65 and breaking records: the star of Diana Nyad

65-year-old Nyad at the 2014 Texas Conference For Women

American swimmer Diana Nyad is nothing short of a legend. One of the world’s best known long-distance swimmers, Nyad swam around Manhattan, NY, a 45 kilometre distance, and then from the Bahamas to Florida – covering a 164 km distance in the process. Two years ago, at the age of 64, Nyad became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the use of a shark cage.

Nyad famously described just how dangerous that journey was, saying there was never a “..stretch of ocean more rife with Mother Nature on steroids as you can across the Straits of Florida between Havana and Key West." The area is home to several species of sea creatures that are deadly to humans, among them sharks and venomous jellyfish. She has been stung before.

She talks about not only dealing with creatures but also extreme exhaustion – she began hallucinating during her swim, seeing fictional characters from children’s films.

Her team kept giving her repeated encouragement, feeding her and egging her on so she could complete the distance. Losing track at one point, Nyad was ready to give up.. until her best friend Bonnie Stoll, also a member of her team, told her to look into the distance – where the horizon of Key West was visible. That was the final push Nyad needed, she said, and she completed the distance through treacherous water, creatures and in the face of extreme exhaustion and collapse.

Describing herself quite simply as a ‘person with a dream who fulfiled it’, Nyad downplayed her own achievement. At an age by which most athletes have long since retired, Diana Nyad did not just make a fresh attempt – she succeeded.

Not just an adept swimmer, Nyad also once featured in the top 15 squash players in the United States of America. She is also a journalist and author.