Thank Ceiling Cat that there weren’t any jellyfish this time. Here’s a video of Diana Nyad finishing her 100+ mile swim from Cuba to Florida.
Note that, as she walks her shore, her team forms a ring around her to prevent well-wishers from helping her ashore. The rules for the swim required that she walk ashore completely unassisted.
“You are never too old to chase your dreams,” she said. Indeed—so long as your dreams are achievable at an advanced age. Remarkably, in her case they were.
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Wow.
Very inspiring.
Wow.
Watching how feeble her strokes were at the end, especially her legs, what it took for her to stagger onto the beach, knowing how powerful an athlete she must be…
…damn, that woman is insane for doing that, and I am in awe at the sheer force of will it took to do it.
…and I’m also very glad that there were EMTs there for her on land, and teammates ready to fish her out if she deeded it.
I imagine she’s probably still sleeping. I know I would be.
— no, scratch that. I rather doubt I’d have made it, or that I’d even try.
Amazing.
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Diana Nyad establishes a benchmark for physical/mental performance that few humans ever approach, let alone equal or exceed, irrespective of either age or gender.
Remarkable, to be sure. Open water distance swimmers are a breed apart.
Wonder if Diana, though, would have tried swimming the Amazon though like this maniac:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Strel
She makes me proud. Having been a swimmer my whole life I know her passion.
I wish more people would realize they are worth more than they know and can accomplish more than they think.
“I wish more people would realize they are worth more than they know and can accomplish more than they think.”
I like that.
Did Kayak support for a ten km swim and thought that was hard enough, I’ve no words for how amazing an achievement this is.
The rules for the swim required that she walk ashore completely unassisted.
Who made those rules?
That water doesn’t look very clean.
Of course not. It’s south Florida.
This follow up from The Onion:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/jellyfish-falls-short-of-dream-to-kill-diana-nyad,33716/
Well done Ms. Nyad!
She is amazing!
I’m such a slouch. My shoulders & back are already shot, I suspect from being a geek & sitting at a computer for 8+ hours a day then driving 2 hours a day. If I live to her age, I’ll be lucky if my pain is at the level it is now & no greater….maybe when I retire, it’ll all fix itself!
Now, since I won’t be able to do that, I’ll go eat some sugary snacks! 🙂
Very inspiring, especially coming right after Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. It’s cool what she said about never being too old. Like many boys growing up in Canada, my dream was to be an NHL hockey player. Never happened and I’m 39 now. Maybe I should have taken up swimming.
Insane determination. I have nothing but respect and admiration for this lady.
As a swimmer I often get a high and lose track of time and the number of laps I swim, but I cannot conceive of swimming over one hundred miles. I wonder if some of the time went quickly and did some just drag on for her. I am truly amazed at her achievement. I hope she writes a book and explains in detail how she accomplished this feat.
Ugh, jellyfish.
I got stung by a Portuguese man o’ war when I was a kid and that was an experience I’m never going to forget.
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