Diana Nyad biography
Date of birth : 1949-08-22
Date of death : -
Birthplace : New York City, New York, U.S.
Nationality : American
Category : Sports
Last modified : 2011-08-08
Credited as : Endurance swimmer, olympic swimmer and radio host, Cuba-Florida swim
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Over two days in 1979, Nyad swam from Bimini to Florida, setting a distance record for non-stop swimming without a wetsuit that still stands today. She broke numerous world records, including the 45-year-old mark for circling Manhattan Island (7 hrs, 57 min) in 1975. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1986. Nyad was honored with her induction in the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2003.
From 1989-1992, Diana hosted her own show on CNBC, "One on One with Diana Nyad" where she interviewed the likes of Ed Bradley and Julia Child and where she garnered a reputation as a skilled and passionate interviewer.
While an announcer with ABC's Wide World of Sports (1980-88), Diana covered three Olympic Games, the New York City Marathon, the Ironman, and dozens of other events around the globe. Capitalizing on her background as an adventurer extraordinaire, she swam with 100-ton "Right" whales in Patagonia, kayaked over 40-foot waterfalls in Borneo, and biked the length of Vietnam .
Diana has written three books, "Other Shores", "Basic Training" and "The Keyshawn Johnson Story". She also writes for The New York Times, Newsweek and other publications.
She currently provides a weekly five-minute radio piece on sports for KCRW called The Score (heard during KCRW's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered"), as well as for the Marketplace radio program. She formerly hosted the public radio program "The Savvy Traveler."
On 8 July 2011 it was reported her plans for the 2011 Cuba swim, writing that "(the) amazing Diana Nyad is a living legend in the Swim World, and a role model for the GBLT community, being openly lesbian."
