RECORD-BREAKER

Diana Nyad swam 110 miles in shark infested waters at 64 and was immortalised in the film Nyad. She’s a firm believer that age shouldn’t be a barrier to following your dreams

words LINA DAS

Wild times Diana before her first bid to swim from Cuba to Florida in 1978;

and on a Florida beach after being rescued;

in 1979;

resting after a training session for her second attempt in 2011

E ven if you’ve seen the Netflix movie Nyad , the documentary The Other Shore or read her memoir Find a Way , chances are you still won’t quite believe the Diana Nyad story. She’s living proof that it really is never too late to achieve your goals. In 2013, aged 64, Diana succeeded in swimming an 110-mile stretch from Cuba to Florida against all the odds. She went without sleep for 53 hours on the epic swim, battling fatigue, hallucinations and deadly currents while navigating an ocean riddled with sharks and poisonous box jellyfish.

The achievement marked the fulfilment of a dream that had begun 35 years earlier when she first attempted and failed the swim. On that first attempt in 1978 she swam inside a shark cage for 42 hours but gave up after 76 miles.

She retired from swimming in 1980 but after she turned 60, her dream was rekindled. More than three decades after her first attempt and following a long career as a sports broadcaster, she decided to try again. In 2011, her second attempt ended after a debilitating asthma attack; a third by venomous box jellyfish stings. Severe storms and more stings curtailed her effort the following year. Then in 2013, Diana finally achieved her dream on the fifth attempt and became the first person to swim that stretch of water without the aid of a shark cage – a feat that had been deemed so dangerous it was ‘close to impossible’. She had been told there was a 1% chance she’d succeed but she proved the doubters wrong.