Diana Nyad facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Diana Nyad
Nyad in 2016
Born	Diana Sneed (1949-08-22) August 22, 1949 (age 75) New York City, New York, U.S.
Education	Lake Forest College (BA) New York University
Occupation	Author, journalist, swimmer
Known for	Championship swimming; endurance swimming; journalism; motivational speaking

Diana Nyad (born August 22, 1949) is an American author, journalist, and long-distance swimmer. She is also known as a motivational speaker. Nyad first became famous in 1975 when she swam around Manhattan in New York City. This was a distance of 28 miles (45 kilometers), and she completed it in record time.

Diana Nyad has written four books and many articles for different magazines. She hosted a public radio show called The Savvy Traveler. You might have also seen her on TV shows like CBS News Sunday Morning or Dancing with the Stars. She has also been a regular guest on radio programs like All Things Considered and Marketplace.

In 2013, after trying four times before, Diana Nyad swam from Havana, Cuba, to Key West, Florida. She was 64 years old at the time. This amazing journey was about 110 miles (177 kilometers) long. Other swimmers had completed this route before, but they used a shark cage for protection. Nyad did not use a shark cage or fins. Instead, she wore a special jellyfish suit and had shark divers and electronic shark repellent devices with her. Her swim from Cuba to Florida was not watched by an official sports group. Because of this, the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA) later decided not to officially recognize her swim. This was due to missing parts in the observer logs and different reports from her crew. Guinness World Records first said her swim was a record, but then they changed their mind after seeing WOWSA's findings.

In 2023, a movie called Nyad was made about her 2013 swim and her friendship with her coach, Bonnie Stoll. The movie was based on Diana Nyad's book, Find a Way.

Early Life and Education

Diana Nyad was born in New York City on August 22, 1949. Her birth name was Diana Sneed. When she was young, her parents divorced. Her mother then married Aristotle Z. Nyad, who adopted Diana. The family moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. There, Diana started swimming seriously when she was in seventh grade.

She went to Pine Crest School in the mid-1960s. She trained with a famous swimming coach, Jack Nelson. She won three Florida state high school championships in backstroke. Diana dreamed of swimming in the 1968 Summer Olympics. However, in 1966, she got a heart infection called endocarditis. This made her lose speed when she returned to swimming.

After high school, she attended Lake Forest College in Illinois. There, she played tennis and started swimming again, focusing on long-distance events. She met Buck Dawson, who helped her get into marathon swimming. In July 1970, she set a women's world record in her first race. She swam 10 miles (16 kilometers) in Lake Ontario in 4 hours and 22 minutes. After finishing college in 1973, she continued her swimming training.

Career Highlights

Diana Nyad has written several books. Her book Other Shores (1978) is about her life and distance swimming. Find a Way (2015) tells the story of her journey to swim across the Florida Straits. She has also written for well-known publications like The New York Times and Newsweek. Nyad and her friend Bonnie Stoll also started a company called BravaBody. It gives online exercise advice to women over 40.

Nyad hosted the public radio program The Savvy Traveler from 2001 to 2004. She was also a regular guest on the radio show All Things Considered. On TV, she was a frequent contributor to CBS News Sunday Morning.

A documentary film about her, The Other Shore, was released in 2013. In her 1978 book, Nyad described marathon swimming as a fight against the sea. She said the only way to win is to "touch the other shore."

Squash Playing

Diana Nyad also played squash. She competed in the 1979 Women's World Open Squash Championship. She was also part of the United States women's national squash team in 1979.

Distance Swimming in the 1970s

• 1974: In June 1974, Nyad set a women's record in a 22-mile (35-kilometer) race in the Gulf of Naples. She finished in 8 hours and 11 minutes.
• 1975: At age 26, Nyad swam 28 miles (45 kilometers) around Manhattan Island in New York City. She completed it in just under 8 hours (7 hours 57 minutes). This broke a 48-year-old record.
• 1978: At age 28, she first tried to swim from Havana, Cuba, to Key West, Florida. She swam inside a large steel shark cage for almost 42 hours. However, bad weather and strong winds pushed her off course. Her team had to take her out of the water. She had covered about 76 miles (122 kilometers).
• 1979: On her 30th birthday, she set a world record for open water distance swimming. She swam 102 miles (164 kilometers) from North Bimini Island, Bahamas, to Juno Beach, Florida. She did this without a shark cage or a wetsuit. She finished the swim in 27 and a half hours.

Cuba to Florida Swim Attempts (2011–2013)

Nyad's Havana to Key West swimming routes since 1978

By 2010, Diana Nyad began training for another attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida. This distance is over 110 miles (177 kilometers). She wanted to prove that "it is never too late to start your dreams." Her team included about 25 people, such as navigators, doctors, and shark experts. The cost of her "expedition" was about $500,000.

To help her swim in a straight line, her support boat used a special streamer. This streamer stayed about 5 feet (1.5 meters) underwater. Nyad could swim above it, like following a lane line in a pool. At night, the streamer had red LED lights.

Second Attempt (2011)

On August 7, 2011, Nyad started her second try from Havana. She used electronic "Shark Shields" but no shark cage. She stopped after 29 hours because of strong currents and winds. She also had shoulder pain and a flare-up of her asthma, which made it hard to breathe.

Third Attempt (2011)

Nyad began her third attempt on September 23, 2011. Again, she did not use a shark cage. She stopped after 41 hours, having covered about 67 nautical miles (124 kilometers). This time, she was stung by many jellyfish and Portuguese man-of-war. The currents also pushed her off course.

Fourth Attempt (2012)

On August 18, 2012, Nyad started her fourth try. She did not use a shark cage. She and her team ended the swim on August 21, 2012. This was due to two storms and nine jellyfish stings. She had covered more distance than her previous attempts.

Fifth Attempt (2013)

On August 31, 2013, Nyad began her fifth attempt to swim from Havana to Florida. She had a 35-person support team. She swam without a shark cage. However, she was protected from jellyfish by a silicone mask, a full bodysuit, gloves, and booties. She also had boats using electronic 'Shark Shield' devices and, at times, shark divers.

Around 1:55 PM on September 2, 2013, Diana Nyad reached the beach in Key West, Florida. This was about 53 hours after she started her journey.

Some people, including other marathon swimmers, asked for more details about her swim. They wanted to see GPS data and information about currents and her eating and drinking. The New York Times published graphs of her GPS data. A professor from the University of Miami later said that strong currents in the Gulf Stream could explain her speed during parts of the swim. Nyad stated that her team swam "fair and square." She also explained that wearing the jellyfish suit was necessary for her safety.

Her swim from Cuba to Florida has not been officially recognized by sports organizations. This is because there were no independent observers for the entire swim and the records were incomplete. In 2022 and 2023, the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA) reviewed the swim again. They found that some rules claimed to be used did not exist at the time. Also, there were over 9 hours of missing information in the observer logs. Because of this, Guinness World Records also removed their recognition of her swim.

October 2013 Charity Swim

From October 8 to 10, 2013, Nyad took part in a "Swim for Relief" event. She swam continuously for 48 hours in a special pool in New York City. This event raised $105,001 for AmeriCares. The money helped victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Dancing with the Stars Performances

In 2014, Diana Nyad was a celebrity contestant on the TV show Dancing with the Stars. She was partnered with professional dancer Henry Byalikov. She finished in last place on the show.

Other Media Appearances

In 1989, Nyad was a guest on the TV show Unsolved Mysteries. She helped with a segment about people trying to swim across San Francisco Bay from Alcatraz.

In 2014, Nyad appeared in the music video for the song "Bang, Bang" by Macy Gray. That same year, she also performed a solo play that she had written. It was called Onward – The Diana Nyad story.

Awards and Honors

Diana Nyad has received many awards for her achievements.

• In 1986, she was inducted into the United States National Women's Sports Hall of Fame.
• She is also an honoree in the International Swimming Hall of Fame (1978).
• Her colleges, Lake Forest College and Pine Crest School, have also honored her in their Halls of Fame.

2014

• Nyad received the first ESPN Sports Science Newton Award.
• She was given the L.A. Sports Council's Athlete of the Year award.
• She was inducted into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame.
• Nyad received the Jack LaLanne Award.
• She was given the Orden al Mérito Deportivo (Order of Sporting Merit) Award from Cuba.
• A bronze plaque honoring Nyad was placed on a wall near Smathers Beach in Key West. This is where she finished her Cuba-to-Florida swim.
• National Geographic named Nyad one of their Adventurers of the Year.

2015

• Marie Claire magazine featured Nyad in their list of "The 8 Greatest Moments for Women in Sports."
• A chapter in the book The Right Side of History: 100 Years of LGBTQ Activism was written about Diana Nyad.

Images for kids

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  A robot for kids

See also

In Spanish: Diana Nyad para niños