Third Time's the Charm?
September 23, 2011 5:49 PM   Subscribe

61-year-old Diana Nyad is back in the water. Again. (previously) American endurance swimmer Diana Nyad is making her third attempt (and second in as many months) to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage, a distance of 103 miles. Her previous attempt failed after a crippling asthma attack. At the time, she swore she wouldn't try again, but a week later she was already having second thoughts. You can track her progress here.
posted by BlahLaLa (26 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Popping in to note that her name (homophonous with Naiad) suits her.
posted by exlotuseater at 6:08 PM on September 23, 2011 [4 favorites]


Her middle name is Alice
posted by Flashman at 6:13 PM on September 23, 2011


I was about to ask whether that's her original name.
posted by kenko at 6:15 PM on September 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


I was so excited to see the news on CNN today that she was back at it. I don't know her or anything, but every time I saw her on TV during the media blitz before and after her failed swim a month ago, she was so relentlessly positive that I couldn't help but really like and admire her. I hope everything works out for her this time.
posted by MegoSteve at 6:17 PM on September 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


Oh cool!
posted by ph00dz at 6:21 PM on September 23, 2011


You will never catch me doing anything that needs to be qualified with a "without a shark cage".
posted by nathancaswell at 6:22 PM on September 23, 2011 [15 favorites]


I go without a shark cage 24/7. NO FEAR, that's my motto.
posted by DU at 6:29 PM on September 23, 2011 [10 favorites]


...so relentlessly positive that I couldn't help but really like and admire her.

I know.

(Usually, when someone on TV is that positive... it means that someone else's ass is on the line.)
posted by R. Mutt at 6:31 PM on September 23, 2011


she just got stung by a moon jelly - hoping that she can continue...
posted by carlodio at 6:41 PM on September 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


Diana Nyad and Frank Deford are the only two people on this planet that can talk sports without making me stabby. They both make the games and people into stories. Wonderful woman. I wish her the best.
posted by cjorgensen at 7:14 PM on September 23, 2011 [4 favorites]


Glad to hear this, good luck Diana!
posted by Zonker at 7:39 PM on September 23, 2011


Diana has been severely stung by numerous portuguese man o' war jellyfish and spent nearly two hours pulling out the tentacles with the help of a crew member who was also badly stung. She says she has resumed her swim now, I can't imagine how.
posted by longsleeves at 9:04 PM on September 23, 2011


Got to be real, I'm kind of cheering for the ocean on this one. Don't get me wrong, I don't want Nyad to get hurt or anything but there's something to be said for humility. Especially when you're up against something that covers 90% of the Earth's surface.
posted by dhammond at 9:40 PM on September 23, 2011


Especially when you're up against something that covers 90% of the Earth's surface.

Cynicism?
posted by ShutterBun at 11:10 PM on September 23, 2011 [4 favorites]


Sometimes you just cheer for the shark...
posted by Theta States at 11:23 PM on September 23, 2011


Maybe she should have considered a snark cage.
posted by scrowdid at 11:27 PM on September 23, 2011 [11 favorites]


She is a star, a hero. I hope she can continue, Man o War or not; if anyone can continue in the face of this, it'll be her. She's got a huge personality but she's got the jam to back it up, it's not bragging if you can hop in the water and swim to Cuba, it's fact.

Portuguese man o' war are big around as bowling balls, and have tentacles that drag below and behind them, these tentacles are thirty, forty, up to 150 foot long, they are fifteen different kinds of nasty. I have seen armadas of these damn things, fleets of them, just floating serenely on the top of the water of the Gulf of Mexico, Florida. I would not hesitate for an instant to take a shotgun to the beach for an afternoon of pleasure -- yeah, peace love and understanding and all that but screw these things.
posted by dancestoblue at 1:42 AM on September 24, 2011


Diana Nyad and Frank Deford are the only two people on this planet that can talk sports without making me stabby.

I didn't have an opinion of Nyad before, but now that you've likened her to Deford I find I hate her.
posted by DU at 3:49 AM on September 24, 2011


Cuban navy should scoop her up just shy of the beach and deport her back to Florida to make a point.
posted by nathancaswell at 5:27 AM on September 24, 2011 [3 favorites]


The website could be improved immeasurably if they just had a google-map with a updating GPS-powered point visually showing her progress.
posted by Static Vagabond at 6:14 AM on September 24, 2011


She's a hero? Shirley you cannot be serious. What the hell makes her a hero?
posted by ReeMonster at 6:32 AM on September 24, 2011


Cuban navy should scoop her up just shy of the beach and deport her back to Florida to make a point.
posted by nathancaswell at 8:27 AM on September 24 [2 favorites +] [!] Other [2/2]: «≡·


Funny, except she's swimming *from* Cuba *to* Florida. Maybe the Coast Guard could attempt to barricade her away from Key West as Hermanos al Rescate attempt to run interference for her in their fishing boats and spotter planes.
posted by toodleydoodley at 10:21 AM on September 24, 2011


She's made it the second night!!
posted by Mike Mongo at 4:50 AM on September 25, 2011


She's a hero? Shirley you cannot be serious. What the hell makes her a hero?


[maintains cool]

She's 62, and she's just swam through two nights...in the OCEAN.

If you miss the part how she's a hero to a more than a few people—including a whole hell of a lot of seniors—then look around. There's thread out there about someone who turns your key and who makes you feel like jumping and shouting in celebration of life. With of course the mandatory rain on your parade post that makes you feel like leaping to the defense of your personal hero, as well. Go look. Really, it's true.
posted by Mike Mongo at 5:04 AM on September 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


Thanks for posting this --- the only thing the local sports-dudes seem to recognize is football!
posted by easily confused at 2:11 PM on September 25, 2011




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