Diana Nyad (born August 22, 1949 in New York City, New York) is an American author, journalist, and long-distance swimmer noted for her world-record endurance championships. She was once ranked 30th among U.S. women squash players (date not given).
Over two days in 1979, Nyad swam from Bimini to Florida, setting a distance record for non-stop swimming without a wetsuit that still stands today. She broke numerous world records, including the 45-year-old mark for circling Manhattan Island (7 hrs, 57 min) in 1975. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1986. Nyad was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2003.
She provides a weekly five-minute radio piece on sports for KCRW called The Score (heard during KCRW's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered"), as well as for the Marketplace radio program. She formerly hosted the public radio program "The Savvy Traveler."
Nyad graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Lake Forest College in 1973.
In 2009 she narrated the documentary Training Rules.
On July 8, 2011, the U.S. gay sports website CompeteNetwork reported on her plans for the 2011 Cuba-to-Florida swim, writing that "(the) amazing Diana Nyad is a living legend in the swim world, and a role model for the GLBT community..." Nyad is openly lesbian.
In September 2011, Nyad announced that she would attempt the Cuba-to-Florida swim again in 2012.
In 2011 she told a reporter that, in contrast to her youth, her drive as a swimmer is no longer propelled by attempts to work through the anger manifest from sexual abuse she suffered as a teenager.
In 2011, she gave a talk at TEDMED.
In 2012, she was the subject of the short documentary "Diana" by the digital channel WIGS.
Read more about Diana Nyad: Swimming Accomplishments, Distance Swims, Professional Writing and Speaking Career
Famous quotes by diana nyad:
“... the most extreme conditions require the most extreme response, and for some individuals, the call to that response is vitality itself.... The integrity and self-esteem gained from winning the battle against extremity are the richest treasures in my life.”
—Diana Nyad (b. 1949)
“... marathon swimming is the most difficult physical, intellectual and emotional battleground I have encountered, and each time I win, each time I touch the other shore, I feel worthy of any other challenge life has to offer.”
—Diana Nyad (b. 1949)
“If you want to touch the other shore badly enough, barring an impossible situation, you will. If your desire is diluted for any reason, you’ll never make it.”
—Diana Nyad (b. 1949)
“Just getting in the pool for seven straight hours is unbearable to me.... It’s grueling. There’s nothing physically pleasurable about it. If you’re doing a hard workout, you’re throwing up in the gutter. At night you cling to your pillow and just hope that your body revives before you have to go back and do it again.”
—Diana Nyad (b. 1949)
“... the reason I keep doing it is for the tremendous rush I get at the end of any great swim.... there is ... nothing greater than touching the shore after crossing some great body of water knowing that I’ve done it with my own two arms and legs.... I’m overwhelmed by the strength of my body and the power of my mind. For one moment, just one second, I feel immortal.”
—Diana Nyad (b. 1949)