Keep Swimming Diana Nyad

As I write this there is a 62 year old lesbian swimming in the middle of the ocean on her way to Florida from Cuba. She volunteered to jump in against the gulf stream, amidst sharks and jellyfish, with a great void of ocean in front of her. She is not an immigrant trying to make her way to America, but she is a woman with a dream.

At the age of 60 Diana Nyad found herself looking for something but overwhelmed with regret. She was single after separating from a woman she called the love of her life, both of her parents had died and she realized that life had flown by and she wondered what she had to show for it.

"I wasn't going to adopt a child, but I knew I needed something of that order. Something that would require everything in me. No time for neurotic meanderings about the past, no luxury of that. Got to be my best self."

Photograph by the great Catherine Opie (look at those jellyfish scars!)

This is not the first time Diana Nyad has attempted this swim, it is her fourth. But, with the assistance of a team of experts, an armada of support boats and her best friend and handler Bonnie Stoll at her side, she is now successfully 40 miles into her 103 mile trip. Back in 1979 she successfully swam 102.5 miles from Bimini to Florida, but those were much easier - not easy, what is easy about swimming 102.5 miles? However, the 103 miles to Florida from Cuba are rough, and full of sharks and jellyfish.  It was the box jellyfish that did her in on her last attempt, and you can hear more about her amazing story in her TED talk below:

So far Diana has encounter a few jellyfish on this swim and received some stings on her hands and face. With the help of a special jellyfish suit hopefully she can persevere. You can follow her progress on her blog http://www.diananyad.com/blog or follow her on Twitter @diananyad.

If she continues, at some point tomorrow she will reach Florida, and then the next day she will turn 63. She is a female hero, defying the odds, the stereotypes, and the jellyfish. In the iconic words of Dory the fish, just keep swimming Diana, I can't wait to cheer for you when you get there.

UPDATE: 8/21/12 Early this morning Diana was pulled from the water amidst another big storm. After swimming for 41 hours and 45 minutes she was closer to her goal than ever before. However, with the extreme conditions and with stern advice from her team she didn't get back in the water.