Diana Nyad is 61-years-old and has decided that she should swim 103 miles from Cuba to the Key West. It is her goal to become the only person to do this swim without a shark cage.
She tried this before in 1978, but quit after 42 hours; so she sees this as unfinished business. She told the media:
“I’m almost 62 years old…. I’m standing here at the prime of my life; I think this is the prime, when one reaches this age. You still have a body that’s strong, but now you have a better mind.”
CNN will be in the support boats that follow Nyad on her journey – which began Sunday, August 7, at 7:45 pm. CNN reports that to prepare for this endeavor Nyad has been swimming for up to 12 hours a day for the past 2 years. CNN reports that they “will have a crew of seven on board, as well as a special marine tracking satellite dish to provide live pictures of the swim.”
CNN explains how Nyad will keep her body replenished:
“Nyad will be burning tens of thousands of calories. She will be replacing that energy with nutritionally rich fuel. Every hour, Nyad will stop swimming for just a few minutes to take in food and hydration. A typical meal at one of these pit stops may include hard-boiled eggs, protein gels or peanut butter and a few ounces of an electrolyte-filled beverage.”
Good luck to her – there will be lots of posts to follow this up. Hopefully she doesn’t get eaten by a shark.
Follow her live with the interactive map tracking.
Zennie Abraham 
Bill Carroll