Holy bejeezus ...
Diana Nyad: I broke many records in my prime as a long-distance swimmer back in the 1970’s, in my twenties. For my world record—102.5 continuous miles from the Bahamas to Florida in 1979—and other swims, such as breaking the 50-year-old mark for circling Manhattan Island ... Yet my dream of swimming from Cuba to Florida was dashed in 1978, after fighting stiff winds and huge seas for 41hrs, 49 mins, and still not reaching the Florida coast ...
... Until a year ago, I hadn’t swum a stroke for 31 years. Swimmer’s burnout gripped me to the point that I could have sworn I would never, ever swim a lap again in my life. But approaching 60 last year threw me into the existential angst of wondering what I had done with my life ... I started swimming a few laps, just to take some pressure off the knees from all the other activities I enjoy.
My workouts escalated. My motivation started to burn like a fire in my soul. One day I was driving, after a long swim, and I stopped and looked hard in the rearview mirror. And I said to myself: This is one dream I actually could go back and achieve. At 60, I could swim from Cuba to Florida. This time, without a shark cage.
But first, a little warmup swim ...
AboutDiana: On July 10th, at the age of 60, legendary open-water swimmer Diana Nyad will attempt to complete her first marathon swim in over 30 years. Nyad's triumphant return to long-distance swimming till take her 50 miles off the Florida Coast to begin a consecutive 24-hour swim through the Gulf Stream's open-water and back to the Florida shoreline, without a shark cage.
CNN Health: Diana Nyad chases a dream
Diana's Website
Wow.
My wife asked about sleeping. I told her I thought she had to either not sleep or just float on her back getting the occasional cat naps. Ellen thought she would have been brought into the boat for a nap. This goes to the assisted/unassisted aspect of the swim I'm sure.
It's over. Why the interest in crazy swims.
Diana I am sorry that you could not finish your dream.
Did not know that you could sit in a boat and get back in the water.
It was 41 hours in the water and in the boat for 22 hours because of rough water. I don't know how many times she was out of the water and back in the water?? I know she was out and in at least once, may be 2 or 3 times.
I think this relates to a couple of times that some swimmers attempted to swim accross the Atlantic Ocean. You can get out and get back in at the same spot?
Not an athletic acheivement?
Hmmm...
I differ. I consider a natural challenge (such as "Can I swim from here to there?") to be a far more valid athletic challenge than any organized race.
You want silly?
Look at the silly crap people do for medals.
Her feat has way less to do with athleticism than it does logistics, time and money. The athleticism required is secondary to the other 3.
My last 42 hours of swimming I swam over 90 miles.
I won't deny that logistics, time, and money is HUGE in that type of swim. But, again, if you just look at the athleticism required to do what she did- and leave EVERYTHING else out of it- she is a heck of an athlete who accomplished an amazing feat!
Regarding your last 42 hours of swimming 90 miles:
1. Where did you swim those miles- and, under what conditions?
2. How old are you?
3. You are male, but I will not debate whether that is an advantage or disadvantage in open water distance swimming; I will leave that for others to decide.
4. Where did I compare her athleticism to yours? It's beside the point which makes me wonder why I just bothered listing the previous three points! :doh:
What I think, regardless of the circumstances, is that swimming that many hours and that many miles is an amazing athletic (physically and mentally; standards aside) achievement for anybody; especially a 62 (almost 63) year old! The definition of "athletic achievement" is all yours; not mine. I personally define "athletic achievement" based on what somebody accomplishes, regardless of any standards. Call it a "stunt", call it whatever you would like. But, the fact remains that she swam for a total of 41 hours and 45 minutes (according to her blog) and over 46 miles (I can't find the final figure in her blog). If you take those statistics alone and leave "standards" out of it, that is nothing short of amazing.
Her feat has way less to do with athleticism than it does logistics, time and money. The athleticism required is secondary to the other 3.
My last 42 hours of swimming I swam over 90 miles.
