VETERAN US endurance swimmer Diana Nyad has ended her historic attempt to cross the shark-infested waters from Cuba to Florida after suffering dangerous jellyfish stings.
The 62-year-old, who was seeking to become the first person to make the 165-kilometre swim across the Florida Straits without a shark cage, had spent more than 40 hours in the water and completed 124km before ending her bid early this morning.
And yet it wasn't the threat of the predators that did her in but two Portuguese men-of-war - jellyfish whose stings had released potentially harmful toxins into Nyad's body.
"The medical team said I should not go another two nights in the water and risk additional likely man-of-war stings which could have a long-term cumulative effect on my body," Nyad said from the water before climbing aboard an escort vessel, her support team wrote on her website diananyad.com.
"But for each of us, isn't life about determining your own finish line?" she was quoted as saying.
"This journey has always been about reaching your own other shore no matter what it is, and that dream continues."
Earlier in the day her team said Nyad had been weakened by a series of painful jellyfish stings after starting her journey on Friday night.
Nyad was struck in the face and eyes late Saturday by what her team said was a "presumed jellyfish", which left her face swollen and in pain.
She received treatment on Saturday night and resumed her swimming, accompanied by three shark divers, her support team wrote in a blog post.
Because she was not out of the water to rest, an independent observer from the International Swim Federation said the endurance athlete could continue her bid for a swim record.
"Since Diana stopped to receive medical treatment, and continued at the EXACT spot where she stopped, the rules say she is now going for a record staged swim rather than a non-stop swim," her team said.
The veteran swimmer had been given prednisone, an anti-inflammatory drug, along with oxygen and other medication during her journey.
Nyad, who had completed more than two-thirds of the journey before pulling out, was undertaking the record attempt with a range of equipment to try to keep her safe from sharks.
On Saturday, barracudas and a shark were spotted near her but not too close for comfort, her entourage said on Twitter.
Nyad failed on two previous bids, in 1978 and again last month, in her quest to swim across the treacherous Florida Straits from Havana to Key West, Florida.
Shoulder pain, asthma and ocean swells hobbled Nyad's August attempt.
Nyad set an open sea record by swimming from the Bahamas to the Florida Keys - a journey that is the same distance as the Cuba-Florida swim, but a feat she described as much less dangerous.
The swimmer set a record for circling the island of Manhattan at age 50, clocking in at seven hours and 57 minutes.
�
angelman syndrome esophageal cancer mitch daniels heart attack grill
0 comments:
Post a Comment