ENDURANCE ATHELTE Diana Nyad has ended her latest attempt to become the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the protection of a shark cage.
Nyad, 62, began her attempt on Saturday, but her team announced this afternoon that she was pulled from the water during the fourth day of her Florida straits crossing.
The swimmer was forced to end previous attempts at the crossing due to severe jellyfish stings and ill-health.
Her progress on this attempt has been slowed by storms. Her team said that she lost six hours of progress due to storms on Sunday night, but she had managed to swim to within about 88km (55 miles) of Key West this morning. Aside from shark attacks and jellyfish stings, Nyad faced the risk of hypothermia during her 166km swim.
The latest update on her progress was posted on the team’s blog at 5.44am today Irish time:
Her team then posted an update at 1pm Irish time announcing the end of her swim and later explained that deteriorating weather conditions had made it too dangerous for Nyad to stay in the water or to get back in and continue her swim.
Good Morning America tweeted:
The Nyad swim support team updated their blog post yesterday evening with a video of dozens of dolphins who swam with Nyad and lifted her spirits.
Yesterday, team member Candace Hogan blogged:
Regardless of the incredible shape Diana’s training put her in, 30 plus years ago as well as now, Diana has historically been known as much for her mind as for her athleticism. We all know her mind can handle it. But there will always be a point where a human body can’t go any farther. What no one knows is where that line is drawn in Diana Nyad.
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