Diana Nyad is an American distance swimmer, journalist, and publisher. She holds the hold of swimming across the channel unaided from the Cuban island to Florida.
Early Life
Diana Nyad was born in New York in August 1949. Her original name was Diana Winslow Sneed. She is the daughter of William Sneed Jr. and Lucy Winslow Curtis. In 1952 she saw her parents’ divorce when she was only three years. Mary Curtis remarried Aristotle Nyad. Aristotle, a Greek-Egyptian by heritage, legally adopted Diana. She became Diana Nyad. She moved with her parents from New York to Florida.
She enrolled at Pine Crest School graduating in 1967. She got admission at the Emory University to study a degree course. When she was expelled for a daredevil jump from a fourth-floor window, she joined Lake Forest College. In 1973 she graduated from college with an Arts degree majoring in English and French.
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Budding Swimmer
Nyad started swimming early in life. She enrolled for competitive swimming lessons while at Pine Crest School. She trained under the watch of a former American Olympian Jack Nelson. Under his tutelage, Nyad became a record winning athlete swimmer in the Florida high school swimming competitions. She won three state high school competitions.
She switched to the more rigorous long distance marathon swimming while in college. She got the support of Buck Dawson, a renowned hall of fame swimmer from the Florida International Swimming Hall of Fame. She moved to Ontario, Canada for the marathon swimming training. Nyad participated in a few competitions setting a world record in the 16-kilometer swimming competition in Lake Ontario. In 1974 she competed in Italy. Nyad set a new women’s record in the Bay of Naples swimming competition. In 1975 she became the first woman to swim around Manhattan New York, setting a record of eight hours. She continued with her endurance training and set a new record by swimming from the Bahamas to Florida in 1979. She became the first woman to swim a record of 102 miles in 27 hours and 30 minutes.
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