Endurance swimmer and record-holder Diana Nyad arrived in Florida the morning of Aug. 9, but not in the manner she hoped.
The 61-year-old out lesbian swimmer arrived in Key West aboard a boat, hours after abandoning a 103-mile swim from Cuba to Florida at about the halfway point.
She had attempted to become the first person to swim between Cuba and Florida without a shark cage, but ocean swells, shoulder pain and asthma forced her to give up the swim. Nyad was vomiting when she was brought aboard a boat at 12:45 a.m. Aug. 9″29 hours after she jumped into the water Sunday, Aug. 7.
“I would be lying to say I’m not deeply, deeply disappointed,” she told CNN. “This was a big dream, not just of the last two years but some 30 years ago when I tried it.”
After all of the work and effort that her supporters and followers invested in the last two years in preparation for the swim, Nyad said it was unlikely that she would attempt the Cuba to Florida swim again.
