Beach Celebration Commemorates 10-Year Anniversary of Nyad Swim

The City of Key West and Diana Nyad want to invite the community to a celebration commemorating the 10-year anniversary of Diana’s historic swim from Cuba to Key West.

The event is from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 21st at Smathers Beach near the location she stepped out of the ocean a decade ago.

Nyad, a celebrated author, journalist, motivational speaker, and long-distance swimmer, came ashore at Smathers Beach in September of 2013 after a grueling 110-mile swim across the Straits of Florida.

This weekend she and members of the amazing team that saw this feat through will be on hand to answer questions and talk about the experience. There will an open microphone for people to share their impressions and recollections of that historic day.

There will be tents and some seating. Parking is at Margaritaville Beach House, just use the marked crosswalk to the beach.

“Our Xtreme Dream Team will always fondly consider Key West our home,” Nyad said. “Not only for the triumphant arrival but for all the years of training. We can’t wait to connect with all of our friends from Key West.”

At age 64 and on her fifth attempt, Nyad became the first person to swim from Havana to Florida without a shark cage. She completed the almost 111-mile trip in 52 hours and 54 minutes.

Nyad first attempted the feat in 1978 at age 28. More than 30 years later she began training to try again, making two attempts in the summer of 2011 and another in August 2012.