Diana Nyad, 61, hopes to become first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without aid of shark cage.
Diana Nyad announced Sunday morning 7_August 2011, at a Havana news conference, that she planned to enter the water at Havana’s Marina Hemingway to begin her attempt Cuba-to-Florida swim.
Diana Nyad entered the water later that evening at 7:45PM (Eastern) and began stroking for Florida. A news team from CNN is onboard her support ship and is providing live coverage of her swim. CNN is the only major news organization that is covering the swim as it happens.
Diana Nyad thinks at this age that she can convince others by swimming more than 100 miles from Cuba to Florida.
Marathon swimmer Diana Nyad’s crew say she is moving well through the waters of the Florida Straits on her quest to become the first person to make the crossing without a shark cage.
One theory about Nyad’s drive to make this swim is that she’s avenging a failed attempt at this trip more than 30 years ago. And though Nyad admits there is some bit of athletic ego involved, she says it’s more about proving to herself and to the world that 60 is not old.
Source: CNN, USA