Diana Nyad’s inspirational feat came after many decades of perseverance and failure. Per Biography, Nyad first attempted to swim from Cuba to Florida way back in 1978 but had to abandon the attempt due to dangerous weather conditions and countless painful jellyfish stings. She underwent three more failed attempts before her successful 2013 crossing made her a legend in the world of swimming. However, her achievement is not without controversy. Some have questioned to what degree Nyad was helped in her feat by her team, with some suggesting she may have even been helped onto one of the boats for a time to help drag her to her destination.
Much of the controversy came about due to a 5.5-hour stretch of the swim in which it appeared that Nyad was swimming at twice her usual speed — a freakish occurrence for any swimmer, let alone one that was plugging away in difficult waters for more than two days at a time.
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However, naysayers concerning Nyad’s incredible speed were soon silenced when oceanography professor Tamay Ozgokmen of the University of Miami publicly confirmed that the swimmer had benefitted from the prevailing current of the Gulf Stream, which allowed for incredibly high swimming speeds, according to The Guardian.
