A Labor Day Swim

A Labor Day Swim

Diana Nyad gives hope to aging Baby Boomers

Maybe 60 really is the new 40, or even age 64 if you're Diana Nyad. The American extreme athlete succeeded on Monday in her fifth try at swimming the 110 or so miles from Cuba to the Florida Keys.

It took her only 53 hours, unless you count the 35 years since her first attempt in 1978. Her previous attempts were foiled by jelly fish and eight-foot swells, among other hardships in the Florida Straits known for sharks and strong Gulf currents. This time she wore a mask to protect her from jellyfish bites, but the mask created its own problem in mouth bruises.

Not that she let that stop her. Ms. Nyad becomes the first person to make the swim without a shark cage, though her team in nearby boats helped by creating a faint electronic field to deter sharks.

Enduring such hardships takes extraordinary perseverance, even a touch of fanaticism. Yet by such commitment do human beings change the world, explore new heights, or stretch the boundaries of physical endurance.

A version of this article appeared September 2, 2013, on page A14 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: A Labor Day Swim.