(Left to right:) Annette Bening in “Nyad,” Diana Nyad in 2013.Photo:Liz Parkinson/Netflix; D Dipasupil/FilmMagic
Liz Parkinson/Netflix; D Dipasupil/FilmMagic
A decade ago, Diana Nyad completed a historic feat, solidifying her reputation as one of the world’s most accomplished marathon swimmers.
The new Netflix movieNyad, starringAnnette Beningin the title role, recreates the real-life story of the swimmer’s obsession, upon turning 60, with the “Mount Everest” of ocean swims: the 110-mile trek from Cuba to Key West, Florida.
Nyad, now 74, has written four books including the 2016 memoirFind a Way, which detailed the philosophies and experiences behind her single-minded determination to come out of swimming retirement and finish what she started years before — at what most assumed was the peak of her athletic career. “I failed and faltered many times, but I can look back without regret because I was never burdened with the paralysis of fear and inaction,” she wrote.
Who is Diana Nyad?
Nyad was born in New York City but moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida soon after her mother’s second husband adopted her. Her swimming career, she toldThe New Yorker, began under former Olympian Jack Nelson, who coached her as a teenager all the way to becoming a Florida state champion in backstroke events.
After graduating from Illinois’ Lake Forest College with a degree in English and French, Nyad enrolled in a Comparative Literature PhD program at New York University in 1973. Throughout the 1970s, her marathon swimming career flourished, gaining her national attention including appearances onSaturday Night LiveandThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. She then transitioned to a career insports journalism, with her work appearing in print publications, morning news shows and public radio.
Anout lesbian, Nyad now residesin Los Angeles. After initiallysharing her opinionthat trans women athletes should be celebrated but not compete with cisgender women in elite sports, Nyad toldOutin October that she stands “firmly on the side of inclusion… We are all sisters and siblings under the blue sky, and we should all have equal opportunities to play the sports we choose, the sports we love.”
Jodie Foster as Bonnie Stoll and Annette Bening as Diana Nyad in “Nyad”.Kimberley French/Netflix
Kimberley French/Netflix
What notable marathon swims did she complete?
Nyad gained widespread fame for completing a swimaround the island of Manhattanin 1975 on her second try. Her time of 7 hours 57 minutes broke a 50-year-old record and was the first attempt in many years.
PerThe New Yorker, she also set a women’s world record for the 22-mile route from Capri to Naples, Italy and became the first person to swimLake Ontarioin the north-to-south direction.
In 1979, she completed the 102-mile trek from the Bahaman island of Bimini to Florida in just over 27 hours, setting another world record. Finishing that feat on her 30th birthday, Nyad resolved it would be her last competitive swim ever.
The year prior, Nyad had made herfirst attemptof the Cuba-to-Florida swim, within a steel cage protecting her from sharks and other sea creatures. She totaled 76 miles of swimming and reached almost 42 hours, but veered off course into the Gulf of Mexico, failing to finish.
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Diana Nyad in 2019.Bryan Bedder/Getty
Bryan Bedder/Getty
What is the history of the Cuba-to-Florida swim and how many times did Nyad attempt it?
Of the 110 miles from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida, Nyad toldNPRin 2015, “You can’t find a stretch of ocean more rife with Mother Nature on steroids — for a swimmer — as you can across the Straits of Florida.”
After 30 years of no swimming, Nyad began training at age 60 with the goal of finishing what she started. With the help of a crew of doctors, scientists and Gulf of Mexico navigators, sheattemptedthe Cuba-to-Florida swim twice in 2011, first making it 29 hours and then 41 hours. Nyad was blown off course and contented with shoulder pain, asthma and stings from jellyfish and Portuguese man-of-war. On herfourth attemptthe following year, she completed the most distance yet and at 42 hours.
It was on herfifth attempt, on Sept. 2, 2013, that Nyad completed the Cuba-to-Florida swim amid favorable weather and currents. Standing with her supporters on Key West’s Smathers Beach after 52 hours and 54 minutes of swimming, she said she had “three messages: one is we should never ever give up; two is you are never too old to chase your dreams; and three is it looks like a solitary sport but it is a team.”
Becoming the first person to swimwithout a protective cage, Nyad used only an electronic shark repellent device, as well as a mask, gloves, booties and a full bodysuit to protect from lethal stings.
Was she the victim of sexual assault?
In 2017, Nyad penned anop-ed forThe New York Timesdetailing thesexual assaultsshe endured as a teenager from Nelson, her swim coach. It was not the first time she had shared the allegations; in the essay, Nyad recalled how she confided in a teammate who turned out to have the same experience. They came forward with their accusations in 1971 and Nelson was fired from Pine Crest School.
“Many times in my life I tried to go up against this deviant, this criminal who assaulted me and left me with shame, left me with humiliation, left me with rage,” she toldPEOPLEin 2017.
Nyad has also revealed how her reaction to Nelson’s assaults fueled her determination as an athlete. “All that ocean-swimming I did back in the ’70s was just filled with anger,” she toldOut. “And sometimes anger is very powerful.”
Diana Nyad in 2015.John Lamparski/WireImage
John Lamparski/WireImage
Who is Bonnie Stoll?
Bonnie Stoll, 71, is Nyad’s longtime friend and, in the lead-up to the swimmer’s later attempts to complete the Cuba-Florida trek, coach and handler. On all four of Nyad’s swims, she led the 40-person team stationed on the escort boat, providing the athlete water, food and encouragement.
PerThe New Yorker, the two first met in their 30s playing racquetball; they briefly dated before becoming friends.
Together with Nyad, Stoll launched online workout companyBravaBody, last active in 2011. The pair went on to form the non-profitEverwalk, promoting healthy exercise.
Ahead of the release of the filmNyad,Stoll told PEOPLEthat her pal “can be prickly… Diana definitely had that determination and tunnel vision. People can see the determination and the attitude that she had, absolutely. But she appreciated every one of her teammates.”
Annette Bening as Diana Nyad and Jodie Foster as Bonnie Stoll in “Nyad”.Kimberley French/Netflix
What is Nyad up to now?
In the years following her historic swim and release of her memoir, Nyad has given motivational speeches and appeared on talk shows to share her experience. In 2014, she competed on the 18th season ofDancing with the Stars.
Her 2013TED Talk, titled “Never, ever give up,” has been viewed millions of times. In 2019, she performed asolo show,The Courage to Fail,off-Broadway at the Minetta Lane Theater.
This September, Nyadcommemoratedthe 10-year anniversary of her historic swim on her website, writing, “My legacy isn’t so much a mark in the record books. What I hope has bled through to a large population is hope. Hope to believe they can reach any other shore they pursue.”
The swimmer also met Bening and the filmmakers behindNyad, who invited her onto the set in the Dominican Republic. The Oscar-nominated actress “showed exemplary endurance,” said Nyad, per press notes from Netflix. “She worked for a year to get ready for this, and it showed. Bonnie and I are both just over the moon that these are the two actresses playing us.”
Nyad, a “remarkable true story of tenacity, friendship and the triumph of the human spirit,” per an official synopsis, costars Rhys Ifans, Ethan Jones Romero, Luke Cosgrove, Jeena Yi and Eric T. Miller. It begins streaming on Netflix Friday.
source: people.com
