Diana Nyad, an endurance swimmer who attempted to swim the 103 miles between Cuba and Florida without a shark tank, abandoned her goal on Tuesday morning. Nyad began her swim on Sunday and was followed by a team of 30 people operating an electrical field to repel sharks. As a condition of her competition, she was not allowed to touch the boats following her and she had to tread water while eating or drinking. But 29 hours into her swim, she was suffering shoulder pain, asthma and was vomiting when she was brought on board a boat. This isn’t the first time Nyad attempted to swim from Havana to Key West: she tried in 1978 at age 28, but also had to abandon that swim halfway. In the two years leading up to Sunday’s swim, Nyad swam up to 12 hours a day. Oh, and did I mention she’s 61-years-old? Keep reading »
