Better Together

In 2013, Diana Nyad swam for more than fifty hours through shark- and venomous jellyfish-infested waters between Cuba and Florida.

It wasn’t her first time attempting the 110-mile swim, but at the age of sixty-four, Nyad became the third swimmer to cross the Florida Straits. (The 2023 biopic Nyad detailing the feat is streaming on Netflix now if you want to see how hard this is to do.)

There are debates on whether she finished the swim unassisted, but as a couch observer and not a marathon swimmer, I’m not qualified to weigh in.

Ultimately, it’s exactly 110 miles more than I’ve swam this year.

I did not expect to go down the rabbit hole of Diana Nyad this week – I more stumbled across her story.

On day six of hanging out at UNC Medical Center, it was time to wander the halls. Having checked out every hospital café and several units over the week, I decided to stop in the Sunday nondenominational service in the chapel.

In sharing Nyad’s story, oncology chaplain Lisa Williams talked about the nearby team around the swimmer helping with food and water while in the water, the point being that a solitary challenge is never unaccompanied.

Many of WILMA’s stories are about the feats of individual women, this issue included.

There’s the community leadership of Wilma Daniels, the culinary creativity of Abbye McGee, the giveback entrepreneurship of textile designer Erika Tucker, the business savvy of Reeds’ Genna Zimmer, and others throughout these pages.

None do it alone or expect to have to.

After finishing her fifty-three-hour swim, Nyad walked out of the water by herself onto the beach in Key West.

“I have three messages,” she said to reporters. “One is we should never ever give up; two is you are never too old to chase your dreams; and three is it looks like a solitary sport, but it is a team.”

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