Diana The Swimming Devil

People have tremendous strength of mind and they could really do anything.I was reading the story of a diehard fighter Dianna Nyad born in 1949 an American author motivational speaker and journalist became the first confirmed person to swim from Havana,Cuba to Florida without the assistance of shark cage or swim fins a distance of 102 miles or 164 km a feat achieved at the age of 64 years.Hence on 2nd of September,2013 she achieved the milestone.In 1979 over a period of 2 days swam from Bimini island in Bahamas to June Beach , Florida failed four times and succeeded on the fifth time.

Someone once said mental determination is a more potent factor than the energy of youth."Challenges and old age did not set her back.She set a distance of non stop swimming without a wet suit a record that still stands till date.She had a lot of setback in her early life but not perturbed keep moving on .She was an infant when her dad died and at age 3 her mother married a Greek real estate developer Aristotle Nyad and he adopted her .It was in her 7th grade that she began swimming and was tutored by an Olympian and hall of Fame coach Jack Nelson in the sixties.She could not participate in 1966 Olympics due to strange disease Endocarditis a heart infection.She spent three months in bed due to the strange ailment.Then she started swimming and discovered she had lost the speed and not just appetite.She once jumped out of a 4th floor dormitory without a parachute and was expelled by the university authority.So sound strange.I was amazed when I read the story.Human beings are so much wonderful with the use of the mind to achieve scary things.That is why I called her Dianna the swimming devil.