Diana Nyad, 64, triumphs in swim from Cuba to Florida - New York Daily News

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[h=4]Ramon Espinosa/AP[/h][h=4]U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad, 64, greets her support team before her swim to Florida from Havana.[/h]
The toughest athlete around might be the 64-year-old woman who just swam 110 miles from Cuba to Florida, through the Devil's Triangle.
On her fifth and final attempt, Diana Nyad became the first person to swim that route without a shark cage when she reached Key West just before 2 p.m. Monday.

[h=4]Ramon Espinosa/AP[/h][h=4]Diana Nyad, 64, begins her swim to Florida from the waters off Havana, Cuba.[/h]
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"I am about to swim my last 2 miles in the ocean," she told her team during the homestretch, according to her website. "This is a lifelong dream of mine and I'm very, very glad to be with you."

[h=4]Alejandro Ernesto/EPA[/h][h=4]Diana Nyad waves prior to start of her fifth attempt to swim between Cuba and Florida.[/h]
The disoriented and sunburned endurance swimmer, who started her journey about 53 hours before in Havana, was rushed to the hospital as soon as she reached the shore.
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[h=4]Ernesto Mastrascusa/EPA[/h][h=4]Diana Nyad speaks during a press conference at International Nautic Club Hemingway at Havana, Cuba, August 30, where she gave details about her fifth attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida.[/h]
Fans gathered around to cheer and snap pictures as paramedics carried her in a stretcher to the ambulance.
News of her accomplishment traveled quickly. The staff that runs President Obama's Twitter feed even commended the fearless competitor:

[h=4]YAMIL LAGE/AFP/Getty Images[/h][h=4]Diana Nyad jumps into the water as she begins her heroic attempt to cross from Cuba to Florida.[/h]
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"Congratulations to @DianaNyad. Never give up on your dreams."

[h=4]Andy Newman/AP[/h][h=4]Diana Nyad, positioned about two miles off Key West, Fla., Monday, Sept. 2 nears the completion of her 111-mile trek from Cuba to the Florida Keys.[/h]
Nyad rose to prominence at 25 in 1975 when she swam around Manhattan.
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[h=4]YAMIL LAGE/AFP/Getty Images[/h][h=4]Diana Nyad waves before attempting to swim in a three-day non-stop journey from Havana to Florida at the Ernest Hemingway Nautical Club, in Havana on August 31.[/h]
She first attempted to conquer the Florida Straits two years later at 28. She tried three more times in 2011 and once more in 2012.
"I admit there's an ego rush," Nyad said before jumping into the warm waters of Havana's Hemingway Marina. "If I — three days from now, four days from now — am still somehow bringing the arms up and I see the shore ... I am going to have a feeling that no one yet on this planet has ever had."

[h=4]Andy Newman/AP[/h][h=4]Nyad, 64, is poised to be the first swimmer to cross the Florida Straits without the security of a shark cage.[/h]
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Jellyfish thwarted her last attempt and bruised her face so — this time around — she donned a full bodysuit, gloves, booties and a silicone mask to protect her face. The mask, in turn, injured the inside of her mouth, making it difficult to speak.

[h=4]Andy Newman/AP[/h][h=4]Diana Nyad talks with her crew less than two miles off Key West, Fla., Monday, Sept. 2.[/h]
Nyad's support team, following her on boats, used equipment to shoot a slight electrical field around her to ward off predators in the shark-infested waters.
Back in 1997, Australian swimmer Susie Maroney swam from Cuba to Florida with a shark cage that helped protect her from sharks and pull her along with a drafting effect.

[h=4]Andy Newman/AP[/h][h=4]Diana Nyad is here about two miles off Key West, Fla..[/h]
Last year, two other long-distance swimmers — in addition to Nyad — tried to master the Strait but jellyfish and strong currents curtailed their dreams.
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