Diana Nyad

Diana Nyad successfully fulfilled her lifelong dream of completing the 103-mile swim from Cuba to Florida on September 2, 2013, at the age of 64. It was her fifth and final attempt. Upon completing the strenuous 53-hour journey, she said, “I have three messages. One is we should never, ever give up. Two is you are never too old to chase your dreams. Three is it looks like a solitary sport, but it's a team.”

Never one to quit, in July of 2010—at the age of 60—she began her “Xtreme Dream” quest of swimming from Cuba to Florida, a task she had failed to finish 28 years before.

The next year she broke the distance record, swimming 102.5 from the Bahamas to Florida, a world record. Then she didn’t take another stroke for 30 years.

Three decades later, she decided to try again to swim from Cuba to Florida. When asked her motivation, she replied, “Because I’d like to prove to the other 60-year-olds that it is never too late to start your dreams.”

Although unsuccessful in 2010, Nyad completed this historic swim after two more failed attempts in 2011 and 2012.

In the 1970s, Nyad was considered one of the greatest long-distance swimmers in the world. Her world other record includes circling Manhattan Island. She has been inductioned to many Halls of Fame, such as the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Nyad has been a prominent sports broadcaster, filing compelling reports for NPR, ABC’s Wide World of Sports, Fox Sports, and the New York Times. The author of three books, she has also earned the reputation of a uniquely passionate and entertaining public speaker in front of many international audiences. And she is the subject a new documentary, The Other Shore.