Sunday, September 29, 2013

She's No Nyad...!

And yet - CNN gives this synchronized swimmer 
- hailing from Espanâ of all places - 
almost as much importance as the age-defying, 
currents-challenging and 
all-around stunning seawoman 
that the one, the only 
legendary open-water endurance swimmer 
Diana Nyad unquestionably is...! 
That is simply OUTRAGEOUS! 
But that's another story - 
check out Barcelona's Barracuda first...

CNN likes this water-logged creature a hell of a whole lot; 
still, ''Siren from Spain'' eluded them completely 
when it came time to affix her a catchy title...  
Perhaps they feared the negative connotation 
attached to that sobriquet? 
Me, I would have welcomed the sincerity 
and disarming honesty, 
since we are talking about an ambitious grrl here 
and one who hails from Barcelona at that...

Speaking of Barracuda though - 
here's a freebie for the seas; 
the wild wild web's dangerous seas, that is!



Don't mention it... *B*!  

Now back to our subject here - our true subject being... 
Diana! Diana Nyad - yes! 
She who dove in three times - three times!!! - 
in a determined attempt to be the first 
to successfully cover the distance between 
Cuba and Florida 
swimming in the sea, past all manners 
of predators - and jellyfish, too! 
Alas, all three times, she had failed. 
Yet she would try again...

But wait a minute now - 
Diana Nyad may have been 
the most obsessive about accomplishing it 
but she is not, by no means, the only granny 
who tried to do it: 


British-Australian swimmer Penny Palfrey 
also gave it the good ol' college try; 
to no avail, probably, 
since Diana (not Naida, as some newspapers reversed) 
was still in line for the title of 
''first person to successfully swim the distance 
between Havana harbor and the Florida Keys!''
The picture above, for some unfathomable reason, 
which was taken by one Ramon Espinosa, AP, 
makes one think of those daring dames 
that tried to go through Niagara Falls 
inside a barrel...! 
Don't know why...!

see for yourselves...!

An Aquawoman true and true - 
she evokes only TIMELESSNESS and AWESOMENESS 
as she finally crossed the distance 
at the age of 64...!

Nyad, the one true Naiadbar none,
finally achieved what she strove to be the best at 
for the longest time; 
be the first one, the only one 
(bar the existence of an actual Aquaman) 
to swim this incredible distance 
without the insurance of a shark cage 
covering one's, ah, assets! 
She tried three times, 
and failed. 
Finally, this September, 
on what was her fourth attempt, 
she made it through!

Nyad Triumphant! 

It took her 53 HOURS to do it - 
and she wasn't in such great shape when she arrived 
(seawater does that to you, y'know) 
but she became, officially, the first one to bridge that divide 
without the benefit of a shark cage indeed!

courtesy: Associated Press 

She was so sure she would succeed in 2010 -
and, again, last year, at age 62, she was convinced that 
the third time would be the charm and that she would be 
celebrating her 63rd birthday in the Keys 
with a victory party as well... 
But she was destined to be crowned 
queen of this particular neck of the seas 
at 64 - and in 2013 - not before!

Here we see the legendary endurance swimmer 
Diana Nyad once again 
with her trainer, Bonnie Stoll, hugging (but not kissing)
(this isn't a kiss-n-tell after all) 
mer-moments after Nyad finally came ashore 
in Key West, Florida 
after swimming for 53 hours from Cuba. 
Nyad thus became the first person 
to swim from Cuba to Florida 
without the help of a shark cage - 
a record that should never be equaled. 
Picture: AP Source: AP

When she first attempted this, back in 1978, 
Nyad was only 28 years of age, 
coming of age and coming out, too...! 
The 103-mile journey in the unforgiving seas 
didn't scare her then, though; 
it wouldn't scare her now, 
given that she matured so very well...
Younger Nyad would fail only due to 
unpredictable heavy waves 
and strong naval winds; 
older Nyad prevailed 
against all odds!


Undeterred at each and all of her attempts  
as by the daunting task that laid ahead, 
Diana Nyad's fiercest obstacle remained 
those pesky Portuguese Man-O-Wars - 
and not the sharks at all! 
Figures that a Mitylenian Nymph would have 
trouble with man-o-wars and not fins, though...
As a matter of fact, it was after being stung 
repeatedly by these fiercest of sea creatures 
that Nyad had given up her previous two attempts 
before finally succeeding, at last, now.

courtesy: GETTY. 
When not so drenched, and even a tad parched, 
Diana Nyad is quite the Luminous Lady, I would say!

Diana Nyad has become an inspiration to all -
through this single most impressive exploit, 
she proves that anyone, anywhere, can accomplish 
whatever one wants to set out to accomplish; 
all you have to do is display tenacity 
and perseverance - as she has done.
If you fail once, twice or thrice -
you just keep on trying 
and you will succeed, eventually!
(Maybe not on the fourth try as she did, though; 
but eventually, surely!)

Diana Nyad in full aqua regalia!

Diana Nyad's exploits have been immortalized 
in many ways now: 
courtesy of the Legacy Boutique -
check it out! 
Her overall look has been emulated 
across the globe, too...

All aqua-tics admit it: they've got NYAD-ennvy! 
She is an AQUAFICIONADA like no other! 

Still... There are many skeptics out there, lost at sea...  
So many under-the-weather (or under the water) doubters! 
Among them, the hardcore fans of one Lynne Cox: 
imagine that these peeps would say to thee 
that she is greater than Diana Nyad...!
HA! 

Lynne has got Sally The Seal's vote though, 
or so it would appear here...

And to them, we shall say here and now: 
HERESY - or hearsay? 
One or the other...! 
Lynne Cox's another fine 
AQUAFICIONADA though -

More on her... some other aqua time!
Same aqua channel! 
;-) 

Labels: , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home


Online dictionary at www.Answers.com
Concise information in one click

Tell me about:
Poseidon
Poseidon

?? Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla
adopt your own virtual pet!

~My Mer-name is Glaucus Bioluminescence. Wow ~ even the Mer~folk agree that I am luminous! ~They identify me with a minor sea~deity though: Glaukos has nothing to do with glaucoma, at least ~~~ (thank God! The REAL GOD!) ~~~~ Oh... no; Glaukos gave its color to glaucoma... :( ~~ well, says they! ~~~~~~~~ Aegir, Poseidon, Triton and scores of others are more powerful than him, anyway... so there! Everything will be fine! The Aquaficionadas are on my side! :)
~ Take The Merfolk Name Generator Test anyway!
~ Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator.


Watch Videos:

  1. IN THE END (Linkin Park)
  2. ATLANTIS EVOLUTION (E3 2K4 TRAILER) (Game Trailers)
  3. HIGH SEAS (The Renderers)
  4. ADMIRAL OF THE SEA (Nova Mob)
  5. HANG IN LONG ENOUGH (Phil Collins)
  6. UNDER THE SEA (Sebastian C)
  7. BEYOND THE SEA (Bobby Darin)
  8. PLEASE STAND UP (British Sea Power)
  9. IT ENDED ON AN OILY STAGE (British Sea Power)
  10. TIDAL WAVE (Longwave)
  11. PRAY FOR THE FISH (Randy Travis)
  12. ROW DA BOAT (Don Yute)
  13. LOST CAUSE (Beck)
  14. TIME (Hootie And The Blowfish)
  15. THANK U (Alanis Morissette)
  16. NO MORE TEARS (Ozzy Osbourne)
  17. MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES (Marillion)
  18. IN THE CROSSFIRE (Starsailor)
  19. DRIFTING AND FALLING (The Ocean Blue)
  20. BLINDED BY THE SUN (The Seahorses)
  21. HARD ROAD (The Shore)
  22. GREAT OCEAN (Dan Dyer)
  23. OCEANIA (Bjork)
  24. OCEAN (Hanna-McEuen)
  25. OCEANS AND BLUE SKIES (Swallow)
  26. 1,000 OCEANS (Tori Amos)
  27. SAIL THOSE SAME OCEANS (Russell Crowe And 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts)
  28. OCEANO (LIVE) (Josh Groban)
  29. YOU'RE AN OCEAN (Fastball)
  30. AQUANOX 2: REVELATION (E3 2K3 TRAILER) (Game Trailers)
  31. AQUANOX: THE ANGEL'S TEARS (TRAILER) (Game Trailers)
  32. SUPER RAD (The Aquabats)
  33. BRIGHTER THAN SUNSHINE (Aqualung)
Video Codes by VideoCodeZone.Com

... An LP Anthem to the end of a childhood dream...? By LP...
... and assorted aquatic tunes for your listening pleasure... (l.p.)...!
But now, for your reading pleasure... ISSUU - brought to you by... an Aquaficionada!







Look, below, on this luminous aqua-map:
PROOF that the Earth is indeed 70% SEA WATER!
Weep, batty ones! ;)


Visitor Map
Create your own visitor map!


Daily provided by Bravenet Daily Cartoon provided by Bravenet.com


Free FAQ Database from Bravenet Free FAQ Database from Bravenet.com