64 year old swimmer makes the 5th attempt to swim from cuba to florida

Swimmer Diana Nyad says even at 64 years old she’s
still “in that place” of never wanting to give up in her
dream of swimming from Cuba to the United States.
The Key West, Fla., native began her fifth attempt to
swim from Havana to the Florida Keys about 9 a.m.
Saturday local time, trying to become the first person
to do so without a shark cage, flippers or wet suit,
CNN reported.
If all goes right, she said, the crossing should take
about three days.
“There’s the fine line between seeing that things are
bigger than you and letting your ego go,” Nyad said
Friday during a news conference in Havana. “And
there’s another edge over that fine line where you
don’t ever want to give up and I am still at that
place.”
Nyad, who started her quest 35 years ago, said during
the news conference she hoped her repeated efforts
to swim between Cuba and the United States will help
improve relations between the two countries. After
her last attempt, Cuban officials said they received
numerous suggestions about how Nyad could protect
herself from stinging jellyfish that ended her previous
attempts, CNN reported.
Nyad said she would wear surgical gloves and a
specially designed face mask to prevent the jellyfish
from stinging her.
“It took us a year” to develop the mask, Nyad said,
explaining it was the type used to protect people who
have face injuries.
“It’s a two-edged sword for me,” she said. “It’s
cumbersome, it’s difficult to swim with, but it doesn’t
matter. I am safe. There’s no other way.”
Nyad is being accompanied by a 35-member crew
who is monitoring her health, updating her progress
on social media and trying to discourage sharks.
In 1997, Australian endurance swimmer Susie
Maroney, then 22, completed the swim inside a shark
cage, which she said not only provided protection
from the predators but also helped protect her
against waves and weather hazards.