Diana Nyad

By Charlotte Goldenheim

Diana Nyad once said, “It’s not too late, I can still live my dreams.” These inspiring words truly show Diana’s perseverance and determination. At 64 years old, Diana swam all the way from Cuba to Florida after five grueling attempts. She’s an incredibly powerful woman and deserves to be known for her impressive accomplishments. If this at all interests you, continue reading to learn more about her early life, her experience swimming, and so much more!
All celebrities had an early life preceding their stardom—their origin story if you will—and here is Diana Nyad’s. Diana grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the midst of the Cuban Revolution, with her mother, Lucy Curtis, and her stepfather, Aristotle Nyad. According to The New Yorker, she has two siblings, Liza, and William; William unfortunately suffered from schizophrenia, which resulted in the Nyads moving around a lot (Levy). Later in the article, it is mentioned that as a child, Nyad swam on a team, but unfortunately at age fourteen her swim coach, Jack Nelson, who she had trusted greatly, sexually abused her (Levy). She finally told one of her trusted teammates and the teammate said that she’d had the same dreadful experience. Unfortunately, this dreadful man is still in the swimming hall of fame. I feel truly sorry for her, because many young women in the world have been scarred from experiences like this, and the people who committed these crimes often get away with it. Multiple people inspired Diana Nyad to complete this near impossible feat. As referenced in a Time article, at age nine, Diana asked her mom why she couldn’t see Cuba, and her mom replied that it was “just over the horizon”- so close that Diana might be able to swim there someday (Park). I think that Diana has kept that inspiring thought with her throughout her big swim, and her whole life.
Her stepfather Aristotle Nyad also had a huge impact on the mental side of her swim. According to the movie Nyad, when Diana was a child, Aristotle would say something along the lines of, “if you look up our name, Nyad, in the dictionary, it will say water nymph, swimming is your destiny”. I think Diana Nyad really took this to heart and carried it with her throughout the expanse of her swim. At the middle of her quest to swim from Cuba to Florida, when she was feeling defeated, she would think that because Aristotle was not her true father, that Nyad was not her destiny. When she thought that, the third person who had helped her journey, would bring her spirits up, Bonnie Stoll. Bonnie Stoll had really made Diana’s dream into a reality. Bonnie was the one that organized the whole trip. She found a navigator, a captain, and everything Diana could possibly need. Bonnie and Diana have been inseparable since age 30 and will forever continue to be.
All athletes need to train for races, and long swims, this is how Diana does it. On land Diana Nyad did a mix of things to get ready for the forthcoming swim. According to ESPN, she would bike, do burpees, and other forms of cardio. But as said in ESPN, if she did hyper-focused on any one type of exercise that was not swimming, it would “build the legs too much” (Mackenzie). In water, it was a different story. She would start at 25 minutes straight of swimming, and then she would spend more and more time in the water. (Mackenzie) Sometimes she would swim in Mexico or Saint Maarten because they are mostly shark free (Levy). According to the Men’s Journal, Diana did a number of things to maintain mental toughness throughout the expanse of the swim. One of the main things she did was listen to music, but the catch was that she could only have songs that were in 4/4 on her playlist, so that the songs would be in time with her stroke. Another thing anyone should do is balance how many calories you take in and how many calories you are burning (Men’s Journal). If it is off balance, it is not good for anyone, including Diana. To conclude, training was a big part of her success while swimming.
Swimming from Cuba to Florida is 111 miles! That is a long stretch of time to be in shark and jellyfish infested waters, a lot is bound to happen. Some of the main obstacles include: jellyfish, sharks, wind, currents, and hallucination. According to the movie Nyad, on Diana’s first attempt her navigator screwed her as he apparently he knew nothing about crossing the Florida Straits. After that attempt that didn’t work out she stopped marathon swimming for about 30 years. Something had sparked in her brain that made her decide, I need to complete this swim. It is my destiny. So for attempt two, she and Bonnie Stoll started setting everything up. They needed a navigator because the Florida Straits are very unpredictable, and according to the movie, Nyad, there is about one “window” per year where you could actually swim across it, and that is not even considering sharks and jellyfish. So after some searching, Bonnie Stoll found a navigator, John Bartlett, who they could trust not to get them lost. According to The Week, on Diana’s second attempt, she suffered from her first ever asthma attack, which caused her to have to end the swim early.(Maass) On attempt number three, as shown in the movie Nyad, Diana got stung by a Portuguese Man-O-War, she survived that but soon after that she got stung again by another jellyfish and that caused her to have to get out and receive medical treatment. According to CTV news, on attempt four, she was swimming along and she swam through a swarm of box jellyfish and got stung a whopping nine times! Finally, on attempt five, she made it! Diana Nyad successfully crossed the Florida Straits, she officially swam from Cuba to Florida with no shark cage.
Now, Nyad was such a powerful woman that two directors, Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, decided to make an incredible film. These two directors had witnessed the cultural revolution of Diana Nyad. All news sources were talking about Diana, she was the life of the party. So in 2023, they released the movie Nyad. I completely recommend this movie. Go watch it now!
Diana Nyad truly made a dent in history, she has influenced many people, including myself. Diana Nyad is a truly phenomenal person. Diana Nyad is one of the most amazing marathon swimmers in the world. She is all powerful.


Works Cited
“About Bonnie & Diana.” EverWalk, 28 Apr. 2023, everwalk.com/about-bonnie-diana/.
“Diana Nyad Ends 4th Cuba-to-Florida Swim Attempt Early.” CTVNews, 21 Aug. 2012, www.ctvnews.ca/sports/diana-nyad-ends-4th-cuba-to-florida-swim-attempt-early-1.923026#:~:text=Nyad%20was%20stung%20nine%20times,of%20her%20lips%20and%20tongue.
“Diana Nyad, 64, Makes Record Swim from Cuba to Florida | September 2, 2013.” History.Com, A&E Television Networks, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/diana-nyad-64-makes-record-swim-from-cuba-to-florida. Accessed 4 June 2024.
“How to Survive a Long-Distance Swimming Challenge | Men’s Journal.” How to Survive a Long Distance Swim, www.mensjournal.com/uncategorized/how-to-survive-a-long-distance-swimming-challenge/. Accessed 4 June 2024.
Levy, Ariel. “Diana Nyad Breaks the Waves.” The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2014, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/02/10/diana-nyad-profile-cuba-florida-swim.
Maass, Harold. “Diana Nyad’s Historic Cuba-to-Florida Swim: A Timeline.” Theweek, The Week, 3 Sept. 2013, theweek.com/articles/460490/diana-nyads-historic-cubatoflorida-swim-timeline.
Mackenzie, Natalie Gingerich. “Diana Nyad’s Insane Training Schedule.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, www.espn.com/espnw/features/story/_/id/6783753/diana-nyad-insane-training-schedule. Accessed 5 June 2024.
Mullor, Mireia. “Nyad True Story - Where Are Diana Nyad and Bonnie Stoll Now?” Digital Spy , www.digitalspy.com/movies/a45682154/diana-nyad-true-story/. Accessed 5 June 2024.
Park, Alice. “The True Story behind Diana Nyad’s Incredible Swim.” Time, Time, 3 Nov. 2023, time.com/6330894/nyad-movie-true-story-netflix/.
“The Cuba Swim.” Diana Nyad, diananyad.com/the-cuba-swim. Accessed 21 May 2024.
“The Power of Friendship & Family.” Discover Nuxt 3, citylifestyle.com/articles/the-power-of-friendship. Accessed 4 June 2024.
TodayShow. “The True Story behind Diana Nyad’s 110-Mile, 52-Hour Cuba to Florida Swim.” TODAY.Com, www.today.com/popculture/nyad-true-story-controversy-rcna133274. Accessed 4 June 2024.