10 questions · Society & Everyday
Diana Nyad is born in the United States in 1949 and is already an outstanding long-distance swimmer as a young woman. In the 1970s she sets open-water records: but one dream will not let her go: to swim the roughly 180 kilometres from Cuba to Florida, through a dangerous sea full of currents, jellyfish and sharks. In her late twenties she fails at the attempt. Then she sets swimming aside for decades. Only at around 60 does the old dream return: stronger than ever. For Nyad it becomes a symbol that it is never too late to attempt something great. Four times she sets out again, and three times storms, hypothermia or the burning stings of the dreaded box jellyfish force her to give up. But she does not quit. In 2013, at the age of 64, she finally achieves the near-impossible: Diana Nyad swims the route from Cuba to Florida: the first person to do so without a protective shark cage. For almost 53 hours she is in the water without a break, weakened, hallucinating, but undeterred. When she reaches the beach at Key West, exhausted, she addresses three sentences to the onlookers that become famous: never give up; you are never too old to chase your dreams; and that although swimming looks like a solitary sport, it takes a whole team. Since then Diana Nyad has stood worldwide for perseverance and the power to overcome limits late in life.
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swam from Cuba to Florida
A sea full of currents, jellyfish and sharks lay between her and the goal.
💡 Did you know? In 2013 Nyad swam the roughly 180 kilometres from Cuba to Florida in about 53 hours without a break.
64 years old
At 64 Nyad completed the crossing at which she had failed at 28 and then three more times after turning 60.
💡 Did you know? Her success is seen as proof that it is never too late to realise a dream.
without a shark cage
She was in the water without a break for almost 53 hours.
💡 Did you know? Instead of a shark cage, Nyad used a special suit and an electric field to keep sharks away.
long-distance swimmer
She was already setting open-water records in the 1970s.
💡 Did you know? Back in the 1970s Nyad was among the world's best marathon swimmers and even swam around the island of Manhattan.
several failed attempts
Nyad had failed four times in all (once at 28, three times after 60, to storms, jellyfish and exhaustion) before the fifth attempt succeeded.
💡 Did you know? The burning stings of the box jellyfish were an especially serious problem.
"Never give up" / never too old for dreams
She also stressed that swimming only looks like a solitary sport: it takes a whole team.
💡 Did you know? Exhausted at the finish, Nyad told the crowd you are „never too old to chase your dreams.“
USA
She was born in 1949.
💡 Did you know? Nyad's story was made into a 2023 film with Annette Bening in the lead role.
Foto: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Diana Nyad
Diana Nyad (b. 1949) is an American marathon swimmer who in 2013 became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage.
💡 Did you know? Nyad needed five attempts over 35 years: her phrase „Never give up“ became a catchphrase.
1949
Born: 22 August 1949 in New York City
New York City
Born: 22 August 1949 in New York City
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