Long-distance swimming is one of the world’s most physically and mentally challenging sports. It is the eccentric, demanding quest of crossing oceans, rivers and lakes around the globe, from the shark-infested waters off Australia to the chilly seas of the English Channel to the swirling currents of the Bermuda Triangle.
The swims are usually in unforgiving elements such as rough waves and bitter cold. The rules call for non-stop movement where swimmers are allowed to approach their support boats for food and drink, but are never allowed to touch the boat, hold onto a rope, or use a flotation device.
There are legendary swims, both races and solo ventures, all over the planet. And for most of the 1970s, Diana Nyad was one of the world’s elite marathon swimmers. During that time, she traveled the world, competing in races down the Nile, across Lake Ontario and crossing the Bay of Naples from Capri to Napoli.
Toward the end of her career, Nyad set a few solo records. One was the fastest time for men and women – who compete directly against each other in marathon swimming – for circling Manhattan Island.
Without a doubt, Nyad’s most memorable swim was the one she completed on her 30th birthday, a world-record of 102.5 miles – non-stop – from the island of Bimini in the Bahamas to the Florida shore near Jupiter. The fact that her record stood for more than a decade is a testament to just how significant Nyad’s accomplishment was.
For her accomplishments as a long-distance swimmer, Nyad was recently inducted into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame, joining such notable athletes as Wilma Rudolph, Nadia Comaneci, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Peggy Fleming, Florence Griffith and Jackie Joyner-Kersee.
Her induction gave her an opportunity to reflect on a time in her life where she clearly achieved peak performance.
“To swim for as many as 42 hours against a raging sea, one must have trained with tremendous discipline. I used to swim from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale, a distance of 32 miles, every single day, in preparing for the Bahamas swim,” said Nyad.
“Depending on the tides, the waves, and my strength on a given day, that training swim would take anywhere from
8 to 11 hours. Every day!
“The mental focus for the big swims was all-consuming. Imagine what intense desire must be shown to go through the day, into the night, and through the next day, without wavering in the commitment to reach the ultimate destination.”
It is a bittersweet irony that many world-class athletes are forced to retire young. But by experiencing the heightened sense of awareness which comes with reaching peak performance at a relatively young age, Nyad has been able to incorporate the concept of peak performance into several aspects of her life.
“In all other endeavors, we evolve and improve as we age. In top-level sports, aging is our enemy,” explained Nyad. “But the power and magic of sport is that we do take deep life lessons with us through the rest of our lives. Lessons garnered from the total immersion in the moment.
“I retired from my sport the day I turned 30. In the 26 years since that time, my life has been brimming with wonder – travel, work, love, friendship, sport, the outdoors – so much so that I have spent very few moments harkening back to my ‘glory days.’
“But the Hall of Fame night is so obviously pointed back in time. The raison d’etre of the occasion was to bring the ‘glory days’ back to life. And yet, standing in front of 1,300 people that night, I actually surprised myself by what I had to say.”
“Using the metaphor of immersion, I turned my remarks away from the ‘glory days’ to today,” continued Nyad. “Perhaps all sports require an intense focus on the moment, on the literal fuzz of the tennis ball. All sports plunge you into a well-defined, black-and-white world of clear goals…and a clear vision of just how you’re going to achieve them.
“My sport, marathon swimming, served as a particularly poignant metaphor for the refusal to give up. Stroke after stroke, mile after mile, enduring the adversities and danger of hypothermia, sharks, jellyfish, weight loss, sensory deprivation, you reach deep into the well of your will and relentlessly press on until you at last touch that other shore.
“The epiphany I realized that Hall of Fame night was that, even though my competition days on the world stage are long past, I continue to live all the aspects of my life by the standards of my sport. Immersion in the moment, long-term focus on the goal, and the refusal to give up is the blueprint for absolutely everything I embark upon. By no means does this blueprint translate into blanket success. I often fall short of my dreams. But I don’t ever look back and blame myself for not having tried harder.
“The term ‘peak performance’ took on a new meaning for me during that Hall of Fame experience. I had previously thought ‘peak performance’ necessitated world-class talent, world-class conditions. But I was wrong.
“Peak performance means that you – at whatever moment you decide to immerse yourself, in whatever endeavor you choose to pursue, with whatever challenges might be on the landscape at the time – put the best of yourself on the line no matter what the outcome.”