Talking to Diana Nyad, you immediately understand how she . Positivity bursts from her at rapid speed.
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Our special issue highlights the athletes, activists, and icons who have shaped the outside world. 鈥淚鈥檇 rather dream large and fail than shoot for mediocre and never discover my limits,鈥 Nyad says. Her definition of large is, of course, exponentially greater than most humans鈥. In 2013, at the age of 64, . It was her fifth attempt in 35 years.听
Nyad鈥檚 111-mile feat places her firmly in the pantheon of . Between her first attempt, at age 28, and the last four鈥攁ll after the age of 60鈥擭yad suffered near fatal , the crushing force of a Gulf Stream that blew her dozens of miles off course, hypothermia, third-degree burns from saltwater chafing, vomiting from ocean swells, and the threat of shark attack. Six weeks after her historic landing in Florida, .听
But my awe of the universe and gratitude for the life I live grew stronger than the rage through the years.
鈥淪ome people say to me, 鈥榊ou must love swimming so much,鈥 鈥 says Nyad, who lives in Los Angeles. 鈥淵es. To be out under four billion stars above the Gulf Stream is amazing. But it would be better put that I have a passion for chasing my potential and summoning my courage. Everything I do, I focus and bear down. If I don鈥檛 make it to the other side, it鈥檚 not because I didn鈥檛 try.鈥澛
It almost looks easy. But when Nyad was in her twenties, that tenacity was fueled in part by anger. As a child, she鈥檇 been sexually abused. 鈥淚t runs deep,鈥 Nyad says. 鈥淏ut my awe of the universe and gratitude for the life I live grew stronger than the rage through the years. At 64, when I made Cuba, I was no longer defined by childhood events.鈥
Nyad had a long career as a journalist, reporting stories for , NPR鈥檚 Morning Edition, and other programs. Now in her seventh decade, she appears more unstoppable than ever. She does 1,000 burpees at a time at least once a week. (It takes her 2 hours and 50 minutes.) She鈥檚 in high demand as a public speaker and created a one-woman autobiographical show, called Onward!, that tells the story of her Cuba swim and has her miming freestyle swimming over a platform and playing a bugle. Last fall, with her friend Bonnie Stoll, Nyad rolled out , a move颅ment to get millions of people walking. In September, they鈥檒l lead a 150-mile journey from Boston to New York City.听
Her next goal? 鈥淚 want the ocean to come alive on stage,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t sounds preposterous, but I want to take my show to Broadway.鈥澛