Follow U.S. immigration and listen to American stories: According to Xinhua News Agency, 64-year-old athlete Diana Nyad accomplished a remarkable feat on the 2nd. Without the protection of a shark cage, she successfully swam from Havana, the capital of Cuba, to Key West, Florida, in the United States, over the course of 53 hours, becoming the first person in history to do so.
In 1997, Susie Maroney from Australia completed this feat with the help of a shark cage; however, Nyad is the first athlete to achieve this without one. Other competitors have previously attempted to break this record but failed midway.
Nyad departed from Cuba last Saturday and swam 110 miles (approximately 177 kilometers), arriving in the United States around 2:00 PM on the 2nd. Some spectators were on-site to witness her historic arrival on shore. Upon reaching the finish line, Nyad was immediately placed on a stretcher for medical treatment, with visible swelling observed on her lips.
This was Nyad's fifth attempt at this record. Her first attempt was in 1978, 35 years ago, and she subsequently made three more attempts in 2011 and 2012, all of which were unsuccessful.
Nyad first entered the public eye in 1975, when she swam around Manhattan Island in just 8 hours, covering a total distance of 28 miles. In 1979, she swam from the Bahamas to the United States in 27.5 hours.