One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
61-Year-Old Diana Nyad Will Attempt Swim From Cuba to Florida
Photo by Dan Wuh via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
Local radio personality Diana Nyad, 61, is getting ready to finish something she started 30 years ago: a swim from Cuba to the Florida Keys, reports the Washington Post. Nyad, who hosts sports show "The Score" on KCRW, has been a long-distance endurance athlete for most of her life. In 1978, when she was 29, she attempted to swim the distance between a point on the shore in Cuba all the way to Florida. Because of high winds, she couldn't finish after completing nearly 50 hours.
Facing the end of middle age, Nyad told the Post that she found herself regretting not being able to finish that swim. That's when she decided to go for it a second time.
Since making that decision, Nyad has been training vigorously, completing a 24-hour swim in 2010. She's also enlisted the assistance of a team of experts, including husband and wife team Jenifer and Dane Clark, experts on Gulf Stream weather conditions, to help her along the way. A pair of kayakers will swim alongside her, emitting electronic signals that will keep sharks at bay.
All told, the trip will take about 60 hours. More details about her trip and her journey so far are available on Nyad's website.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
