Diana Nyad 2 miles from end of Cuba-Florida swim

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Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad, right, and her trainer Bonnie Stoll hug after Nyad walks ashore Monday in Key West, Fla., after swimming from Cuba. Nyad became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the help of a shark cage. (J Pat Carter / Associated Press)

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The support team accompanying her has equipment that generates a faint electrical field around her designed to keep sharks at bay, and a boat drags a line to help keep her on course. (Ramon Espinosa / Associated Press)

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Nyad, who recently turned 64, tried to swim the Strait three times in 2011 and 2012. She had also tried in 1978. (Alejandro Ernesto / EPA)

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Nyad waves after starting her fifth attempt to swim between Cuba and Florida. (Ernesto Mastrascusa / EPA)

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Nyad began her journey Saturday morning when she jumped from the seawall of the Hemingway Marina into the warm waters off Havana. (Ramon Espinosa / Associated Press)

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Nyad gets ready to swim in a three-day nonstop journey from Havana to Florida at the Ernest Hemingway Nautical Club in Havana. (Yamil Lage / AFPGetty Images)

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Nyad, 64, salutes before her swim. The endurance athlete launched another bid to set an open-water record by swimming from Havana to the Florida Keys without a protective shark cage. (Ramon Espinosa / Associated Press)

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U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad speaks at a press conference held at the Ernest Hemingway Nautical Club in Havana on Saturday. Nyad plans to swim from Havana to Florida in a three-day nonstop attempt. (Yamil Lage / AFPGetty Images)

By From the Associated Press

Sept. 2, 2013 9:01 AM PT

KEY WEST, Florida — With her lips and tongue swollen, U.S. endurance swimmer Diana Nyad edged closer to Florida on Monday in her attempt to become the first person to swim the treacherous waters from Cuba to Key West without a shark cage.

Nyad has made it farther than in any of her previous four tries, and she was about 2 miles (3 kilometers) from Florida late Monday morning, according to her representatives. She was on course to swim about 110 miles (177 kilometers) and expected to arrive in Key West on Monday between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. EDT.

Doctors who are traveling with a team of Nyad supporters said her swollen lips and tongue were causing her speech to be slurred and they were worried about her breathing, but they have not intervened, according to a post on Nyad’s website. Crew spokesman Alex de Cordoba said the swelling is probably from exposure to the elements, including the sun and saltwater.

He said when Nyad reached 2 miles to go, she paused in the water, gathered the 35 members of her crew and thanked them for helping her with her longtime dream.

Nyad’s journey began Saturday morning when she jumped from the seawall of the Hemingway Marina into the warm waters off Havana. She has been swimming the Florida Strait ever since, stopping from time to time for nourishment.

She had gotten very cold overnight, her team said, so they decided not to stop her to eat and drink in hopes that swimming would keep her warm.

“I admit there’s an ego rush,” Nyad said before the swim began. “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.”

Nyad, who recently turned 64, tried the swim the Strait three times in 2011 and 2012. She had also tried in 1978.

Her last attempt ended amid boat trouble, storms, unfavorable currents and jellyfish stings that left her face puffy and swollen.

This time she wore a full bodysuit, gloves, booties and a mask to help protect her from stings. Before the swim she said the suit slowed her down, but she believed it would be effective.

The support team is accompanying her has equipment that generates a faint electrical field around her is designed to keep sharks at bay, and a boat drags a line to help keep her on course.

Australian Susie Maroney successfully swam the Strait in 1997 with a shark cage, which besides protection from the predators, has a drafting effect that pulls a swimmer along.

In 2012, Australian Penny Palfrey swam 79 miles toward Florida without a cage before strong currents forced her to abandon the attempt. This June, her countrywoman Chloe McCardel made it 11 hours and 14 miles before jellyfish stings ended her bid.

In 1978, Walter Poenisch, an Ohio baker, claimed to have made the swim using flippers and a snorkel. Critics say there was insufficient independent documentation to verify his claim.

Nyad first came to national attention in 1975 when she swam the 28 miles around the island of Manhattan in just under eight hours. In 1979 she swam the 102 miles from North Bimini, Bahamas, to Juno Beach, Fla., in 27.5 hours.

Nyad is also an author of three books, a motivational speaker and has been a reporter and commentator for NPR.

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