Diana Nyad, swimming

An OAP from the United States has abandoned her attempt to swim from Cuba to the US.

Diana Nyad was attempting this awesome feat without the use of a shark cage, in water which is often visited by sharks.

This morning, it was reported on her blog http://www.diananyad.com/blog that there was a heavy squall, which means that the wind speed and direction was not on her side.

She has also been regularly stung by jellyfish on the swim, which has made it harder going. She encountered various different species of jellyfish, including one they call the Box Jelly, as its body is shaped like a cube. This kind has a very strong poison, and can cause severe pain and has caused fatalities. But after treatment she was able to carry on on Monday.

This was her 4th attempt at the swim, and hopefully will not be her last and she might succeed!

The crossing covers 103 miles, leaving Havana, Cuba, all the way to Key West, Florida . This is a huge attempt, taking into consideration a Channel Swim from Dover to France is 18 miles, which is a long way for most.

On her website, it says, ’1.3 million Twitter fans followed Diana as she lived out the message of living life large and chasing our dreams, no matter our age’.

Go on Diana, keep on swimming!