Record-holding swimmer Diana Nyad, 61, was forced to call off her attempt to become the first person to swim nonstop from Havana, Cuba, to the Florida Keys without a shark cage early this morning, according to this report from CNN.com. (Read my more extensive post from Monday about the effort here.)
Rough seas, shoulder pain and asthma ended her swim early, after she’d made it about halfway through the 103-mile distance in 29 hours. This is the second time Nyad has attempted the swim. The first time was in 1978 when she was 29. She swam 76 miles in about 42 hours — that time inside a shark cage — but had to call it off when high winds and rough seas pushed her off course and kept banging her into the sides the tank.
I am sad that Nyad had to call off the swim. I was really rooting for her to make it. But at the same time, I am amazed and inspired that she even tried to make the swim, and when you think about how far she got and how quickly, it is even more amazing. So Diana Nyad is still one of my new heroes.
Watch CNN’s report below.
