Diana Nyad - Never Give Up

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know...

Diana Nyad made a statement, “Never give up,” and supported it with completing a journey, a dream, and an improbable swim this past week. Leaving the rocky shores of Cuba, she dove into the water and swam 110 miles to the United States, coming ashore in Key West, Florida. She is the first person to complete this swim unassisted and without aid of a shark tank.

This was her fifth attempt at the feat and now finally, at age 64, she accomplished something she first attempted at age 28 in 1978. She donned a wet suit and specially constructed face mask to fend off the jellyfish stings that have doomed this swim in the past. She stayed in the water for 53 hours, enjoying favorable weather and swift currents but she also endured multiple stings and exhaustion as inordinate amounts of sea water were swallowed because of the mask. 

And now the nitpickers are coming after Diana Nyad, wanting her to verify some of the more questionable aspects of her historic swim from Cuba to Key West.

But these nitpickers are different. These are not just outsiders and small minded critics hoping to bring someone down and ruin a moment. These nitpickers are fellow endurance swimmers and they are very clearly challenging the legitimacy of her swim. 

Very few people are even aware of endurance swimming as a sport. Only a handful of times in one's life does the sport even surface and usually only when a feat of this magnitude takes place. So these fellow swimmers questioning Nyad are only trying to lift up their sport, give it awareness and integrity. 

To the common folk such as myself, this is a cool story, a great accomplishment, and a feat to marvel that someone could (would) swim for 53 hours in the ocean amongst shark scares and jellyfish stings. This is not even to mention the seemingly poor restroom facilities. But then we move on and never give endurance swimming another thought. 

Of course, the marathon swimming faction considers this swim much more than a glancing curiosity. This is the national spotlight glaring on their sport and they want to ensure it is proper and the swim was done right. You see, there are rules, guidelines and protocol for such swims if they are to be listed as records within the swimming community. 

The "English Channel" rules are in place requiring a swimmer NOT to wear a wet suit, NOT to have gloves or footies, NOT to have any thermal protection or any artificial aids. Other endurance swimming rules declare that a swimmer not be touched in any manner by a navigation member or receive any assistance from touching a boat. 

Between some of these aspects being violated and a claim by swimming members that a 64 year old woman set the all time, world record pace during a specific stretch of the swim, the "nitpickers" are fairly questioning the validity of the swim. Experts and fellow swimmers who know a whole lot more about this event than me are claiming certain sections of the swim look odd. They simply don't pass the eyeball test. And that is ok. 

I don't believe they are trying to drag down Diana Nyad; they are trying to legitimize and elevate their sport. If Nyad's swim is worthy of being recognized as a record amongst this group, then fine, that will all come out in the wash and ensuing interviews and analysis. Everyone will win - Diana Nyad, the marathon swimming members and the sport - and after days in the ocean swimming, I feel positive Nyad can take on a few questions.

But getting back to the common folk, the ones like me who took a completely different message from this swim and will use it to emphasize a point I have made to my children many times, this swimmer just simply never gave up. 

Diana Nyad did not stand on the shores of Cuba and call out "English Channel" rules and she didn't declare ahead of time that this was intended to meet some Endurance Swimming Association of the Universe standards. Just as kids don't always call "dibs" before grabbing a seat or young sandlotters don’t call “pitcher’s mound out” before the neighborhood championship, she just set out to complete a dream and a task she has personally had for 35 years. No, her message upon leaving the shores of Havana for the fifth time was clearly, "Don't ever give up." 

So maybe the literal feat needs proving, clarifying. Maybe it lifts up the sport of endurance swimming if proven to be legitimate or turns out to be “officially” stricken. But either way, it takes away nothing from the spirit and determination of a 64 year old woman and her message - never give up - which she very decisively DID call out before ever getting in the water.

All this because I know more about nothing...