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Diana Nyad, I salute your inspiring endurance Diana Nyad, I salute your inspiring endurance
(10 days later)
Here's a tip. Don't Google things you don't want to know the answer to. Last week, gobsmacked by the story of Diana Nyad, the 64-year-old woman who became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage, I wondered what, if any, other sports there were at which women were better than men.Here's a tip. Don't Google things you don't want to know the answer to. Last week, gobsmacked by the story of Diana Nyad, the 64-year-old woman who became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage, I wondered what, if any, other sports there were at which women were better than men.
Type that question into Google and be prepared to be overwhelmed by hilarity from contributors to internet forums everywhere: "women's football", "vacuuming", "cheerleading" and, accompanying a picture of some women's arses in bikini bottoms, "beach volleyball". And people wonder why girls give up sport. Who wouldn't want to be patronised? Or have one's arse objectified.Type that question into Google and be prepared to be overwhelmed by hilarity from contributors to internet forums everywhere: "women's football", "vacuuming", "cheerleading" and, accompanying a picture of some women's arses in bikini bottoms, "beach volleyball". And people wonder why girls give up sport. Who wouldn't want to be patronised? Or have one's arse objectified.
But men are better at sport than women. It's indisputable. They're stronger, they're faster, they have more lean muscle mass and no inconveniently sited secondary sexual characteristics to flap around in the way. It's only in ultra-marathon categories, 100km and above, that the gap narrows and women occasionally can and do beat men.But men are better at sport than women. It's indisputable. They're stronger, they're faster, they have more lean muscle mass and no inconveniently sited secondary sexual characteristics to flap around in the way. It's only in ultra-marathon categories, 100km and above, that the gap narrows and women occasionally can and do beat men.
Which is part of what makes Diana Nyad's achievement so extraordinary, though there are so many things that make her extraordinary. She's 64! She didn't just succeed where no man ever had, but where no twentysomething, no thirtysomething, no fortysomething, no fiftysomething ever had. She swam 110 miles, against the Gulf Stream, through some of the most treacherous water on Earth. She swam for 53 hours. Her head, throat and tongue swelled. She threw up almost continuously. She wore a silicone mask to shield her from the venom of box jellyfish. But mostly, she just kept on going. This sport, she has said, "is a microcosm of life itself: there will be pain".Which is part of what makes Diana Nyad's achievement so extraordinary, though there are so many things that make her extraordinary. She's 64! She didn't just succeed where no man ever had, but where no twentysomething, no thirtysomething, no fortysomething, no fiftysomething ever had. She swam 110 miles, against the Gulf Stream, through some of the most treacherous water on Earth. She swam for 53 hours. Her head, throat and tongue swelled. She threw up almost continuously. She wore a silicone mask to shield her from the venom of box jellyfish. But mostly, she just kept on going. This sport, she has said, "is a microcosm of life itself: there will be pain".
Maybe it's because I swim – tiny distances compared with her – that her achievement feels less like a news story than a parable. The nyad (or naiad), a water nymph, with magical qualities. She hadn't swum for 30 years when she decided to take up the challenge, though her age is why, she believes, that she's finally succeeded at a feat she first attempted in her 20s. She has learned to endure.Maybe it's because I swim – tiny distances compared with her – that her achievement feels less like a news story than a parable. The nyad (or naiad), a water nymph, with magical qualities. She hadn't swum for 30 years when she decided to take up the challenge, though her age is why, she believes, that she's finally succeeded at a feat she first attempted in her 20s. She has learned to endure.
Her goal, she said in 2011, was "to not suffer regrets". As she approached 60, she wondered about what she'd done with her life and was plagued by the voice in her head. The things she could have done differently. The marriage she could have saved. The abuse she suffered as a teenager, which she believed she could have fought against.Her goal, she said in 2011, was "to not suffer regrets". As she approached 60, she wondered about what she'd done with her life and was plagued by the voice in her head. The things she could have done differently. The marriage she could have saved. The abuse she suffered as a teenager, which she believed she could have fought against.
Diana Nyad endured. Age, life, experience made her stronger. And, in this, her story is a parable. She is an astonishing example of what the human body – and mind – is capable of. Apart from anything else, it's so rare to see an older woman doing anything at all in public life. They simply disappear.Diana Nyad endured. Age, life, experience made her stronger. And, in this, her story is a parable. She is an astonishing example of what the human body – and mind – is capable of. Apart from anything else, it's so rare to see an older woman doing anything at all in public life. They simply disappear.
They don't appear being bold and brave and wrinkled and triumphant across our news outlets. "I don't want to be the crazy woman," she said in 2011. "But I know I can swim from Cuba to Florida. And I will swim from Cuba to Florida."They don't appear being bold and brave and wrinkled and triumphant across our news outlets. "I don't want to be the crazy woman," she said in 2011. "But I know I can swim from Cuba to Florida. And I will swim from Cuba to Florida."
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