Swimmer makes trip from Cuba to Florida
KEY WEST, Fla. — Defeated before in bids to swim from Cuba to Florida, Diana Nyad would cry and rage through swollen lips and welts at the jellyfish tentacles that had repeatedly lashed her and derailed her plans to become the first swimmer to make the 110-mile crossing without a shark cage.
Her lips were swollen Monday, as in the past, when she emerged from the waters off Key West, but the 64-year-old American endurance swimmer managed a tight smile for supporters and said one word: “Seawater.” And this time, she was victorious. The stinging sea life that had plagued her four previous attempts to swim the Florida Straits — and the attempts of other swimmers trying to complete the same stretch — failed to appear until the final hours of her journey. That left Nyad free to concentrate on defeating the elements and persevere through about 53 hours in the water until she could step on dry land.
Dazed and sunburned, the athlete waded ashore finally free of the protective silicone mask that had bruised her mouth and a fully-body “jellyfish suit” that she conceded were necessary for the swim she began Saturday — even if they weighed down her crawl strokes.
She was free, too, of the nagging demons that drove her to attempt the treacherous crossing five times. She tried three times in 2011 and 2012. Her first attempt was in 1978.
Nyad’s doctor said the swimmer was healthy and would not need a long time to recover from dehydration, sunburn and the swelling in and around her mouth. The support team accompanying her had equipment that generated a faint electrical field around her, designed to keep sharks at bay. Australian Susie Maroney successfully swam the Strait in 1997 with a shark cage, which besides offering protection, has a drafting effect that pulls a swimmer along.
