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HAVANA (AP) — Wind conditions and “less than ideal currents”
prompted marathon swimmer Diana Nyad to end her second bid to swim
from Cuba to the Florida Keys about halfway through her journey
early Tuesday.
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Elaine Lafferty, who was on the boat according to Nyad’s blog,
posted on Twitter: “It’s over.” Lafferty said “the combination of
factors was too much to safely continue.”
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According to the Twitter feed, Nyad was pulled from the water early
in the morning after swimming for 29 hours. The swim was expected
to take 60 hours to cover at least 103 miles (166
kilometers).
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“It felt like this was my moment,” a quote attributed to Nyad on
her Twitter feed said. “I don’t feel like a failure at all. But we
needed a little more luck.”
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The Twitter account reported she decided to end the swim herself,
after “realizing the conditions of 5 to 10 knot winds and less than
ideal currents.” An online chart plotting the swim’s track showed
the Gulf Stream currents pushing Nyad to the east of the intended
course. Nyad had hoped to end her swim at Southernmost Point in Key
West, Fla.
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According to the Twitter feed, Nyad was on a support boat after
ending the swim and wrapped in blankets. The boat arrived at Key
West early Tuesday.
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In her second attempt, Nyad tried to accomplish at 61 years old
what she failed to do at 28 in 1978. This time, she even attempted
the swim without a shark cage, relying instead on an electrical
field from equipment towed by kayakers to keep them at
bay.
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In her first attempt in 1978, she quit after being in the water for
41 hours and 49 minutes due to strong currents and rough weather
that banged her around in the shark cage.
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Had the latest attempt been successful, Nyad would have broken her
own record of 102.5 miles (165 kilometers) for a cageless, open-sea
swim, set in 1979 when she stroked from the Bahamas to
Florida.
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Before the swim, Nyad told journalists she hoped her swim would
inspire others her age to live active lives. She said she also
hoped it could help improve understanding between Cold War rivals
Cuba and the United States, even if just symbolically.
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—
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Online
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Twitter: “http://twitter.com/” target=
“-blank”>http://twitter.com/#!/diananyad
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Diana Nyad Website: “text-decoration: none; color: #000066;” href=
“http://diananyad.com/” target=
“-blank”>http://diananyad.com/
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