Nyad, Diana (1949-…), is a record-breaking American long-distance swimmer . Nyad is also a broadcaster, journalist, author, and motivational speaker.
In 1970, Nyad set a women’s world record of 4 hours 23 minutes in her first long-distance race, a 10-mile (16-kilometer) swim in Lake Ontario. In 1974, she set a women’s record of 8 hours 11 minutes in a 22-mile (35-kilometer) race in the Bay of Naples in Italy. In 1975, she swam around the island of Manhattan in New York City, covering the 28-mile (45-kilometer) distance in a world record time of 7 hours 57 minutes. Nyad attempted to swim from Havana, Cuba, to Florida in 1978. The attempt was ended because of strong currents and rough seas. She set a world record in 1979 for distance swimming for both men and women over open water by swimming 102 miles (164 kilometers) from North Bimini Island, Bahamas, to Jupiter, Florida. She then retired from long-distance swimming.
Nyad returned to swimming in 2011 to again attempt a marathon swim between Havana, Cuba, and Florida. However, she had to end this attempt because of a shoulder injury and an asthma attack. She made two more attempts in 2011 and 2012, failing because of hypothermia (low body temperature), jellyfish stings, and stormy weather. Nyad finally succeeded in 2013, at the age of 64, swimming from Havana to Key West, Florida, a distance of about 110 miles (180 kilometers), in about 53 hours.
Diana Sneed was born on Aug. 22, 1949, in New York City, New York. Her parents divorced in 1952, and her mother married Aristotle Nyad, a land developer, who adopted Diana. The family settled in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where Diana took up swimming as a sport in the seventh grade. She earned a B.A. degree from Lake Forest College in Illinois in 1973 and an M.A. degree from New York University in New York City in 1975.
Nyad has published two autobiographical books, Other Shores (1978) and Find a Way (2015). She also co-wrote with Candace Lyle Hogan Diana Nyad’s Basic Training for Women (1981), an exercise manual, and wrote Boss of Me: The Keyshawn Johnson Story (1999), a biography of a professional football player. In 2006, Nyad was inducted into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame.
