Havana • Endurance athlete Diana Nyad forged ahead through the Straits of Florida with renewed vigor Sunday in pursuit of a record 103-mile, unassisted swim in open waters without the aid of a shark cage.
The 62-year-old Los Angeles woman was said to be comfortable, confident and steady at around 50 strokes per minute after a harrowing night of painful jellyfish encounters despite an improved bodysuit.
Nyad was stung four times during the night on the neck, lips, hand and forehead, according to members of her 50-member crew who updated fans through social media.
"Today is more like swimming," one member quoted her as saying, via Twitter. "I don't know what you would call last night ... probably surviving."
Nearly 24 hours into the swim into the swim, she had traveled 23.9 miles from Havana. Choppy seas turned calm, and her team reported only a light wind. Nyad had planned to don the 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. But it apparently did not work as well as anticipated. At least two of the stings 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.
At one point, with jellyfish particles everywhere in the water, Nyad changed strokes to keep her face out of harm's way.
"There are so many jellyfish," said another tweet. "Diana is swimming backstroke right now leading with the cap-covered part of her head to minimize contact."
"The backstroke is working!"
By day, the jellies receded, and she was able to resume freestyle swimming.
Nyad, who turns 63 on Wednesday, is making her third attempt since last summer 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 used a cage. In June another Australian, Penny Palfrey, made it 79 miles toward Florida without a cage before strong currents forced her to abandon the attempt.