What Diana Nyad can teach us all about reaching beyond

At age 64, Diana Nyad conquered sleep deprivation, shark-infested waters, and jellyfish stings for 54 hours straight to complete her legendary 111-mile swim from Cuba to Florida.

Outcomes is our annual Evernorth Health Services event that seeks to push what’s possible in health care. This year, the theme was “Reaching Beyond.” Who better to speak to that than the record holder who accomplished her dream 55 years in the making?

Nyad grew up in Fort Lauderdale as a talented swimmer drawn to the magic of the ocean. At that time, she recalled many Cubans risking everything to cross into Florida in search of a better life. When Nyad was 9 years old, she became determined to make that journey herself.

But it didn’t come easily.

She tried four times and was blown off course by trade winds, extreme weather, and political turmoil. She hung up her swim cap at age 28 and didn’t swim a stroke for decades. Nyad went into sports journalism, which was fulfilling for a while. But years of connecting with others as they pursued their dreams, combined with a sense of mortality following her mother’s death motivated her to dive back in when she was in her 60’s. At an age when many people start to retire and wind down, Diana Nyad went full throttle.

 You can apply the lessons Nyad learned along the way to whatever you’re doing in life, in pursuit of wherever you want to go.

1. Appreciate that it takes a team. While swimming may seem solitary, Nyad was quick to acknowledge her coach Bonnie Stoll, her navigation team, her nutrition team, and even a mathematician. Nobody’s an island, and it’s important to have the humility to ask for help and the generosity of spirit to share the success. 
2. Divide big feats into manageable tasks. Swimming 111 miles felt daunting. Channeling her inner Janis Joplin and pacing herself by singing 1,000 Me and Bobby McGee’s made it achievable. Nyad demonstrated how she overcame the monotony and isolation while swimming such long distances by belting out her best rendition on stage.
3. Treat every obstacle as a lesson. It took Nyad five tries to swim up to the shores of Key West in triumph, but she “hates to call those first four attempts failures because each one was a tremendous journey of intel, of science, of ways to tap the human spirit.” In life, when something doesn’t go the way you want, you can choose to learn something from it. Maybe it paves the way for future success. Maybe it teaches you something about yourself.

And most of all, know that it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

“Dig down and reach every fiber of your potential and [then] you discover who you really are.”

Don’t get to the end of your life wondering “what if.” Let Diana Nyad’s incredible story be the current to carry you towards your passions, big or small. According to Nyad, it’s the trying, doing, and striving that empowers you.

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