• Christi Barli / AFP - Getty Images

    Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad jumps into the water in Havana, Cuba, Aug. 18, to start a more-than-100-mile trip across the Florida Straits to the Florida Keys. Nyad, who turns 63 on August 22, set off on her fourth attempt to swim the treacherous waters from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage.

    Nyad back in water in Cuba-Florida record swim try

    In the summer of 2010, unfavorable weather kept her from even setting out. Last year, first a debilitating asthma attack and then painful, dangerous jellyfish stings forced her from the water on two separate attempts.

    This time Nyad is banking on a custom-made swimsuit to protect her from the jellyfish. It covers her head-to-toe with a pantyhose face and holes only for the eyes, nose and mouth.

    -- Reported by the Associated Press

    Read the full story.

    See more PhotoBlog entries from Diana Nyad's attempts to swim from Cuba to Florida.

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  • Unable to overcome man 'o war stings, Nyad quits Cuba to Florida swim

    By Rich Shulman

    If the sharks don't get you, the jellyfish will.

    As AP reported:

    MIAMI - Marathon swimmer Diana Nyad spent more than 40 hours in the shark-filled waters between Cuba and the Florida Keys, climbing into a boat only to be treated for searing welts left by Portuguese man o' war stings. Left swollen and red, Nyad had no choice but to end her trek early when medics warned another sting could be deadly.

    The 62-year-old soldiered on for a time, cutting eye and mouth holes into a cap she wore over her face to protect against future stings. She surpassed 100,000 strokes, but the stings — which team members said left what looked like branding marks from the jellyfish-like creatures' tentacles — were too much of a risk.

    Previous posts:

    Diana Nyad, 61, ends Cuba to Florida swim

    Sixty-one-year-old US swimmer begins 103-mile swim from Cuba to Florida

    Alan Diaz / AP

    Marathon swimmer Diana Nyad describes how she soldiered on for a time, cutting eye and mouth holes into a cap she wore over her face to protect against future stings at Key West, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 25. Nyad spent more than 40 hours in the shark-filled waters between Cuba and the Florida Keys, climbing into a boat only to be treated for searing welts left by Portuguese man o' war stings. Left swollen and red, Nyad had no choice but to end her trek early when medics warned another sting could be deadly.


    Michael Marrero /Florida Keys News Bureau via AP

    Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad shows Portuguese Man o' War jellyfish stings after she arrived in Key West, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 25 following a third unsuccessful attempt to swim from Havana to the Florida Keys.

  • Diana Nyad, 61, ends Cuba to Florida swim

    By Rich Shulman

    This is a heartbreaking image. Can anyone doubt she has the heart of a champion? Full story.

    Previous PhotoBlog post on the swim's start.

    Rob O'Neal, Florida Keys News Bureau via AP

    Diana Nyad cries as she speaks to reporters and fans after arriving back in Key West, Fla., Tuesday, Aug. 9 following the 61-year-old marathon swimmer's failed attempt to swim from Cuba to the Florida Keys.

    Rob O'Neal, Florida Keys News Bureau via AP

    Diana Nyad, right, gestures as U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents board her support boat in Key West, Fla., Tuesday, Aug. 9. The 61-year-old marathon swimmer had to be pulled from the water early Tuesday during a second attempt to swim from Cuba to the Florida Keys.

  • Sixty-one-year-old US swimmer begins 103-mile swim from Cuba to Florida

    Rolando Pujol / EPA

    U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad begins her challenge of swimming 103 miles between Havana, Cuba and Florida, in a period of three days, without a cage to protect her from sharks, Aug. 7. Nyad, 61, began accompanied by a team of 40 people who will escort her, divided in three vessels in a journey that will last about 60 hours. During the 60 or so hours, from Cuba to Florida, she won't touch land or even a boat. Every hour and a half, she'll stop for some water, an electrolyte drink and maybe a banana with peanut butter. At 29, Nyad set the record for the longest ocean swim at 163 kilometres. That record still stands.

    Desmond Boylan / Reuters

    U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad swims on her way to Florida from Havana, while flanked by two assistants in kayaks with an assistance boat in front Aug. 7. The 61-year-old plunged into the Straits of Florida at dusk on Sunday to begin what she hopes will be a world record 103-mile swim from Cuba to Florida. The same swim was completed successfully by Australian Susan Maroney in May 1997. But Nyad's claim to a world record will be that unlike Maroney, she is doing it without a shark cage in the strait's warm, shark-infested waters. Nyad will be protected by a surrounding electrical field and by divers who will watch for sharks and drive them away if they get too close.

    Desmond Boylan / Reuters

    U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad begins her attempt to swim to Florida from Havana Aug. 7.

    By Katie Cannon, Senior Multimedia Editor

    Goodness, staying awake for roughly 60 hours would be difficult enough. Can you imagine swimming the entire time?

    Read more about her record attempt here.