Diana Nyad, 61, begins epic Cuba-Florida swim -- minus shark cage

Source: L.A. Times

Los Angeles endurance swimmer Diana Nyad, 61, is braving shark-infested waters for a 103-mile swim from Cuba to Key West. She's doing it to seek redemption. She's doing it to prove that you're never too old to go for it.

And she's also doing it without a shark cage.

Nyad's motto is "60 is the new 40." As she prepared to slip into the waters at Marina Hemingway in Havana to prove just that, Nyad said to 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."

Nyad tried this swim before, back in 1978, but she had to quit after 42 hours in the face of huge waves. Now, Nyad, a speaker, author and travel expert, sees this swim as unfinished business. In her goal to become the first person to make the swim without a shark cage, she wants to inspire her contemporaries that it's never too late -- and that they have many years of vitality, strength and service ahead of them.

Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/08/diana-nyad-cuba-florida-swim.html

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She tells AFP she hopes the event can help improve U.S.-Cuba relations:

"We want these three days to help the two countries get closer," Diana Nyad told a press conference in Havana before embarking on her marathon swim, adding she also hoped to show that people can lead active lives after 60.

I would think that would be quite difficult to carry around while swimming.

they're less difficult to carry around than carrying a shark while it gnaws on your leg. :)

Here's one example, from a woman who swam across the Atlantic in one, who describes it as "a big french fry basket." http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5688185.ece Unfortunately there's no picture, but that rather charming description explains the concept.

However, attempting this swim without a shark cage doesn't seem the best way to demonstrate ". . . a better mind."

Nyad will have some protection from the sharks that patrol the warm waters between Florida and Cuba:

A support crew includes kayaks equipped with underwater electrical shark shields -- which emit a frequency intended to shoo the sharks away. If that fails, divers are ready to intervene.

When Nyad announced her plans, the haters pounced. "I get emails from people saying they are shark experts," she told The Times. "They say I will be like a dinner bell out there. I've started deleting those immediately."

i watch a demo on one of the Shark Week documentaries. Pretty impressive.

:)