She made it

September 2, 2013 • 11:05 am

Diana Nyad has completed her cage-free, 103-mile swim from Cuba to Florida. It took her 53 hours. The Chicago Tribune reports:

Nyad, 64, was “really hurting” as she neared her destination of Key West some 48 hours after she set off from Havana, according to blog updates on her website.

“I am about to swim my last two miles in the ocean,” she said this morning on her blog. “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.”

The marathon swimmer had said this would be her final attempt, this time using a protective silicone mask to better protect her from potentially deadly box jellyfish that forced her to end one of two attempted crossings last year.

Her doctors aboard a support vessel said Nyad’s tongue and lips were swollen causing her speech to be slurred, and raising concern about her breathing, the blog reported. Nyad was also “very cold” and had cancelled scheduled feeding stops overnight “in the hopes that swimming would keep her warm.”

I’m really happy for her; achieving a dream requiring such stamina, and at the age of 64, has got to be immensely fulfilling.

Maybe there’s hope for me yet to fulfill my own dream: climbing Mount Everest.

22 thoughts on “She made it”

  1. This is WONDERFUL!!! What a brave, determined, and strong person! She has just broken through stereotypes of gender, age, nationality, and who knows what else! I am so proud of her! What an accomplishment!

  2. Just when I thought I was doing well with 50-mile bike rides. Wonder what 103 swimming miles is in “biking miles?” Actually, I don’t want to know!

        1. A multiplier of 10 is probably more accurate. (I can comfortably swim 3km/h and cycle 30km/h.)

          103 miles of swimming is roughly 1000 miles of cycling on flattish roads.

          1. That’s probably the right order of magnitude, but I suspect it’s probably on the high side. It works out to the equivalent of an average speed of 19 MPH for the 53 hours she swam. I wouldn’t rule that out, but it sounds on the high side…that’s a hell of a fast pace to maintain non-stop for that length of time.

            b&

          2. I was referring to the energy expended and level of fitness required.

            For example, a marathon running distance of 42 km ie equivalent to 210 km cycling (a factor of 5) but it will take your twice as long to cycle 210 km as it takes you to run 42 km.

            The conversion factor between cycling and swimming is roughly 100. I’m not sure how much longer it takes to cycle that distance.

  5. I am so proud of her! You can do so many wonderful things at an older age if you work hard at it. I am 64 and have been lifting weights(natural bodybuilding) since 1964 and feel great. What she did is amazing!

  6. So you aspire to climb Everest? I was there in 2008. I didnt climb it, I merely hiked from the village of Lukla, Nepal, towards Everest for 3 days and back. Sat gazing at Everest while eating a yak-cheese pizza. I highly recommend such a trip!

    A few pics I took..
    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7314/9658940308_d7bd2b875e_o.jpg

    http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7414/9658951600_33bffb336a_o.jpg

    Watch out for that “airport” in Lukla. As Bugs Bunny would say, “Its a lulu!”

    1. I’ve hiked to Everest twice, once from Lukla and once the whole way in from the roadhead. (I’ve also done the Annapurna trek.) It’s seeing those mountains close up that made me want to climb Everest.

      I still think the view from Thyangboche Monastery is one of the most beautiful views in the world.

      1. Well cool! I had no idea you were a hiker. Yes, the view from Thyangboche is amazing.

        I went into that monastery to watch a “service”. While watching, I began to feel tingly. I thought, “Wow, these guys are GOOD”. Only later did I find out it was side effect of the altitude sickness pills I was taking.

        1. LOL! You found god but it turned out to the side effects of drugs, I think I have heard this story before!

  7. The first 875 km race from Sydney to Melbourne was won by Cliff Young who was 61 years of age at the time. He completed the distance in 5 days and fifteen hours. He won by running while his younger competitors slept. The weaklings

  10. So, I see a few discouraging words of caution about an attempt on Everest, and I can certainly understand the sentiment.

    But…if I may take a different perspective…I’d encourage you to go for it, wholeheartedly, and sooner rather than later.

    But!

    Please start by working yourself into top-notch physical condition. That way, you get all the great stuff of climbing the mountain that you’re dreaming of; it’s nowhere near as hazardous as it would otherwise be; you’d get a hell of a lot more out of the trip because you’d have spare energy to admire the view rather than just worry about putting one foot in front of the other; and…well…selfishly for me and the rest of us here, you’d be enhancing all the rest of your creative endeavors.

    The good news?

    All you need to get into top-notch physical condition is about a half an hour every other day, in the privacy of your own home, with equipment no more sophisticated than a chair or a door or a hand towel. Treat it like a chore as necessary as brushing your teeth or taking out the trash and don’t let the initial soreness of the first few days put you off. If you absolutely must, remember that saying about how, if you eat a live frog first thing in the morning, nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.

    The usual caveats about checking with your doctor apply. Other than that, this book:

    http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Your-Own-Gym/dp/0345528581/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378179415&sr=1-1&keywords=you+are+your+own+gym

    and the associated smartphone app are all you need. Religiously (if you’ll forgive me) follow the exercise regimen — again, roughly a half an hour every other day — and, you’ll soon be in the best physical condition of your life…and, in a year, you’ll be one of, if not the, most fit people you know.

    Cheers,

    b&

    P.S. I won’t lie: the exercises are intense, even though they’re the same basic stuff (and variations on) what you would have done in gym class in High School or the like. But it’s only for about a half an hour every other day, something anybody can put up with and fit into any schedule no matter how busy, and the payoff is immense. b&

    P.P.S. The author is a military special operations instructor, and his personality — that of the gung-ho young soldier who wins drinks in bars by betting he can jump up on the table — definitely comes through. It can be offputting, but don’t let it put you off. The actual content is sound, even if the presentation is a bit testosterone-laden. b&

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