What happened to Diana Nyad ten years after swimming from Cuba to Florida?

2023-10-27 13:42:00

Foto: Debby Wong | Shutterstock

Text: Editorial Cuba Noticias 360

After several attempts in 2013, American swimmer Diana Nyad managed to swim from Cuba to Florida, in a feat that was questioned by some, but celebrated by others. Ten years after the athlete, over 60 years old at the time, managed to cross this dangerous and famous route, she and her team remember it with the premiere of a new film.

Nyad swam 177 km from Cuba to Florida without the use of a protective cage and after scaring away sharks with sounds from a boat, facing jellyfish stings, he reached the finish line. Now the event is reinterpreted by the American actress Annet Benning in the film Nyad.

Regarding the premiere, the real athlete told the LA Times newspaper that she was “impressed” by the film. The film was directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. Benning’s co-star is also renowned actress Jodie Foster, who plays her trainer and main strength during the journey, Bonnie Stoll. The film was produced and released by Netflix, and has revived the debate about the athlete and her feat.

Nyad rose to fame in 1975 when she swam around Manhattan. In 1979, he swam 164 km from Bimini, Bahamas, to Florida in 27.5 hours, setting an open water swimming distance record. She retired from competitive swimming at age 30 and spent the next three decades as a sports broadcaster.

In 2011, he came out of retirement to attempt to become the first person to swim from Cuba to Key West, Florida, without a shark cage. It took him three more attempts over three years, but he finally completed the feat in 2013, aged 64, after a harrowing 53-hour swim.

After this period the World Open Water Swimming Association said there was a “significant gap” in the records of his successful swimming, and this has not been officially ratified. The Guinness World Records also revoked its recognition.

In contrast, the Open Water Swimmers Federation also backed Nyad and said there was no evidence he cheated. In that sense, the athlete’s team attributed her achievement to the rapid Gulf Stream that flowed in her favor, and Nyad rejected the doubts by commenting: “I swam. We achieved it, with our team we achieved it from the rocks of Cuba to the beach of Florida, in an impeccable and ethical environment.”