Diana Nyad

Diana Nyad's Key Accomplishments Include . . .
In the 1970’s, Diana Nyad inspired the nation as she set long-distance swimming records around the world and through her actions, spread the word that women could accomplish feats men hadn’t even tried. In 1979, Diana Nyad stroked her way to the longest swim in history - for both men and women - achieving the world record of 102.5 miles between the Bahamas and Florida.

Since her retirement from the sports world, Diana Nyad has been inducted into many Halls of Fame, such as the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. She also entered into the profession of sports journalism with the same passion she used to swim across oceans.

For 10 years Diana Nyad was an announcer for ABC Sports, covering many Olympic Games and World Championships. She hosted the US Open Tennis Championships for USA Network. She was Fox Sports’ lead investigative reporter, exposing drug use at the Tour de France for 5 years. She had her own interview show at CNBC and has delivered a column for National Public Radio for more than 20 years. 

Diana has also written three books, speaks three foreign languages fluently (French, German and Spanish) and has a fitness company... but it is her most recent quest that has captured the world’s imagination.

After not taking a single stroke for 30 years, Diana Nyad returned to her lifelong dream (which she termed the Xtreme Dream) to swim from Cuba to Florida, a long 103 miles - at the age of 62 - requiring 60 non-stop hours of continuous swimming.

Twice in 2011, in August then again in September, she attempted the swim. The effort took incredible courage to battle the potential fatal stings of the Box Jellyfish. It took deep resolve to persist for 39 hours, then 41 hours the second time, Mother Nature winning each time out.

CNN was with Diana Nyad for two years as she prepared and as she followed her dreams. Dr. Sanjay Gupta captured it all in a brilliant documentary on Diana’s Xtreme Dream, while 1.3 million Twitter fans followed Diana, rooted for her, and applauded her as she showed the world, in her 60’s, that it is never too late to chase a larger-than-life dream, that to live life boldly is to live an inspired life.

More About Speaker, Diana Nyad . . .
Diana Nyad was host of all foreign documentaries on the Outdoor Life Network, traveling to Africa for the series The Great Cats of the World. Capitalizing on her background as an adventurer extraordinaire, she swam with 100-ton Right whales in Patagonia and kayaked over 40-foot waterfalls in Borneo.