Diana Nyad swims on towards Florida despite jellyfish stings

ENDURANCE athlete Diana Nyad has pushed into the second day of a 166-kilometer swim from Cuba to Florida, fighting fatigue and jellyfish stings in a bid to be the first to make the crossing without a shark cage.
After 24 hours in the water, the 62-year-old was about a third of the way across the Florida Straits and the 50-member crew accompanying her said she was "very comfortable and confident."
Nyad was swimming steadily at 50 strokes per minute despite painful jellyfish encounters overnight which left her with stings on her lips, forehead, hands and neck, the team said in updates to fans via social media.
"Today is more like swimming. I don't know what you would call last night... probably surviving," Nyad said, according to a blog run by her support crew.
She had planned to wear a new-and-improved bodysuit, which covers her from head to toe except for holes for the eyes, nose and mouth, at night, when jellyfish tend to rise to the surface.

The suit did not, however, prevent all stings. At least two were from the dangerous box jellyfish, which forced her to cut short her second of two attempts last year as toxins built up in her system.
Nyad used backstroke at night to keep her face out of the water and avoid being stung, said the crew, which works from five yachts and includes divers with shark experience as well as jellyfish experts.
She returned to freestyle swimming after dawn.


Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad swims off Havana, Cuba as she set off on her latest attempt to swim the treacherous waters from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage. Picture: AFP/ Christi Barli Source: AFP


Nyad, who turns 63 on Wednesday, is making her third attempt since last year at a cageless crossing of the Straits of Florida. She also made a failed try with a cage in 1978.
Australian Susie Maroney successfully swam the Straits in 1997, but she used a used a cage.


Diana Nyad prepares for her departure from the Ernest Hemingway Nautical Club in Havana. Picture: AFP / Adalberto Roque Source: AFP


In June this year another Australian, Penny Palfrey, made it 127km toward Florida without a cage before strong currents forced her to abandon the attempt.
A kayak-borne apparatus shadowing Nyad helps keep sharks at bay by generating a faint electric field that is not noticeable to humans. A team of handlers is always on alert to dive in and distract any sharks that make it through.
Besides sharks, jellyfish, the elements and the limits of human endurance, Nyad must contend with the monotony and sensory deprivation inevitable in marathon swimming.
To help, she relies on a mental playlist of about 65 songs mostly "from my generation". They include classics from the likes of Bob Dylan, the Beatles and Neil Young, plus Janis Joplin's chart-topping version of Me and Bobby McGee.
"If I sing that 2000 times in a row, the whole song, I will get through five hours and 15 minutes," Nyad said in a video posted on her website.
"It's kind of stupid," she added, "but it gets me through."
-  AFP