AARP Hearing Center
Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad, 64.
Jeffery A. Salter/Redux
After several attempts, this past summer Diana Nyad successfully swam from Cuba to Florida.
The famed endurance swimmer talks to AARP about her most recent odyssey, the genius of jellyfish, her mantra and, at 64, what's next.
Q: You're the world's greatest endurance swimmer. You also qualify for a discount on public transportation. Does that square?
A: I haven't noticed aging yet. I've just never been one who falls into a category. I don't wake up feeling that I'm 64 and not 24. I'm by far at the peak of my life right now, even physically. I don't see the limitation.
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See Diana in Action
Don't miss the videos at the bottom of this page and the next of Diana Nyad's Cuba to Florida swim and recent appearance at the AARP Life@50+ event in Atlanta.
Q: After watching you train in Key West, I thought that if it came down to endurance and determination, you'd make it. But then I thought about stuff like the jellyfish out there and I honestly didn't think you would.
A: Those darn jellyfish, they're geniuses. I was all covered up in a Lycra suit and latex surgeon's gloves and duct tape, and if there was a millimeter exposed, those jellyfish found the spot.
Q: And thus the mask?
A: I never would have done the swim without the mask. The jellyfish was one of the variables we had to remove. The mask did the job, it protected my face, but it made me miserable. That first 13 hours at night was hell on earth.
Q: It looks like so much suffering. Is there any joy in this?
A: There were moments. The first day we started from Cuba. The second daylight, I was pretty darn happy. I was being Stephen Hawking and pondering the cosmos. From dawn on that third day on to the beach, that was sheer pleasure. It isn't all suffering — but yes, there is suffering, it's true.
Q: The independent monitor affirmed your swim. Is it hurtful to hear about skeptics?
A: Actually, it isn't. If another swimmer made it, I would respectfully like to see their navigation logs and observers' reports. We showed our data and I believe we proved that I never grabbed onto a boat, never got on a boat and never had any flotation aid.
Q: The questions just come with the territory?
A: Look, there will always be naysayers. There are people who don't believe we ever went to the moon.
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