. Nyad, a 64-year-old
endurance swimmer, now becomes the only person to have succeeded in swimming
from Cuba to Key West without a shark cage. With her final stroke into Smathers
Beach in Key West, Ms. Nyad proved that perseverance and big dreams can
transcend age and injury.
Her official time was 52
hours 54 minutes 18.6 seconds, according to her website.
“I have three messages,”
Ms. Nyad, her face scorched and puffy from so many hours in the saltwater, said
as she leaned on her best friend. “One is we should never, ever give up. Two is
you never are too old to chase your dreams. Three is it looks like a solitary
sport but it takes a team.”
After two nights and two
days of being buffeted by ocean waves, she walked on to Smathers Beach on
Monday at 1:20 p.m. to the cheers of onlookers and her 35-member support team,
which had kept a close watch on Ms. Nyad from five boats that trailed her
during the swim.
Millions more
exhilarated in her age-defying feat from afar, on Twitter and Facebook, viewing
it with inspiration and pride.
One of the first to send
a message on Twitter was President Barack Obama: “Congratulations to Diana
Nyad. Never give up on your dreams.”
The ocean between
Florida and Cuba is a notoriously fierce opponent, brimming with sharks,
jellyfish, squalls and an uncompromising Gulf Stream current.
Last year, Ms. Nyad was
defeated by all three. She was forced back on to the boat after storms knocked
her off track, sharks menaced her and she was badly stung by box jellyfish. In
2011, her shoulder injured, she suffered her first asthma attack in the water
and began to vomit, a turn of events that forced her to stop.
Each time Ms. Nyad vowed
it would be her last. But she could not help herself. The swim across the
Straits was her personal quest, one that until Monday seemed quixotic at best.
But this year nature
tipped its hat.
Sharks steered clear,
the swift current carried her along and storms took the Labour Day weekend off.
Even the box jellyfish co-operated, although she was well prepared for their
challenge. She wore a jelly protection suit and a mask to protect her face from
their poison. Her body was coated with “sting stopper” gel to serve as a
barrier from the venom. When she encountered box jellyfish near Key West, Ms.
Nyad’s divers swam ahead of her this year to disperse them.
“I think that Mother
Nature said: ‘You know what? Let her go,’” said Bonnie Stoll, one of her
closest friends. “Diana also did her homework.”
To stay focused, Ms.
Nyad did what she always does: she hummed her favourite songs in her head. Her
strokes were calibrated to the cadence of the Beatles’ Ticket to Ride
and Paperback Writer to name two.
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