Diana Nyad's Swim From Cuba Ends After Threats From Sharks And Storms

In this photo released by Diana Nyad via the Florida Keys News Bureau, endurance swimmer Diana Nyad swims off Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012, as she begins a more than 100-mile trip across the Florida Straits to the Florida Keys. (AP Photo/ Diana Nyad via the Florida Keys News Bureau, Christi Barli)

By MATT SEDENSKY, Associated Press

KEY WEST, Fla. -- Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad has ended her fourth bid to swim from Cuba to Florida after four days of storms, jellyfish stings and shark threats.

Nyad's support team posted on her blog that the athlete made the call after being pulled from the water a day before her 63rd birthday.

Nyad left Havana on Saturday in her third attempt since last year to be the first person to swim the Florida Straits without a shark cage. She also failed once earlier to do so with a cage.

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• Diana Nyad

  Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad rests after being pulled out of the water between Cuba and the Florida Keys early Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Diana Nyad via the Florida Keys News Bureau, Christi Barli)

• Diana Nyad

  Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad rests after she was pulled out of the water between Cuba and the Florida Keys early Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Diana Nyad via the Florida Keys News Bureau, Christi Barli)

• Diana Nyad

  Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad is aided after she was pulled out of the water between Cuba and the Florida Keys early Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Diana Nyad via the Florida Keys News Bureau, Christi Barli)

• Diana Nyad

  This Aug. 18, 2012, file photo shows Diana Nyad adjusting her swimming cap as a woman applies a protective ointment to her skin before she prepares to jump into the water to start her swim to Florida from Havana, Cuba. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File)

• Diana Nyad

  In this photo endurance swimmer Diana Nyad swims in the Florida Straits between Cuba and the Florida Keys Monday, Aug. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Diana Nyad via the Florida Keys News Bureau, Christi Barli)

• Diana Nyad

  Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad is hydrated by a crew member in the Florida Straits between Cuba and the Florida Keys Monday, Aug. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Diana Nyad via the Florida Keys News Bureau, Christi Barli)

• Diana Nyad

  People from the local nautical club carry a Cuban and a U.S. flag to the coast to watch U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad start her swim to Florida from Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

• Diana Nyad

  Diana Nyad takes a break after reportedly being stung by a jellyfish Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012, off Havana, Cuba. Nyad, who turns 63 Aug. 22, is trying to be the first swimmer to cross the Florida Straits without a shark cage. (AP Photo/Diana Nyad via the Florida Keys News Bureau, Christi Barli)

• Diana Nyad

  Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad (yellow bathing cap) pauses for a rest and hydration with her support crew in the Florida Straits between Cuba and the Florida Keys, Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Diana Nyad via the Florida Keys News Bureau, Christi Barli)

Comments

[wontbfooledagain]

09:16 AM on 08/23/2012

One of these days tenacious Diana will accomplish this goal. She's no wimp.

[bnordq]

09:43 PM on 08/22/2012

Maybe she should bring sponge bob and patrick next time, with their jellyfish nets....that was a funny comment about what would you call your grandma who tried to cartwheel across america each year...brave or crazy....ha

[vaeho]

04:53 PM on 08/22/2012

maybe she should wear a shark face guard, like a hockey goalie's from whatever hockey team is called the Sharks.

[american-dolt]

12:43 PM on 08/22/2012

You can try it again in the morning dear, now get some rest.

[crankyCrackPot]

12:40 PM on 08/22/2012

Sorry she failed to accomplish her goal.

My question is this, does using a shark tank aid the swimmer in any other way other than protecting the swimmer from sharks? If the tank is not a performance enhancer, is it a performance detractor? Is it more difficult to swim with the cage.

Trying to figure out why she had to do it without the shark cage.

[Kevvboy]

08:11 PM on 08/22/2012

Hi cranky, A swimmer (Susan Maroney, 22, of Australia) has already done this swim with a shark cage, therefore for Nyad to do that would not be setting any kind of new record. Truth is, since the shark cage is attached to a boat it smooths out the waves and gives the swimmer a big advantage over someone swimming in the open ocean, as Nyad did. Nyad's intention was to do it "the sporting way."

[Tommy Hammersticks]

12:26 PM on 08/22/2012

What exactly would she accomplish if she did somehow make it?

A whole lot of nothing with an inflated ego on the side.

Let's hope she doesn't waste our time again.

[Kevvboy]

08:14 PM on 08/22/2012

Just to note: your time is so valuable that you spend it trolling the comments section on Huff Post?

[Tommy Hammersticks]

10:49 AM on 08/23/2012

Since I do this while I poop, I am simultaneously doing 2 things that will have more of an impact than her swim.

Amirite?

[greencardclose]

12:09 PM on 08/22/2012

if she trys again, will someone arrest her and put her in a phychiatric hospital? please?

[Keyser77]

12:06 PM on 08/22/2012

What a waste of time and your life. Being miserable and uncomfortable to be able to say you were the first something to do something nobody does anyway, I don't get it.

[teatwerp]

10:09 AM on 08/22/2012

what an unbelievably brave and strong woman. congratulations for an outstanding effort!

[Tommy Hammersticks]

12:21 PM on 08/22/2012

If your grandma tried to cartwheel across the USA every year, would we call her brave or stupid?

This is the same thing. What is the point?

[AbeMartin]

07:53 AM on 08/22/2012

Ms. Nyad has always been a terrific athlete.  More than thirty years ago, she amazed (and horrified) New Yorkers, when she swam around Manhattan Island.  Aside from the distance and the cold water, she exposed herself to industrial pollution, effluvium and discharge from sewers, and medical waste.  Shortly, thereafter, New York City and New York State, with support from the Federal Government, began to work, in earnest to clean up its waterways.  Today, the Hudson River, East River, and Harlem River, are rebounding and fish, such as Sturgeon are thriving, and the restoration of the wetlands is seeing the return of thousands of birds and other animals that hadn't been seen since the 19th Century.  Diana, in her inimitable way, makes people notice every time she embarks on an ultra-marathon swim, and over her distinguished swimming and broadcasting career on NPR, has made a positive difference.

She along, with 86 year old comedian/actor/director/writer/entrepreneur/philanthropist Jerry Lewis are at the top of my list for Kennedy Center Honors.

[lightist]

07:14 AM on 08/22/2012

She knows she'll be "swimming with the fishes" if she doesn't protect herself from sharks and war jellymen.

Use past failure to correct present course.

I'm sorry you didn't make it. Would you consider the cage if they can make it from materials that feel cage-free to you?

4th times the charm.

[nelson rivera]

05:57 AM on 08/22/2012

Happy Birthday Diana. You are so daring and brave to swin with the sharks. I am so happy the sharks didn't get one bite. God bless you Diana.

[amleth]

05:23 AM on 08/22/2012

Props for your courage, daring, and fortitude, Diana. And Happy Birthday! (Mine, too - I never knew we shared thus day.)

[anitaj]

05:19 AM on 08/22/2012

"She had been in the water for 60 hours and was about halfway through her swim from Cuba to Florida."

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/21/health/diana-nyad-swim/index.html

[NefariousLord]

01:49 AM on 08/22/2012

Ouch! Her face looks horrible.

[anitaj]

05:20 AM on 08/22/2012

"On Saturday night, her first night in the water, Nyad was stung by jellyfish on her lips, forehead, hands and neck, her blog said."

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/21/health/diana-nyad-swim/index.html