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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.