[dramatic music playing]
[water sloshing]
[reporter] Her name, Nyad, translates in Greek to "water nymph."
Twenty-eight year-old Diana Nyad,
swimming to conquer yet another body of water.
[reporter 2] World champion marathon swimmer,
Phi Beta Kappa winner, linguist, author.
[reporter 3] Miss Nyad holds Italy's Capri to Naples world record.
She swum 32 miles across lake Ontario.
[reporter 4] She swam around Manhattan Island,
making the 28-mile trip in record time.
[reporter 5] The question from the millions who go out of their way
to avoid swimming in Manhattan waters is why?
She says it's a complex matter, involving her deepest emotions.
[Carson] 89 miles, a long distance swim from the Bahamas to Florida,
took 27 hours and 38 minutes to complete the swim,
and that is a new open ocean record.
Would you welcome Diana Nyad.
- [audience applauding] - [show music playing]
[inaudible]
Congratulations.
Are you getting tired of being congratulated on that remarkable,
and it was a remarkable achievement?
No, I'm not getting tired. It was worth it.
- [Carson] Yeah... - Glad to meet you, by the way.
I was wondering how many times I'd have to do your show before I met you.
[audience laughing, cheering, applauding]
[Diana] The swim I wanna do is 60 hours, two and a half days.
That's Cuba to Florida.
- And it's outrageous, and it's... - [Carson] Two and a half days?
[Diana]...it's overly ambitious, but I think I can make it.
And that's my last swim.
Sixty hours nonstop in the open sea.
It's like winning that gold medal in the Olympic Games.
The way I look at it, the Bahamas is the appetizer,
Cuba is the main course, and retirement's the dessert.
The Cuba swim is rough.
I mean, I don't think anybody knows at this point if it can be done.
[reporter 2] Diana Nyad had an unyielding desire
to complete her swim, set a world record, and become an immortal.
But from the beginning,
she knew her chances of finishing were only 50-50.
Nyad has said this would be her last swim.
- [dramatic flourish] - [music fades]
[woman] We all felt that she could've made it if she'd had a break.
- [reporter] That's it for you? - [Diana] That's it for marathon swimming.
[Diana gasping]
[plane engine whirring]
- [Diana] The entire world is asleep. - [woman] Yeah.
[Diana] And even when awake, they're barely there.
- [woman] I know. - [Diana] Laziness is contagious,
and we're supposed to just nod along
like it's normal that everyone's just surrendered to a banal existence.
Is this about 60?
- What? - 60?
- No. - Okay.
By the way, for tomorrow, I don't want anything, okay? No cake.
Not even a little grocery store cake.
For someone who doesn't wanna celebrate their birthday, you mention it frequently.
Yes.
Just quiet, okay? Just us. Maybe Scrabble.
Good.
I didn't plan anything 'cause you told me not to, like, 37 times.
[Diana] Yes. We're not doing that.
Ugh!
I forgot the poop bags.
[Diana] Bonnie, that was the whole reason you went to Petco.
I know. But come on, we're gonna get some steps in.
- Come on. One, two, three. You can do it. - [Diana sighing]
- [door closing] - [dog panting]
[Diana] Teddy, hi.
Hi.
Can you sit? Can you sit?
Good boy. Good boy.
What a good boy.
Okay. [sighing]
[birds chirping]
[dog barking]
[Diana groaning]
Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo!
[knocking on door]
- Yeah, the door's locked. - Well, happy freaking birthday to you.
Yeah, I brought my Scrabble 'cause, though you won't admit it,
you're missing a G, two Es, and at least one blank tile.
- Hey, hey, uh, come here. - What are we having for dinner?
- I wanna show you something over here. - What? Why are you talking like that?
Like what?
Like you're enunciating.
Did you blow-dry your hair?
- [all] Surprise, Diana! - [Diana squealing]
- What? - [crowd cheering, applauding]
[Diana exclaiming]
Bonnie, I said no party.
Well, you didn't mean it.
[Diana chuckling]
- [Bonnie] You happy? - I am.
- [Bonnie] Blow it out. - [Diana] Okay.
- No, wait. I gotta think of a wish. - [man] Make it a good one!
[man 2] Make a wish!
[upbeat music playing]
I wish...
I was five years old,
and my father drops the Webster's Dictionary in my lap.
[in accent] "Darling, I am waiting five years
'till you are ready to show you
your name in black-and-white."
"Your name says, in Greek mythology,
my ancestors,
the nymphs that swam in the lakes and the rivers and the ocean."
- [whispering] Okay. - "This is your destiny."
Yeah, I'm gonna... I'm gonna steal her away now. Come on.
- No, I was just getting to the good part. - Have you heard the expression...
I'm sure you have. The one that goes, uh, "Leave them wanting more?"
- I just... I never found it applies to me. - [Bonnie chuckling]
- [Bonnie] Come here. - [Diana] What?
- There's Nina. She'd still... - I know. Look over there.
She's got, um, white pants and she's tall.
- [pop music playing over radio] - [Diana] Oh.
- [Diana] Oh God. - What?
- I don't know. - What's the problem?
I don't know, she seems a little...
Nice? Seems normal? Not psycho?
[indistinct chatter]
Does she know a lot about me?
She's got your poster on her wall
and she's got your face tattooed on her ass.
Yes.
- That's not funny. - Let's just go talk to her.
You're gonna... you're gonna ask all about herself,
and, um, you're not gonna talk about yourself.
I've been to Vietnam, Uganda,
caves of Belize, Sydney.
I covered the Olympics there.
Thirty years with ABC Sports has taken me all over the world.
But my favorite place, Cuba.
I'm sure you could've guessed. I mean, I imagine you know that...
- Yeah. Oh yeah. - [Diana] Yeah.
Cuba, it's just loomed in my imagination since I was a kid.
The magical place across the water.
Forbidden land.
[chuckling] We weren't allowed there, they weren't allowed here.
Wow, that's amazing.
So, how do you know Bonnie?
I thought maybe you and her were...
Oh no, no, no, we're best friends.
I mean, we dated for, like, a second 200 years ago, but...
[breathing deeply, exhaling]
So, tell me something about you.
Just because we're on a one-way street hurtling towards death
doesn't mean that we have to succumb to mediocrity.
I mean, you turn 60 and the world decides that you're a bag of bones.
I'm 58, so I wouldn't know.
[dog barking]
Seemed like it was going pretty well with, uh, you know, what's her name.
Oh yeah, it was great. She was great.
It was great. No, it's not that.
It's, I don't know, dating. I don't think I need that anymore.
I hear you. Me neither.
So, what's the funk? Is it work?
It's everything.
Okay? Where's the excellence?
Oh God.
- I'm serious. - [Bonnie] Ugh, that again.
I mean, I don't think I can take it anymore.
[utensils clattering]
Well, if you feel that way, then do something about it.
[objects clattering]
Wanna play Scrabble?
[Bonnie] I still got these dishes. I got stuff to do.
Oh, so you're scared to lose.
Yeah, noted.
I'm gonna whoop your butt.
[Diana chuckling]
You're going down, missy.
Bag of bones or not, I do not discriminate.
- Bon? - [Bonnie] Hmm?
It was a really good party.
No biggie. Come on.
[dramatic music playing]
Prepare to lose. Prepare to die!
[crowd cheering on TV]
[reporter] Carrie, definitely one of the more interesting performers
and one of the more entertaining...
[Diana breathing heavily]
[Diana exhaling sharply]
[birds chirping]
[Diana exhaling]
[Diana grunting]
[Diana] I finally went through my mom's old boxes,
you know, stuff from the nursing home.
Listen to this.
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
[Bonnie] Mary Oliver.
You know Mary Oliver?
Pretty famous line.
See, I just don't go in for poetry.
- It's 'cause you're too impatient. - Why not just say what they mean?
I mean, I gotta put all this stuff away.
This is ridiculous. You don't put anything away.
And... and look at this.
You gonna keep all these, uh, New Yorkers?
I mean, look, 2006. Like a hoarder.
So I'm thinking, did Lucy read this poem?
Did she dog-ear this page?
But it's weird, right? Because in her life, she didn't do shit.
- Your dead mother? - You know what I mean.
She wasn't a doer, she was a pushover,
totally bulldozed by my dad till he left us.
So, I'm thinking this poem must have meant something to her.
She held onto this book.
What was she feeling about her own life
and did she leave it for me as, like, a message?
- A message. - And then I realize, look.
It wasn't even hers.
Belongs to some guy named Uli next door who's 102.
Well, maybe... maybe Uli's leaving you a message.
[dramatic music playing]
[Diana] "What else should I have done?"
"Doesn't everything die at last and too soon?"
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
[Diana grunting]
[Diana exhaling]
[Diana] And I'm sort of torn in this difficult endeavor
that is marathon swimming
between not wanting to feel all that discomfort anymore,
feel that boredom and feel the vomiting and feel the cold and feel the hours.
I'm torn between that and the loathing
of the self-respect I might lose if I don't do it.
I suppose the word is pride.
I, uh... I feel that I failed, mentally especially.
Okay, it's just a little swim.
No big deal.
Thirty years. Barely anything.
[dramatic music swelling]
[music stops]
[Diana] ♪ Hello, darkness, my old friend ♪
♪ I've come to talk with you again ♪
["The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel playing]
♪ Because a vision softly creeping ♪
♪ Left it's seeds while I was sleeping ♪
♪ And the vision That was planted in my brain ♪
♪ Still remains ♪
♪ Within the sound of silence ♪
♪ In restless dreams I walked alone ♪
♪ Narrow streets of cobblestone ♪
[man] Nyad, our name in Greek mythology,
it means "water nymph."
It is meant for you to be a champion.
In this life, you can only rely on yourself.
If you want to be great, it is you,
your will, your mind, that will take you there.
No one else can help you.
[man 2] Nice.
That's it.
Good form, Nyad.
Attagirl, go! Go! Let's see what you got.
Your talent's undeniable.
It's undeniable.
And if you're receptive to coaching, you're gonna be a star.
♪ People talking without speaking ♪
♪ People hearing without listening ♪
[man] Wake up.
Darling, darling, wake up.
You have to see. Come.
The world right now, so much tension, so much fear.
We forget we are connected under the same stars,
touching the same sea.
This is important to your life.
What's out there?
Miles of sea.
Cuba is a magical place, full of music, full of life.
♪ Hear my words that I might teach you ♪
♪ Take my arms that I might reach you ♪
[man] They make it seem so far away, but it's so close,
you could almost swim there.
♪ Whispered in the sounds of silence ♪
[crickets chirping]
[song fades]
[birds chirping]
- [Bonnie] Here it comes. - Whoa!
Yeah!
Game. You made me work for it though, didn't you?
- Switch. The light's better on that side. - [Bonnie] All right.
- Hey, what's that? - What?
That. You got raccoon eyes.
Have you been swimming?
Uh, yes. Yes, I have.
Wow, look at you, swimmer. Okay. Wow.
What's it been, like, 30 years since you put on a pair of goggles?
- That's right. - [Bonnie] How'd it feel?
Great.
Came right back to me.
[Bonnie] Great exercise at your age,
low-impact, easy on the joints.
Yeah.
- I wanna do it. - Do what?
- Cuba to Florida. My swim. - Huh?
[scoffing] You're hilarious. Serve.
No, I'm not kidding, Bonnie.
I'm going to do it.
No, that's insane.
You... you... you tried that when you were 28, and you did not make it when you were 28.
You're 60.
Yeah, I don't believe in imposed limitations.
I don't believe in any limitations.
And that's the reason to do it, not the other way around.
I started with 20 minutes, then 20 more, just to see,
and I am up to four and five hours in the pool.
I don't understand. You having, like, a mental breakdown or something?
My mind has never been clearer.
Don't you get it? The mind.
This is what I was missing when I was younger. I've got it now.
The mind does not swim 100 miles across the ocean, right?
The body does.
Yes. That's the other piece of it.
- [Bonnie] Oh, there's another piece. - Yes.
I need to get myself functioning at the highest level.
You'll be my coach.
[paddle banging]
That's why you wanted to play ping-pong. You never wanna play.
- [Diana] No, no, so... Bonnie... - No, absolutely not. No, no, no.
Yeah, you said I needed to do something to get out of my funk.
I meant you should sign up for speed dating or get a therapist,
not come out of a 30-year retirement for some dangerous, absurd fantasy.
I am doing it. I'm not done.
I have more in me and so do you.
Come on. Don't you wanna be fully engaged, fully awake,
your soul ignited by a purpose, a mission?
It would be an amazing ride.
Think about it, you and me,
a great adventure.
You were born to coach.
And a coach needs an athlete.
No, no, no! Serve.
Okay.
Well, I'm doing a test swim down in Mexico.
Come. Let me show you what I got.
Eight hours of serious currents in the open ocean.
Diana, enough. Zip it and serve.
You'd get a great tan.
[upbeat Latin music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
I can't believe you gotta put this on every single time.
You know, I feel like I forgot something.
I... I put the Milk-Bones out for the dog, but Gus is gonna...
[Diana] Bonnie, Bonnie, need your undivided attention, okay?
I wanna be 30 feet from the boat
with you drafting to my left so I can see you when I breathe.
- Copy that. - Okay?
- How you feeling? Feeling okay? - No, I... I... I feel... I feel terrific.
Like I said five minutes ago. [exhaling]
All right.
- [Diana] One, two, three, four. - [contemplative music playing]
[Diana] One, two, three...
[Bonnie] Diana, big long strokes!
Reach, reach, reach!
[Diana] One, two...
All the intellectualizations that we learn to get by with during life
don't count anymore, and it's a very dreamlike state.
- [reporter] What do you think about? - [Diana] Uh, I have a system of counting.
A sort of hypnotic technique of singing songs...
[man] You are worthless! I've already forgotten about you!
All of you!
You women! I'm done!
- [woman yelping] - [man yelling in Greek]
[Diana] I'm feeling that I'm as powerful as that ocean.
I'm 30 feet wide, with incredible strength and shoulders.
Nothing's gonna stop me to get to the other side.
[door opening, slamming]
[reporter] Diana Nyad's been packaged as the invincible marathon swimmer.
After a year of training,
she is in Havana ready to swim the 103 miles
from Cuba to the Florida Keys.
Nyad and her sponsors have spent about $150,000.
[reporter 2] 40 by 22-foot long, 10-ton steel cage.
This is designed to protect Diana Nyad
from the sharks and Portuguese men of war
which will be making the swim alongside her.
[reporter 3] Diana Nyad will swim approximately
a quarter of a million strokes.
She'll lose about 20 pounds doing it,
and everyone expects her to be hospitalized from exhaustion and exposure.
[Diana] If there was ever anyone who could do it, it's now and it's me.
This swim is much, much closer to impossible than it is to possible.
[Diana gasping, panting]
[Diana groaning]
[Diana] It's too cold. I can't.
I just don't think I can generate enough heat.
I don't know. What were you thinking? You pathetic, stupid...
- [Bonnie] Hey, hey! No. No, no, no, no! - Stupid, stupid!
None of that, none of that.
Don't beat yourself up. You're doing great.
Too cold.
I can't.
- [Diana shuddering] - Hold on, hold on.
Let me get you a towel.
Okay, okay.
[Diana groaning]
I'm supposed to last 60 hours out there.
[indistinct chatter]
I can only do six.
[birds chirping]
What? How long did I make it?
Four hours and fourteen minutes.
[Diana sighing]
Let me ask you, could there be another dream?
Why... why would you say that to me?
I talked to Steve Munatones, you know, the open water swimming guy...
- Yes. I know who he is, Bonnie! - [Bonnie] Okay. All right.
Well, he doesn't think you can do it,
and he put me in touch with a doctor,
uh, you know, big sports medicine guy, and he doesn't think you can do it either.
What exactly did they say?
Well, they've been studying athletes, you know, for a long time,
and, um, they don't believe that Cuba to Florida is humanly possible.
I mean, especially not for a woman, especially not for someone your age.
Yeah, well fuck that.
Let me try again tomorrow.
- You need recovery time. - No. Just one more time, okay?
Let me show you.
All right.
♪ One morning I woke up ♪
[Bonnie] Good job, Diana!
♪ And I knew that you were gone ♪
["Carry On" by Crosby, Stills & Nash playing]
♪ A new day ♪
[Bonnie] Good job!
♪ A new way ♪
♪ I knew I should see it along ♪
♪ Go your way, I'll go mine ♪
♪ Carry on ♪
[man] Come on, you can do this!
[man exclaiming] Push it, Nyad!
Home stretch, home stretch!
- You can do this. Come on, Nyad, come on! - [girls cheering]
Give me everything you've got! Everything you've got!
Go! Let's go!
[girls screaming]
- Thirty-two-five-four. It's a record! - Yes!
♪ We have no choice but to carry on ♪
♪ Carry on ♪
♪ Love is coming ♪
- [Diana howling] - [Bonnie laughing]
Eight hours and three minutes. Yes!
[Diana exclaiming]
[Diana] When you told me that thing,
what that Steve and that so-called doctor said
it just made me wanna do it more.
Really?
- Oh my God! - No.
- You sneaky little... - [Bonnie chuckling]
Now, that's why you're gonna be a terrific coach.
I don't know the first thing about training a swimmer.
You don't need to. You'll learn.
I don't know.
The whole... the whole Cuba thing,
with the visas and the logistics and the money.
I mean, it... it... uh, there's sharks out there.
- I'll handle all of it. - [Bonnie laughing]
What about my clients?
- Oh, I don't know. - [Bonnie] What about them?
They'll survive!
Oh... You just gonna quit your sportscasting job?
Yes!
Come on! No more sitting on the sidelines. I've had it.
Listen, Bonnie, I just know I can do it, okay?
And I wanna do it with you.
I gotta do it with you. I couldn't do it without you.
All right. Okay, I'm in.
All right!
Yes!
- [Bonnie] Yes! - Yes!
That's it.
[contemplative music playing]
You're at 52.
Fifty-two.
Good job.
That's it.
Keep going.
[Diana] I'm dealing with a swim in the open seawater.
It'd be like fighting a heavyweight bout for two and a half days.
I feel like a panther myself. I feel like I'm very well trained.
No days off,
to get myself in incredible muscular and cardiovascular shape.
Expending so many calories.
I eat anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 calories every three hours.
The physical strength and obviously, the mental courage are...
[reporter] If the seas remain calm,
she'll still have to brave sharks and exhaustion
during her two and a half days in the water.
[Diana] Just outside Australia, they have the largest
man-eating pelagic sharks in the world off Cuba,
and I don't take them lightly at all.
In Bhiwani, we saw a 14-foot shark.
Hey, how long she gonna be?
Uh, 8 hours and 31 minutes.
[woman] Ugh.
It's a new fan.
I think it's time we get outta Dodge.
[island music playing]
[plane engine whirring]
[Diana speaking in French]
[man speaking French]
[Diana speaking in French]
I hate to interrupt your conversation,
but, um, I... I just need an answer from you.
Did you contact that guy about the steel cage?
Oh. Oh yeah.
No, I'm not doing that again.
Excuse me?
Well, a shark cage makes it an aided swim.
No, thanks.
It's just me and the ocean the whole way.
Well, when were you gonna tell me that?
Yeah, I don't want an asterisk next to my life's greatest achievement.
- But you know it's never been done before. - Exactly.
I'll be the first.
I'm the swimmer, Bon. It's my call.
- Hello? - [woman] Come in, come inside.
- [woman exclaiming] - Hello.
- Oh my gosh. - Anna!
- I'm so excited to have you. - Thank you.
- Bonnie, yes? - Bonnie.
- Hello, I'm Diana. - She's dying to meet you.
- Here, I take. - Oh, that's okay, I got it, I got it.
You know, I haven't seen Nina in years,
but, uh, she and my mom still talk every week,
and we always hear about you.
- [woman] Mm-hmm. - We're so grateful.
- Thank you so much. - Yeah.
- Our home is yours. - Our pleasure.
[in French] Isn't it, Mia?
The English Channel, for example, is 21 miles.
I could swim that in seven and a half hours,
even in the cold.
Cuba is on another level.
It's 100 miles, or 60 hours,
of constant swimming.
Now, I can stop to get medical attention,
I receive nourishment from my handlers,
or just float and marvel at the dazzling universe above.
It's just so cool.
I'm this tiny speck
floating under the stars,
but I can't stop or touch the boat,
even to poop or pee.
- Do you poop in the water? - [kids giggling]
- Yes. I'll get back to that. - [boy] Eww.
[kids giggling]
[Diana] But first, I should tell you about the cold,
the risk for hypothermia, but that's not what I'm most afraid of.
What are you most afraid of?
Sea creatures.
In these very waters,
live some of the deadliest marine animals on Earth.
Forty-nine varieties of sharks,
stingrays, man of war.
And at night, you don't even know they're there.
It's so dark you can barely see a few inches in front of your face,
and they're right out there just waiting for us.
Yes?
Here I am, 30 years later,
and I would love to see Pizza Hut emblazoned on my swimsuit
as I traverse these...
Yes. Your math is correct, I am 61,
but that's the reason to do it, not the other...
Well, of course you're entitled to your opinion,
but I can't begin to tell you how incredibly wrong and shortsighted it is.
First time, it was like taking candy from a baby.
I just... I strutted into Rocky Aoki's office, the Benihana guy,
and I heard he was into ocean stuff, so I just showed up,
and I walked out with this huge, like, lottery-sized check for $300,000.
- You realize I've heard this story? - [Diana] Yeah.
- Right, like, 400 times. - [Diana] It's a good story.
Yeah, but now it's like a giant-sized lottery check.
Think he wants to invest again?
Actually, he's dead.
Oh.
Also, we need $500,000 this time.
[Bonnie] Well, maybe we need, like, a new angle.
Less men in suits and more lady stuff.
- What do you mean, like tampons? - [Bonnie chuckling]
Not that we need those anymore, thank God.
No, thank God.
Also, Bon,
not that I'm worried because I'm... I'm not, but
what are we gonna do about the sharks?
- Sharks don't hunt people. Okay? - [rock music playing on radio]
They don't wanna eat humans, they wanna eat seals.
Yeah, but...
Sometimes, they'll test whether you are in fact a seal.
How exactly do they test you? I mean...
That's why we have the shield.
Two electrodes attached to the back of each kayak
that transmit an amplified signal.
They hate it. You watch.
[Bonnie] Oh!
Oh!
Is... is that really necessary?
Don't worry, we've tested it.
Tried it on a bloody horse's leg in the South Pacific.
Now, that's a dinner bell for a shark. They all turned away.
Do you think you can, like, shine a light on her at night?
'Cause I can't see her,
and the only way I know where she is is when she's, uh, slapping the water...
- Guys! - ...with her hands.
- [man] Light attracts bait fish. - Hello?
- [Diana] Guys! - [man] Oh, he's coming in. Watch.
[Diana gasping]
[electrodes warbling]
Hey! Tiny sensory organs in the snout. The electrical current messes them up.
Me and my divers will be all eyes and ears doing our sweeps,
ready if, God forbid, the shield goes down.
I'd... I'd like to know what weapons you use.
Is it like spear guns, or... or...
Poles with tennis balls.
We won't harm 'em.
You know, just a prod on the snout.
So, no weapons.
Look, Diana, we'll protect you, all right?
But you gotta remember,
this is their ocean, okay?
You're just passing through.
Just think of the marketing opportunities with me at the forefront.
I don't know, maybe, "Still dry."
Or just go classic,
me on a billboard with your iconic slogan ribboned beneath me,
"Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman."
Oh, of course.
Yeah. Thanks, Deb.
I think I just scored us a sponsor. [exclaiming]
- Yeah! All right! - [Diana] Whoo!
So I got a lead on a navigator guy.
- You show me a navigator... - [Bonnie] He's in from Key West.
- ...that isn't full of shit. - [Bonnie] You can't drive the boat too.
We need this guy.
Everybody says he's great, they call him the King of the Gulf.
So, I invited him for lunch tomorrow,
and I'm gonna order you the fish tacos with the salsa on the side,
and you're gonna be your most charming self, aren't you?
[Diana] Nice boat.
[seagulls warbling]
I designed her myself.
I had to re-draw the lines plans, like, 76 times.
My wife thought I was freaking out of my mind, but she's perfect.
- Your wife or your boat? - Both of 'em.
John Bartlett.
I used to watch you on the Wide World of Sports.
Oh yeah?
"Thrill of victory, agony of defeat," and all that shit?
I need to see your navigation cabin.
No problemo.
The Gulf Stream's a raging dick.
It's basically a fast-moving river in the middle of the ocean
going east when you wanna go north.
- If you're not exceeding its speed... - You're going backwards.
Yes, I know.
You are aware that I've tried this before?
I sure am.
Well, I don't need a primer on the Gulf Stream, okay?
What I need to know is what qualifies you for this mission.
- What's your pedigree? - Wait... wait a minute. What... what is this?
Do you think I'm selling you here,
or do you just have a hair across your ass?
My last navigator screwed me, okay?
He had me slamming into the surf for 14 hours straight.
- I would've made it if he hadn't... - [John] Well, that's on you.
I looked him up, your old navigator from '78.
America's Cup preppy asshole who didn't know shit about the Straits.
You can have all the pedigree in the world,
but if you haven't sailed here, if you haven't put in your 10,000 hours,
these counter-currents, these eddies,
it's like getting a freaking horse trainer to install your dishwasher.
- That's poetic. - Step outside with me for a minute.
Stick out your tongue.
[dramatic music playing]
[John] You taste that?
- I don't know, salt? - No.
Sand from the Sahara 7,000 miles away.
That's what this wind'll do.
What you wanna do has never been done, right?
The course must be exact.
The axis of the stream has to be calculated by someone
who knows what the hell they're dealing with
so the stream will work for you, not against you,
recomputing every 15 minutes.
You're off a fraction of a degree to the east,
you're headed to the Turks and Caicos, a fraction to the west, Texas,
or worse, you're spun into an eddy.
So choose the wrong dude again. No biggie.
It just might cost you your life.
Well, thank you for your interest in the position.
- Bye. - He'll do.
[Bonnie] Hey... hey, wait. Uh, what about lunch?
- [John sighing] - [Bonnie] Huh?
[seagulls warbling]
You got a beer?
- [Bonnie] Yeah. - I need a beer.
[Bonnie] If anybody in the world can do it, it's her. Come on.
You must see it, like, a little bit.
Otherwise, you wouldn't be sitting here, right?
You brought me lunch.
[laughing] Correct, I did.
I'll be honest with you, Bonnie. I don't know. I really don't.
There's only a few days each year
when the wind direction and the stream will maybe let a swimmer cross.
Maybe. It's a tiny window.
And even then, she may not make it.
You know?
Plus, your deal is all volunteer, no comp.
We train for months and may not even get a green light.
[sighing] Yeah.
Wanna know my favorite feeling ever?
[John clearing throat]
When I was... when I was playing racquetball at my peak,
and I was 30,
and it was just me and the girls just goofing off all around the country
like brats,
you know, and then... then it's... it's game day and you get that rush,
like, "I'm gonna win, I'm gonna win," you know?
I mean, the only way that I'm gonna get that magic at this age
is through her.
How many more chances are we gonna get to do heart-pumping shit, huh?
So that's why you're here.
Yeah, that and she needs me.
Don't ask me why.
[Bonnie chuckling]
And we really need you. I promise you, it won't be boring.
Some people say boring is underrated.
Wild guess, you're not one of 'em.
[both chuckling]
- [Bonnie] Yikes. Bad. - [Diana wincing]
[Bonnie] I'm gonna call around, see what people are using.
And, uh, you know, we got some good ideas about how to keep you following the boat.
How you feeling? Ready for the overnight?
- Yeah. [wincing] - Yeah.
- Yes, yes. - Well, you look great.
Look, hardening up. How's that shoulder? Still seizing up on you?
It's... it's not too bad.
How about... how about your mind?
Like on the long swims?
[Diana] It's good.
I've got my playlist up to about 85 songs.
Neil Young, Janis Joplin, The Beatles.
If I sing "No Reply" 1,000 times in a row, that's 9 hours and 45 minutes to the beat.
I may need one more song, though,
but it has to be in 4/4 time to go with the stroke.
Also, just so you know,
if you find yourself going someplace dark,
you know, find yourself beating up on yourself just...
I said I'm fine.
Let me do that, okay?
All right.
[Diana groaning]
Okay.
[seagulls warbling]
[Bonnie] Everybody, all right, listen up.
So, 24-hour training swim.
Uh, this is our lovely Dee, she's our captain.
When she's at the helm, nobody talks to her. All right?
[whispering] I've never heard that woman speak,
but she's the best in the biz.
Same goes for the swimmer. When in the water, no talking to her.
No joking. Serious business.
On our way, let's go. You guys know each other.
Hey, Dee.
Yeah, the red light was Nico's idea.
We can't train a spotlight on you.
That'd send all kinds of creatures after you.
But they don't like red.
Wow.
If we can't get something into her gut, her body will start eating itself.
So, feedings every 90 minutes, but you never tell her what time it is.
And, uh, you know, try not to... to bump up against the ego.
You know, don't yell at her. She does not respond well to tough love.
But don't baby her either.
When she starts to hallucinate, you go with it. Okay?
Okay, let's show her.
Oh, hey, check it out.
Bartlett made you a lane so you can stay closer to the boat.
- You did that? - [John] I did.
[dramatic music playing]
[boat engine revving]
[Diana] The mind deteriorates along with the body.
When the body weakens and the hallucinations start,
it's like sensory deprivation.
I thought that gulls were dive-bombing my calf
and I thought there was blood down the front of my face.
I can barely see.
The mental stress that you go through is unbelievable,
just about torture.
I was vomiting and I was losing all my strength and...
[Diana retching]
[Diana counting indistinctly]
[man] Can you read what it says after Nyad?
That is your name, Diana.
This is your destiny.
[indistinct radio chatter]
[man] So after your turn, I wanna see you increase that stroke rate.
[Diana retching]
Wait, what is that?
Oh, uh...
- What? Let me see. - [Diana] I was just kidding.
- [Coach Nelson chuckling] - [Diana sighing]
[Diana retching, groaning]
Why are you throwing up?
Because... [groaning]
...because I just swam for 24 hours.
[Diana retching]
Hey, visas came through. We're cleared for Cuba.
[Diana moaning]
- Better? - [Diana] Yeah.
- All right. High-five. - [Diana breathing heavily]
[Sawyer] Finally tonight,
someone who was a kind of hero for so many of us,
Diana Nyad, the incredible swimmer,
is back and about to embark on something we couldn't believe.
[reporter] ...set her sights on conquering a feat that has eluded her for 30 years.
[Diana in Spanish] I hope to encourage unity
and good relations between our two countries.
A connection.
And I can't wait to set off as soon as the weather allows.
Thank you.
- [indistinct chatter, laughing] - [Latin jazz music playing]
[John speaking indistinctly]
[Diana] Uh, you know what?
I... There's something I wanna say to all of you.
[music fades]
[smacking lips] As we await the signal from Mother Nature,
I signed a contract with my soul to never, ever give up.
You've all sacrificed a great deal.
No money, no perks, no guarantees.
But I can think of no worthier cause for such sacrifice.
My life's mission, dare I say my destiny,
to fight the wildly unpredictable conditions,
to tangle with the elements.
I will be the first Nyad.
If you look my name up in the dictionary, you will see...
- That's great. - ...literally "water nymph."
Thank you so much. And... and... to... to... to destiny.
- To all of us. To Cuba. Okay? - [all] To Cuba.
- To waiting for the weather. - Yes.
[thunder rumbling]
If we don't get out in a couple of weeks, temp drops.
- A year down the drain. - Yeah.
So, how's it looking?
I... I got three different forecasters,
both for weather and the axis of the stream.
One in Maryland, one in Washington,
one in the Miami Hurricane Center.
- I'm... I'm comparing their models. - And?
And it's Russian Roulette.
We might have a window when this clears. Might.
I'd put our chances at marginal to fair.
[Diana panting]
[knocking on door]
- [Diana exhaling] - Hey.
[Diana] I gotta get out of here.
- [thunder rumbling] - [rain pattering]
Go for a run or something.
[scoffing] Have you looked outside?
Yeah. Well, I have to stay ready.
[Bonnie] Uh, you are ready.
I bumped into you in the kitchen, it was like walking into a brick wall.
All right, look, I... I don't want you to burn out,
so just sit still, be patient.
I know it's hard. It's hard.
No, you actually don't know. You don't have to do it.
[scoffing] It's easy for you to say that, right?
[scoffing] Yeah? Cut the shit.
All right? All this "me-me-me-me" crap.
- [Diana] What? - I remortgaged my house for this...
Yeah, so did I.
Well, then the correct response would be "thank you."
Oh, so you're just gonna leave?
No, no, go ahead, fine.
Okay. No, go ahead. It's okay. Just go smoke a joint or something.
Why don't you do some yoga? Read a book.
I didn't bring a book!
[rain pattering]
[seagulls warbling]
[rooster crowing]
[knocking on door]
Storm's over.
It's our window.
This is it, Diana. It's go time.
[contemplative music playing]
[Diana exhaling]
[reporter] There are 16 million people who do open water swimming.
There are 116 people
who have actually swum over 24 hours straight.
But to go more than 48 hours,
that's only 12 people in the history of the world.
And of those 12,
Nyad is in a venue with jellyfish, sharks,
and the largest, fastest moving body of water in the world.
She needs to go 52 hours plus for Nyad to succeed.
Everything has to go perfectly.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[bell ringing]
Thank you.
[man whooping]
All right, guys, she's ready, so move back a little bit, yeah?
- Okay. - Thank you so much, everyone.
You got this. You're gonna crush it, Diana.
[dramatic music playing]
[Diana playing bugle]
[inaudible]
- Onward. - Onward.
Courage!
[crowd cheering]
[suspenseful music playing]
[Diana] Every talk show host and every stranger on a city bus asks me,
"Why does a seemingly sane,
obviously beautiful young woman put herself through this kind of torture?"
The whole key to success in marathon swimming,
masochistic as it may seem,
is the person who succeeds
is the person who is willing to endure the most pain in the most number of hours.
[Bonnie clapping]
[Bonnie] Whoo!
Bartlett, how's it looking up there?
Good.
[boat engine revving]
For now.
[Diana counting in Spanish]
[seagulls warbling]
[Diana continuing counting in Spanish]
[Diana in English] Four hundred sixty-one, four hundred sixty-two,
four hundred sixty-three...
Seven twenty-eight, seven twenty-nine, seven thirty...
[dramatic music playing]
[Diana] Seven thirty-two, seven thirty-three,
seven thirty-four, seven thirty-five, seven thirty-six,
seven thirty-seven, seven thirty-eight...
Eight hundred seventy-eight, eight hundred seventy-nine, eight hundred...
Four ninety-two, four ninety-three, four ninety-four, four ninety-five...
[whistle blowing]
[Bonnie] Diana!
Come in for a feeding!
[computer beeping]
[Bonnie] Here you go.
Bonnie, my shoulder.
All right. Scale of one to ten?
Uh,
six.
Ugh, jeez. A normal person's eight. All right.
- Uh, medic? Need a couple of Tylenol. - [woman] Copy that.
[Bonnie] All right. Well, you've gotta communicate with me.
- Okay. - Don't just fight through it.
Come on, come on.
[tense music playing]
- Here you go. - [boat engine revving]
[Diana groaning]
Got it?
It's good.
Are you okay?
Swimmer's in.
[dramatic music swelling]
[Bonnie] Onward.
[computer beeping]
[John] Oh shit.
[suspenseful music playing]
[reporter] From the beginning, the ocean was relentless,
but she kept swimming.
She swallowed seawater.
Seasickness lasted until the 15th hour, depleting her of strength.
She couldn't keep her food down, but she kept swimming.
[Diana gasping]
- Bon. - What's happening, Diana?
Are you... are you okay?
I'm okay.
I... [wincing]
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Diana, Diana, stop. Look at me.
Stop talking.
It's okay.
Shit. All right. She's... she's having an allergic reaction.
What did you give her?
Angerine. It's like Tylenol.
[Bonnie] No! We went over this. She's allergic.
She can't have any kind of NSAID. Shit!
[suspenseful music swelling]
[high-pitched whirring]
[reporter] Constantly changing winds forced her navigators
in the first hours to change course.
[reporter 2] She was swimming northeast toward the Florida coast,
directly into that rough water.
[reporter 3] The conditions took three times the energy Diana wanted to expend.
[Diana gasping]
- [Diana coughing] - [boat engine revving]
[reporter 4] After battling relentless weather conditions
and hopelessly off course,
Diana was pulled from the water.
It took five minutes to convince her the swim was impossible.
She kept saying, "What will it take?"
"I know I can go on for at least 30 more hours."
[Diana gasping, gurgling]
[Diana coughing]
[reporter 5] Diana Nyad had to be carried into her boat.
She had endured 42 hours of rough water in the Florida Straits.
[Diana groaning]
[Diana coughing]
[reporter 6] Even though saltwater had caused her eyes, lips,
and tongue to swell,
the 28-year-old marathoner wanted to keep on swimming.
I didn't wanna just give up and go back and never swim again.
[reporter 6] She was 85 miles short of Key West.
The sea had beaten Diana Nyad.
[Diana coughing]
She's been swimming for over 24 hours.
Yeah.
The last few, barely breathing.
This is where we're supposed to be.
If we stop for more than three or four minutes, the currents screw us.
- We're getting pushed east. - Toward freaking Africa.
She'd have to swim double time to make it up.
- [Diana moaning] - [Bonnie sighing]
You gotta call it.
[Diana breathing heavily]
[Diana groaning]
- Shit. - I know, I know.
[whistle blowing]
[Bonnie] Diana, come close to the boat.
- Take off your goggles. Look at me. - [Diana gasping]
Look at me.
No.
[John] We gotta get you out! You can't fight the currents.
Don't say it.
[sirens wailing]
[John] Diana, you're swimming, but you're not going anywhere.
It's two steps forward, fifteen back. It's impossible!
You've done everything humanly possible.
- Everything. You rock. - [Diana coughing]
[Bonnie] Yeah, this is Mother Nature.
[Diana breathing heavily]
Honestly...
I'm not even sore.
- I'm not kidding. - [dramatic music playing]
[reporter] ...pushed Nyad far east off her charted course.
Keep in mind that she is now 61 years old.
At 28 she also tried the same swim and had to quit then too
because of rough weather and these extremely strong currents.
I'm bummed. I was rooting for her. I wonder if she's gonna try a third time.
[Diana in Spanish] Thank you, everyone!
[crowd cheering]
[music fades]
[Bonnie] You just gotta be careful with her lips.
We got the oxygen here and, uh, don't touch that when new.
And, uh, Bartlett?
Say hi to Jon Rose, our new lead medic.
Welcome to the Titanic.
Don't listen to him. He's a chronic defeatist.
- Happy to meet you. - Low expectations are key to happiness.
Don't let the swimmer hear you say that. [chuckling]
[Bonnie] Hey, hey, Diana, can you slow the pace a little?
You're at 58 strokes a minute,
so just... just take it down.
- All right. - Wait, are you timing her?
Yeah, I can hear it.
You know, the slap of her hands on the water with the strokes.
That's how psychotic I've become. [chucking]
I gave her some of that coffee gel. You know, she's off like a rocket.
Hold her back as long as you can.
My stick readings say the current's gonna be roaring in a couple hours.
All right.
[John] Looking good, folks, looking good.
Watch out for icebergs.
[Bonnie laughing]
["Save the Last Dance For Me" by The Drifters playing]
♪ You can smile ♪
♪ Every smile for the man ♪
♪ Who held your hand Beneath the pale moonlight ♪
♪ But don't forget who's taking you home ♪
♪ And in whose arms you're gonna be ♪
♪ So, darling Save the last dance for me ♪
[Diana screaming]
- Fire, fire, fire! Help! Fire! - Di-Diana, what is it?
- All right, Diana. - [Diana] Help!
- Diana, I'm right here. I'm right here. - [Diana] Fire, fire!
[Bonnie] Diana, I'm right here. Easy, easy, easy, easy.
- Here he comes. - [Jon] Oh shit!
- [Bonnie] What is it? Some jellyfish? - Oh Jesus!
[suspenseful music playing]
[Diana whimpering]
[grunting] It's not a man o' war!
Luke, call the UMiami lady and... and describe it.
[Diana] Fire, fire, fire, fire, fire!
[Bonnie] Jon Rose, get closer to her.
- Get her to the boat. - No! Don't touch me!
[Bonnie] Nobody's gonna touch you.
We're not gonna touch you. Just get closer to the boat.
- We need you closer. - [John] Get 'em out!
[Bonnie] Diana!
Diana, now! Get closer to the boat.
[Diana panting, groaning]
[Jon] Give her the shot! Give her the shot!
There you go. Oxygen, please.
[Luke] UMiami says it sounds like a box jellyfish.
They shouldn't be here. They can kill.
Holy hell. Let's get him out the water.
- All right. Um, I'm gonna pull you out. - [John] Jon Rose? Get him out!
[Diana] No, stay. [groaning]
Diana, this is your life.
- My life. My life. - [Jon Rose gasping]
[Diana] No.
No! [breathing heavily]
No stay. Swim.
- It's fine. - [Bonnie] All right.
Breathe in through your nose and out your mouth.
[Diana grunting]
[unsettling music playing]
[Bonnie] Breathe in with this. There you go.
Here you go. Take this. Take it from me. Take it from me.
That's it.
Put it right up there. Give me a good breath. One good breath.
Good.
[Diana breathing heavily]
Don't...
don't wanna give up.
- [music fades] - [Diana] Don't... don't wanna give up.
[whispering] I know, I know.
[Bonnie breathing deeply, exhaling]
So, she wants to keep going.
She's stable.
So, what's our position?
Are you serious?
She could die at any second and you wanna know our position?
The hell are we doing here?
It's her dream. Right?
It's... it's her call.
And we're already all the way out here.
[John sighing]
Yeah.
All right.
If you can live with it.
Just read me our position, please.
So the UMiami folks think
that the box jellyfish came up off the shallow reef when we left Cuba.
Global warming. Apparently, they're breeding like crazy.
But they should be behind us now.
And, uh, Bartlett said that we didn't drift too badly
because you were doing so good before.
Good time, you know?
But you got to take it easy. All right? Slow.
[Diana groaning, panting]
All right, let's go.
All right, everybody, we're going.
Come on! Yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah!
[boat engine revving]
[tense music playing]
It's for the jellyfish.
Just in case.
Fantastic.
The stop kill us?
[John] Trying to make a correction
for a little northeasterly drift, but I like our position.
[Bonnie] Wow. You never like our position.
I know.
I gotta tell you, Bon, she's making up time.
We're 45.2 statute miles from the marina.
She keeps going like this, we're gonna see Florida before sunrise.
[Diana groaning]
Look at you.
You're good to go.
Looks good. Beautiful.
Onward.
Yeah.
[dramatic music playing]
[Coach Nelson] This is why we swim that extra lap,
this is why we run that extra mile,
this is why we push you to your limit every single day.
You give me everything you got out there,
all your heart, all your strength, all your focus,
I guarantee you you're gonna leave here a champion.
- You hear me? - [girls] Yes.
Panthers on three. One, two, three.
[all] Panthers!
- [crowd cheering] - [Coach Nelson] Dig deep, Nyad. Come on!
Come on! Come on!
Come on, come on!
Come on, Nyad!
- Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! You did it! - [crowd cheering]
- [Diana] No! - [girls giggling]
Stop! No!
[girls exclaiming]
[dramatic music playing]
[dramatic music swelling]
[suspenseful music playing]
[Diana screaming]
[Diana] My face! My face!
Tentacles.
[Bonnie] Right! Get... get her out of the water!
Right now!
- [Diana gasping] - [Bonnie] Get her out!
Diana, stay there!
[suspenseful music swelling]
[music fades]
[dramatic music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
Hey, Nyad?
Nyad?
[Coach Nelson chuckling]
If you wanna catch a nap, guest room down the hall. Go ahead.
[tense music playing]
[Bonnie] What's going on? What's going on?
[Jon] Nothing. [panting]
[Bonnie] No. No, no, no, no, no.
Come on. Come on, Diana.
You can't... you can't do that now. You gotta breathe.
Come on, baby, breathe.
Breathe, you breathe deep.
I know you got another one in you. Come on, give me another one.
Give me another breath.
[Bonnie breathing heavily]
[Bonnie] Come on. Stop messing with me, Diana. Breathe, now.
[Diana gasping]
What happened? What happened? What happened?
Blow out. Blow out, blow out, blow out, blow out.
Come on, blow out, blow out. Blow out!
Diana, blow out. Now, blow out.
[Diana exhaling]
Oh God.
Oh Jesus.
[John] Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie, feel this.
Yeah. [panting]
She still thinks she's swimming.
[Bonnie chuckling]
[Bonnie] You still swimming, babe?
All right, all right, you keep swimming.
And keep breathing.
[Diana sniffling]
[exhaling]
I should've pulled her out.
I should've said, "That's it. No, we're done."
Why am I not allowed to say
that it pisses me off to be felled by sea creatures,
to be rendered powerless by stupid jellyfish?
It's just so beneath me.
When you... when you say it's beneath you,
that is just demeaning to us.
To all of us. To me, to Bartlett, Jon Rose, to Luke, to Dee.
- We worked hard, Diana. - I know you did.
Yeah, and we were scared shitless.
- You've any idea what it was like for me? - [Diana] I know.
No, no, you don't know.
I watched you die, Diana.
For 15 seconds, I thought you were dead.
All because I said okay to you again.
I said, "Oh yeah, okay, sure."
I... I can't do that again. I can't.
Yeah, but I wasn't. I didn't. I'm here.
I'm... I'm here, I'm okay, and I'm not quitting.
Okay?
We have learned so much each time. I've... I've learned about myself, too.
Yeah, okay, what... what did you learn?
I don't wanna look back and feel like I could've fought harder.
I hate that feeling.
[Bonnie] I know that. What else?
Look... look, one more time.
One more time. That's it.
We spend the next year training,
but also fixing the jellyfish problem.
I actually got a lead on a box jellyfish expert.
How do you already have a lead on a box jellyfish expert?
It's called the internet, Bonnie.
Look, she's a doctor.
She seems like a really cool lady.
Do you have any idea how exhausting you are as a friend?
[woman] In the future, never let them give her an Epi injection.
Box stings cause epinephrine to spike.
She's lucky she didn't overdose.
Uh, listen, I told her I was only going if I could protect her from the box.
So, what do you think? Is this crazy?
She can't get stung again.
You don't build up immunity to the venom. It works in the opposite way.
- [Bonnie sighing] - So there cannot be a next time.
The suit, I designed it expressly for this purpose. It'll help.
But yeah, I'd say this is pretty crazy,
but it's also very punk rock.
[dramatic music playing]
Hello? Bonnie?
This is brutal.
Yeah. Well, we can't help you.
It's regulation. You gotta put it on yourself.
Well, I can't do it.
Then don't.
But you will die.
[Diana] Listen, could you come with us?
It would be a great adventure.
[reporter] Baumgartner says he's not afraid of dying on this jump
'cause he's worked hard...
[Bonnie] Woo-hoo!
[reporter] He's base jumped from...
What's going on? What is it?
- Where's the remote? - What?
- [reporter] ...and from the Christ the... - Check it out.
[woman] It's the hardest swim in the world today.
This is the ultimate of ultramarathon swimming.
Are you kidding me?
She's... she's... she's like the baby.
...and this is like getting a world record and a gold medal at the Olympic Games.
No, but it's possibly harder,
possibly because no one's been able to do it.
Yeah, we know no one's been able to do it.
- That's the whole damn point! - Hey! Can you stop talking? I wanna hear.
[woman] I will not wear a wetsuit, I will not use a shark cage...
I can't believe this.
This... this is my window. She's stealing my swim!
That... No, that's what I'm gonna do.
God! Where's a box jellyfish when you need one?
I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that.
[birds chirping]
- It stopped. - [dog panting]
Okay, her tracker stopped.
Where?
Where'd it stop?
- Right there. - What?
Is it instrument failure? Or, wait.
- Wait... - Did they pull her out?
Lookit, lookit, lookit. Wait a minute.
Remote.
[reporter] Painful stings from a swarm of the creatures
just 11 hours into the swim forced McCardell to ditch the whole idea.
- Yes! - Yes!
Yes, yes, yes, yes!
[both cheering]
[woman] I had one coming out of my mouth.
I was pulling it, this tentacle, out of my mouth,
but I ended up just begging them.
I'm like, "I need to get out. This is... this is not going away."
"It's only gonna get worse. Like, this is the start."
- [reporter] Goodness. - [woman] I'm not coming back.
- [reporter] You won't attempt again? - [woman] No.
Bonnie, Bonnie, wake up.
Bonnie.
- What? - We have got to go to Cuba, now.
All of my models say no, all right?
We've got the Atlantic gyre stalled above the 17th parallel,
we've got storm systems coming off the coast of Africa,
not to mention the Gulf.
We'll have nothing but huge peaks if we bump up against that damn east wind.
This is not our window.
- Well, just check the models again. - My models are good, I'm sorry.
Do you like the idea of a full-tilt current?
Walls of seawater smacking you in the face?
Puking up as you get sucked east toward the Bahamas?
Does that sound like fun to you?
If we wait any longer, the season will end. It will be too cold.
I'm aware.
[John sighing]
Look, it's not the only swim in the world.
You know we could go someplace else. Guam is nice this time of year.
- Guam? - [John] What's wrong with Guam?
It's not Cuba!
[John] When are you gonna listen to my expertise, Diana?
Oh, that's right, you know everything.
No, you're the expert. Fine. But I'm the CEO of the operation.
- The CEO? - [Diana] We're going.
- I'm not waiting a year in training again. - It's too dangerous, Diana.
I pinged my weather guy in Atlanta, and Greg says we are good to go.
Oh, well, if Greg says so. Who the hell is Greg?
I've never even heard of him. This isn't his call.
Yeah, you're right. It's not. It's mine.
I'm in charge. That's the deal. And guess what? We're going.
[birds chirping]
Come on, what the hell? Huh?
- [Diana sighing] - [door slamming]
[Bonnie] Bartlett?
Can we talk?
I'm... I'm sorry about that. That was...
[Bonnie sighing heavily]
Does she think I don't wanna get out there?
Elke and I canceled seven charters this month
so I could do this.
I'm trying to look out for people's lives here.
I know. I know.
Jesus, and, I mean, look at you.
I've... I've watched you stand on that transom
for 40 hours straight peeing over the side of the boat
so you didn't have to leave her for a second. Does she see that?
Does she ever say thank you?
- She does, in her own way... - She plays you like a fiddle.
Hey. Look, you don't know.
- I mean, she and I, we... - Oh, come on, Bonnie.
You put her over your own better judgment every single time.
Look, it's a risk.
Okay? Shit.
I mean, we've come this far.
We gotta let her try.
[clicking tongue] Oh, come on. What... what are you gonna do?
You gonna go home and you gonna sail around
a bunch of tourists the whole season?
[birds chirping]
Come on.
We're so close.
["Piece of My Heart" by Janis Joplin playing]
♪ Come on, come on ♪
♪ You take another look into my heart ♪
[Diana counting indistinctly]
♪ There's another little pain in my heart My heart, yeah ♪
- [man retching] - [thunder rumbling]
[John] I told her this wasn't our window!
[Diana counting indistinctly]
♪ Take another little piece of my heart ♪
♪ There's another little piece Of my heart now, baby ♪
That's two seconds apart.
[Bonnie grunting]
We gotta get the kayakers and pull 'em in.
- Dee! Hold north! - [Dee] Shit.
Forty-nine hours in. [groaning]
[John] Christ we're taking on water!
[alarm blaring]
Bonnie, get her out!
[whistle blowing]
Diana!
[Diana counting indistinctly]
Diana!
- Diana! - [Nico] Diana!
- Nico! Do you see her? - [Nico] No!
Diana! Diana!
[suspenseful music playing]
[Diana grunting, groaning]
[Bonnie] Diana!
[lightning cracking]
[intense music playing]
[inaudible]
[Diana panting, groaning]
[whispering] It's okay.
Nice. That's it, Nyad. That's it.
[Diana gasping]
It's undeniable.
And if you are receptive to coaching...
[Diana counting indistinctly]
Your shirt.
[Diana counting indistinctly] No!
[man] You will never see me again!
[whistle blowing]
[Bonnie faintly] Diana!
[whistle blowing]
[Bonnie] Diana!
Diana!
[boat engine revving]
[Bonnie] Diana!
Where is she?
[John] Diana!
[lightning cracking]
[Bonnie] Diana!
Diana! Come into the boat! We're pulling you out!
No! I'm staying in! I can do it, Bon!
Are you out of your mind? No!
[Diana] It'll pass!
No! I swear to God! I'm not...
[Bonnie] Bartlett's boat is flooding!
I'm not risking human life.
[Diana] We can wait it out!
You tell me that I should die for this!
[Diana grunting, gasping]
[somber music playing]
[Diana screaming]
[Diana gasping, exhaling]
Well, it was intended to be our feel-good story this week,
but it didn't quite turn out that way.
Diana Nyad is back on dry land tonight.
Her goal of becoming the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida
without a shark cage ended early this morning.
She did cover about 48 miles,
which means she could've crossed the English Channel twice,
but could go no farther.
[Diana groaning]
[Diana sighing]
[music fades]
[Diana sighing]
[Diana exhaling]
The only one who gets to decide if I'm through is me.
You may not be done, but everyone's exhausted.
All right, you majorly offended Bartlett, and, uh, Nico's gotta get back to work.
He's got a new gig repairing A/Cs.
Nico says it's the adventure of his lifetime.
[Diana grunting]
You really don't get it, do you? What this is like for us?
We're broke.
The time, the emotional toll. I mean, it's been years, Diana.
Well, suck it up.
[scoffing] We're a team, right?
[Bonnie] Wow.
Your superiority complex is really screwed up, you know that?
Yeah. Well, everyone should have a superiority complex.
Everyone should feel like the star of their own life.
Yeah, exactly. My life! My life!
And... and... and I got things that I wanna do.
Yeah? Like what?
I don't know. [scoffing]
I mean, that's... that's the crazy part. I don't... I don't even know.
What do I want, you know? What... what do I wanna do?
But guess what? I get to decide, not you.
I just think that you need to make peace with the possibility of my death.
[Bonnie] What does that mean?
I would do it for you if it made you happy.
Oh, would you? Would you do that?
Yes. Imagine knowing, in your bones,
that you could do something that only you could do.
Like fate.
Enough with the fate, Diana.
- [Diana] Nyad... - I know what your name means!
- My father... - [Bonnie] He was an asshole.
Yes, he was an asshole,
but he understood my destiny!
This isn't about you or... or your destiny,
this is about me, okay?
For once this is about me!
And... and you don't... you don't... you don't even think of me.
You just... you just want me to, like, tag along with you.
No, of course I think about you.
I know what you're capable of better than you do.
Listen to yourself. That is so patronizing. I can't...
Look, I know that the world wants me to shut my mouth
and sit down and wait to die,
but I didn't think you did.
Stop.
I can't.
I won't. I will not accept defeat.
[dog barking]
Are you with me?
No.
[Diana exhaling]
[door closing]
[dramatic music playing]
[Diana panting]
Yeah, but your coach. Here you are, resting up to compete.
When your mind and your body have to be in sync.
[Diana] And you think I swam well in the state meets?
He would say, you know, "You can't tell anyone about this."
"First, it's so special."
"We have something so special, so you can't tell anybody."
"No one will understand."
"You'll be kicked out of school and you'll never be the Olympic swimmer
because you'll lose me."
"You're a little girl and you don't understand,
but I'm a man and I need this and someday you'll understand."
[inaudible]
[birds chirping]
[Diana] Attempt number four.
Here I am at the launch, nerves screaming.
No idea what lies ahead of me but resolved by sheer will,
compelled by the power of the human spirit.
Courage.
Uh, this is Bonnie, my coach.
[Diana's breath shuddering]
She is in charge of making sure that I get my calories and electrolytes.
Bonnie again.
Uh...
You... you don't leave room for imagining defeat.
You really do believe
that you're going to make it every single time,
but...
Um, I mean,
four tries and four failures.
[elevator chiming]
Okay.
Oh.
[indistinct chatter]
Oh come on, Nyad, stupid bitch.
[couple chatting indistinctly]
[cell phone vibrating]
[John sighing]
Yep?
Uh, are you still mad at me?
Because I am so sorry.
Some of the things I said,
and my attitude, was... it... out of proportion.
Thank you.
And no, I'm not mad.
But if you're asking me to go again, I... I... I just can't.
You know, I... I got shit going on.
Mortgage to pay, you know? I gotta get back to work, you know?
Life catches up at some point.
Yeah, no, I understand.
Maybe it just can't be done, you know?
What, I'm... [sighing]
I'm just supposed to accept
everyone's denigrating and mediocre standards of what's possible?
[John chuckling]
Bonnie's done with me, too.
Oh, cut the shit, Bonnie loves you.
You two are family.
You know, it's not that I don't know that I'm this way,
that... that I'm so...
Radical?
That's a nice way to say it.
[John chuckling]
Why is it so hard?
Yeah, why is it so hard to be a person?
[Diana laughing]
You know, there was nothing like that feeling,
being out there on those days when we were just jamming
and... and you were going strong
and the dolphins were following you,
and... and me and Bonnie and the team were super in sync thinking,
"Hell yeah, we... we can do this. We... we can pull this off."
This... this crazy thing we all believed in.
That high.
Yeah, that... that was some good shit, right?
Yeah, no, I... I never saw that, but I felt it.
Oh, that's true.
- You know, you... you were underwater. - [Diana] Yeah.
Singing to myself in the dark. [chuckling]
[John chuckling]
Kind of badass, Diana.
Very much so.
[Diana sighing]
Well, uh, I... I... I... I'd better...
No, no, yeah, yeah, of course.
Goodnight, John.
Goodnight, Diana.
[birds chirping]
[car door closing]
[Diana] I've been calling.
- I left messages. - Oh.
Diana, I just... I... I don't wanna get into this again.
No, no, I know.
I just wanted to see you, talk to you.
[softly] Fine.
[Bonnie sighing]
I read in the paper that, uh, Jack Nelson died.
Yeah.
I thought you'd call me.
Well, good riddance.
I hate victim shit.
I know you do.
Yeah, he's still in the Swimming Hall of Fame
even after all of us came forward,
said we were abused by him, said it in public.
Can you believe that?
God!
[Bonnie seething]
I... I... I wish I could've killed him myself.
- And I would have, too. - Yeah?
- Yeah. - How would you have done it?
[exhaling]
Chop his dick off.
Oh.
Dull knife, granite cutting board. Just let him bleed to death.
Why granite?
I don't know, that's just how I pictured it.
Yeah. Well, he didn't damage me, he didn't throw me off course.
I'm good, I'm fine.
But then there are moments when it's like I'm 14 again and...
it's... it's like his voice is coming out of me,
and I get so mad at myself.
[voice breaking] I mean, why didn't I fight harder?
I was a force.
Oh baby, baby, you know... you know it doesn't work like that.
You know that.
I do. I do know that.
It's just, I...
I mean, I...
[Diana exhaling]
He was so nice to me.
I mean, at first, you know.
I... I wrote "I love Coach Nelson" on my notebook,
and he saw that I...
[Diana crying softly]
You know? Oh God, I never told anybody that.
Hey.
[Diana sobbing]
You are a force.
Swim or no swim, you are a force.
Know that.
[sniffling] I know.
And I, um... I'm not gonna stop.
I'm free to keep trying.
[Bonnie] Yeah, you are, Diana.
[Diana] So, I'm gonna...
train and crew up,
and, uh, see you when I get back.
- We'll have dinner or something. - [Bonnie] Sure.
Okay.
You know I'm always rooting for you.
Team Nyad.
[dramatic music playing]
[indistinct chatter in Spanish]
[Diana] Hey, James?
I want you drafting to my left, okay, so I can see you when I breathe.
And every 90 minutes,
if you could grab one of those, uh, packets of goo from the cooler.
Bonnie, my handler, she usually just squirts it directly into my mouth.
You know what? Never mind.
It's okay.
And... and I'll... I'll be ready in a few minutes.
[dog panting]
Gus, want to take a hike?
Hmm?
Come on, puppy. Let's go.
[pop music playing over radio]
[radio warbling]
[woman] ...should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Jesus, Mary Oliver. I mean, give me a break.
[reporter] In an interview with public radio,
Oliver noted that simplicity was important to her.
Her poems are often a joyful celebration of nature,
but she also chronicled the abuse she endured as a child
growing up in rural Ohio.
As she told us in 2012,
she found a haven in two great passions.
She loved the natural world and dead poets.
[plane engine whirring]
[door closing]
[Bonnie] Woo-hoo!
[Bonnie sighing]
All right.
I'm gonna say a few things.
Bonnie, what the...
Don't interrupt me.
[Bonnie breathing deeply, sighing]
All right. I'm here because...
I thought about it,
and...
you've been my person since we were, like, 30 running around like idiots.
You know, we do things together. We do fun shit, boring shit, hard shit.
I tried doing my own thing, but it just wasn't the same.
You're not a quitter.
The point is,
we're getting old together. [chuckling]
You know, we're getting old, and if you die...
I wanna be the last person you see.
Don't die.
But if you do, I'll be right there with you.
[both crying]
[dramatic music playing]
[reporter] At 28 years old, she set out to become the first person
to swim 103 miles from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage.
Three and a half decades after starting her quest,
sixty-four-year-old Diana Nyad
hopes this will be the year she completes it.
[reporter 2] And this is her fifth attempt to swim from Havana to Florida.
[reporter 3] As always, she'll fight wind and currents,
dehydration and hypothermia,
and over these three days that Nyad will need to reach Florida,
a lot could go wrong.
[Diana] Wonderful to see you.
Hey. Hey.
- Hey. - Hey.
[Nico] You made it.
Yeah.
Did you do this?
No, I...
[indistinct chatter]
Elke says we're already so broke, what's a little more broke?
But the green light is my call. Capisce?
Your call.
Wow. [chuckling]
- [Diana] What? - You look remarkably like a seal.
Ugh. What is with this... this new mask? It's somehow even worse.
Well, Angel insisted 'cause someone swallowed a box.
[Diana] Ugh. What happened?
What do you think happened? They died.
Diana, everyone, we're officially on red alert.
I think we have a window. Tomorrow, we go for it.
- [Diana] Yes! - [Bonnie] All right.
[Nico] Hey.
Good. We're doing it.
- Nyads, water nymph, destiny. Right? - [contemplative music playing]
You know, the whole thing with Aris...
how he's not my biological dad.
I mean,
so technically, I'm not even...
Hey, hey, hey.
Listen to me.
There's no one more Nyad than you.
Onward.
[Diana breathing deeply, exhaling]
[birds chirping]
[Diana exhaling]
[Diana] Courage!
[seagulls warbling]
[water sloshing]
[Diana counting in Spanish]
[thunder rumbling]
[John groaning]
[softly] Damn it.
Take a look.
[ominous music playing]
[man] Shields couldn't have gone down, right?
Shit.
[man] Look at that, did you see that?
I'm gonna see what's going on with the shield. I'm going out, okay?
[man] All right.
[equipment clattering]
[Diana] Seven hundred thirty-two...
[suspenseful music playing]
[Bonnie] Wait. What's happening?
- [boat engine revving] - [Bonnie] What is that?
- Jesus Christ. - See?
- Should we pull her? - [Luke] Bonnie!
- Get her as close to the boat as possible. - Cut the engine.
Diana!
[whistle blowing]
[Bonnie] Diana! Come towards the boat.
No splashing, just a little... little baby breaststroke.
What's going on?
We're fixing the shark shield. Don't you worry.
[Bonnie] Don't look.
[suspenseful music swelling]
[device beeping]
- Is it on or off? Tell us. - [Luke] I think it's back on.
He thinks it's back on.
[device beeping]
[device chiming, warbling]
[music fades]
[man] All clear.
- Yes! Yes! - [all applauding]
- [John] Yeah! Good job, guys. Thank you. - Yes!
Thanks, everyone.
[Bonnie breathing heavily]
["Heart of Gold" by Neil Young playing]
♪ I've been to Hollywood I've been to Redwood ♪
♪ I crossed the ocean For a heart of gold ♪
♪ I've been in my mind It's such a fine line ♪
♪ That keeps me searching For a heart of gold ♪
♪ And I'm getting old ♪
♪ Keeps me searching for a heart of gold ♪
[Diana] It's cutting my mouth.
You have to wear it just until dawn, then we'll be out of the woods.
Oh, cap first. Yes.
♪ Keep me searching for a heart of gold ♪
♪ You keep me searching And I'm growing old ♪
♪ Keep me searching for a heart of gold ♪
♪ I've been a miner for a heart of gold ♪
[song fades]
[John coughing, clearing throat]
[softly] Goddammit.
[Bonnie sighing]
- Here you go. - Hey, thanks.
[John sniffling]
- Been meaning to ask you. - [John] Hmm?
How'd she rope you back in?
[John chuckling lightly]
We had a nice chat.
And, um... [clearing throat]
I'm sick, Bonnie.
- Oh. - She doesn't know.
[Bonnie] Oh jeez.
I'm trying to take it on the chin.
[softly] Yeah.
Anyway,
I figured I had one last adventure in me. [exhaling]
[softly] Yeah.
- The swimmer. - [John] The swimmer.
[dramatic music playing]
[Diana] Four hundred seventy-four,
four hundred seventy-five,
four hundred seventy-six.
[boat engine revving]
[John] Hey, Bonnie.
Finally, we hit the stream just right.
It's sweeping her north.
We just gotta keep her cranking.
[Bonnie] Diana. Diana.
Come on in. Come on.
There you go. Come on. Baby breaststroke, that's it.
[Diana groaning]
[Bonnie] Good job.
- [Diana groaning] - Here you go.
I'm not gonna make you eat anything. No.
Just, uh... You gotta get some fluids down.
At least four and a half more ounces.
That's what you need. There you go.
[Diana coughing]
[Bonnie] I know.
You're swallowing a lot of seawater.
- [Diana coughing] - Yeah, see?
All right, you're going to Florida.
That way.
You're going to Florida, Key West.
That's it. You're doing great.
- Just one good one. One good one. - [Diana groaning]
That's it. That's it.
Second one.
[John grunting]
We just hit 75 miles.
This is as far as we've ever made it before.
[Bonnie chuckling]
[dramatic music playing]
[wind blowing]
[Diana gasping]
I... I didn't think I'd see it here.
The Taj Mahal.
It's stupendous.
Head straight towards it, Diana.
It's that way.
So, down the yellow brick road?
Yep. Yellow brick road to the Taj Mahal.
Just keep moving.
- [John chuckling] - [Bonnie] Just keep moving.
[boat engine revving]
[exhaling]
[ethereal music playing]
[reporter] Ms. Nyad holds Italy's Capri-to-Naples world record.
[Diana] ...recognition fantasies I have, they shouldn't be fantasies...
[reporter 2] She swum 32 miles.
[Diana] Feeling that my body is as gargantuan as a whale,
I'm 30 feet wide, with incredible strength and shoulders,
and I'm just muscling my way through that water nothing's gonna stop me.
Gulls were dive-bombing my calf,
and I thought there was blood all down the front of my face.
Sixty hours nonstop in the open sea.
It's like I'm getting that gold medal at the Olympic games.
This swim is much, much closer to impossible than it is to possible.
I feel like, uh,
I have a moment of immortality when I get to the other side.
♪ I was all right for a while ♪
♪ I could smile for a while ♪
♪ I love you even more than I did before ♪
♪ But, darling, what can I do? ♪
♪ For you don't love me ♪
["Crying" by Roy Orbison playing]
Hey, you. Yeah, you. Keep going.
♪ Crying over you ♪
♪ Yes, now you're gone ♪
♪ And from this moment on ♪
♪ I'll be crying ♪
♪ Crying, crying ♪
[John] Bonnie. Bonnie!
♪ Crying, I'm crying ♪
Do you see it?
Can you see it?
♪ Crying ♪
♪ Over ♪
♪ You ♪
[whistle blowing]
[song fades]
[whistle blowing]
[Bonnie] Diana.
Diana.
- Come on. - [Diana groaning]
[Bonnie] That's it, that's it.
[Diana groaning]
[Diana breathing heavily]
You're never gonna put that mask on again.
[Diana grunting]
Off with the goggles.
[Bonnie] All right.
[Diana coughing]
Diana, look at me. I need you to look at me.
- [Diana] No. - Look at me.
- It's over? - [Bonnie] No.
No. I... I... Did we drift?
I can make it up.
- [Bonnie] No, no... - Bonnie, I... I'm not getting out.
- Diana, stop, stop. Look over there. - [Diana] I can make it up.
- Look. See that? - [Diana] I'm not getting out.
You see that, the horizon? Look at the horizon.
You see it?
[dramatic music playing]
[Diana] Is it the sun?
No, that's not the sun, babe.
Those are the lights of Key West.
Diana, what I'm telling you is, there's not gonna be another night.
Just one big push.
If you can really bring it, if you can really, really bring it,
then you're gonna reach Florida today.
But there's still a long way to go, all right?
At least 12 more hours.
Babe, you gotta... you need to dig deep.
[Diana crying]
You can dig deep. All right?
Now, get some of this into you.
[Diana groaning]
[Bonnie] You're doing great, babe. You're doing great.
[seagulls warbling]
[dramatic music playing]
[Diana gasping, panting]
Uh...
[whistle blowing]
[Bonnie] Diana!
Gotta stay in closer to the line of the boat.
You're not done yet.
Slow down.
[boat engine revving]
She's going the wrong way, and she's wasting strokes.
[Bonnie] I know.
I need another tenth of a knot, or it's over.
I know. Shit!
What are you doing? Bonnie? Bonnie.
Really, Bonnie?
Diana?
Diana, woo-hoo!
Diana?
Bon, you're in the water with me.
[Bonnie] Now, listen to me.
All you gotta do... all you gotta do is just swim a little bit.
- All right? - Don't touch me.
- No. I'm not gonna touch you. - [Diana] You can't touch me.
We're in this together. Right?
We do everything together. All right?
But you don't have to... you don't have to think about what's going on.
All you gotta do is just take a couple of good strokes.
All right? You think you can do that?
Huh? How about... how about... how about five... five good strokes?
- Come on. I know you can. - [Diana groaning]
See, I know you can because I know what a beast you are.
I'm not gonna let you give up.
See if you can do it. I bet you can.
You're gonna give me one... one good stroke, just for me.
Just one. Only one, and then we go.
One good stroke.
That's it, that's it. Beautiful.
- Just one more stroke. Just one more. - [Diana moaning]
[Bonnie] That's it.
One more. [chuckling]
- Yeah. One more. - [groaning] Bonnie...
No, no, no, no. No talking. You just save that breath for Key West.
I love you.
I love you, too.
Come on. One more stroke, babe.
Just one more. You got it.
That's it.
That's it, power!
Come on, power!
One big stroke.
Yeah, that's a good one.
That's it, babe.
You're going that way.
That way. You got it, babe.
[dramatic music playing]
[John sighing]
[Bonnie breathing heavily]
[John] Show off.
- We're moving, aren't we? - We're moving, Bon.
Guys, we're so close.
What's wrong, Bartlett?
- [John sniffling] - You got this.
For the record, I got sand in my eyes.
Let's go, Dee.
Diana!
You got this!
Hell yeah! [laughing]
[boat engine revving]
[dramatic music swelling]
[reporter] It is nothing less than remarkable.
[reporter 2] Her swimming speed increased during the middle of the voyage
after she was picked up by fast-moving currents.
[reporter 3] She averaged about two miles per hour with the strong current.
[reporter 4] She was accompanied by roughly 40 people on 4 boats.
[reporter 3] From above, you can see Nyad in crystal-clear water
as she got one stroke closer to the shore of Key West.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[man] Diana Nyad's about to land!
[crowd chattering, murmuring indistinctly]
[crowd whistling, applauding]
[man] Diana Nyad, ladies and gentlemen!
[woman] Diana!
Nyad! Nyad!
[crowd chanting] Nyad! Nyad!
[crowd cheering]
[Bonnie] Nobody touches her or she'll be disqualified.
No one touches her or she'll be disqualified!
Everybody back!
Back! No touching!
Do not touch her! Nobody touches her!
[man] Diana Nyad has just swam 110 miles from Cuba!
Come towards me.
Right here.
Okay, babe, you got it.
Come this way.
Come on, Diana.
Okay, this is all you.
[crowd cheering loudly]
[Bonnie] Come on, babe.
You got it. Keep coming. That's right, I'm right here.
I'm right here, babe. Keep coming.
One more step. We need two ankles out of the water.
Two ankles out of the water, you can do it.
This is all you, nobody else. Just a couple more feet.
One step at a time.
I need two ankles out.
Keep coming, keep coming, I got you.
You're doing great.
Just one first.
You got this.
Okay, careful, careful.
That's it, that's it. Just two ankles out.
- Yeah. - [crowd cheering loudly]
[inspiring music crescendos]
We did it. We did it.
[Diana sobbing]
[Diana sobbing, gasping]
I just want to say three things.
[sniffling] One,
never, ever give up.
[scattered whistling]
Two,
you're never too old to chase your dreams.
And three...
it looks like a solitary sport,
but it takes a team.
That's right.
- Yeah! - [crowd cheering loudly]
[inspiring, triumphant music playing]
[music fades]
["Find a Way" by Jade Bird playing]
[inaudible]
We did it!
♪ At the edge I see the end, I see the light ♪
♪ I keep moving faster than I did before ♪
Yeah, we got lucky this time. We had a good Gulf Stream.
I knew from the beginning Diana was gonna be able to make it to Florida
if the right components would just align.
♪ I won't stop ♪
♪ I won't give up ♪
♪ Till the end of forever ♪
♪ Don't know what to do And I don't know what to say ♪
[reporter] How do you feel seeing hundreds of supporters here for you?
Cool. It was cool.
I saw the look on their faces.
They love to see somebody my age doing something nobody else has ever done.
And the third thing I said on that beach was, "It's a team."
And if you think I'm a badass, you wanna meet Bonnie.
- Bonnie? - She's backstage and she shook my hand.
- She's a badass. - Yeah.
Diana tells really great stories, but with her... when I'm involved in 'em,
I don't like the little embellishment.
It's not exact...
Just so you know, the big picture is the same,
it never looks exactly like she's saying.
[reporters laughing]
Thank you.
Diana Nyad, I challenged you.
You chickened out.
You swam to Cuba with all the sharks and the jellyfish,
but you're afraid to wrestle me?
You came to America in a boat?
[inaudible]
♪ Fighting for your dreams ♪
♪ You will find a way, you'll find a way ♪
♪ Oh, don't give up ♪
I don't wanna be that crazy lady...
[audience laughing]
...who does this over and over,
fails over and over till I'm 90.
I was swimming with this thing on.
I didn't realize you were wearing this. She's changed since I saw her last.
♪ Don't know what to do ♪
Yeah!
If I sing it 1,000 times,
I've got nine hours and 45 minutes to the, boom, to the beat.
♪ You will find a way, you'll find a way ♪
I'm gonna walk across America.
♪ Oh, don't give up ♪
♪ As you sail into your light ♪
♪ Looking for your dreams ♪
♪ You will find a way, you'll find a way ♪
And I closed my eyes and I closed my fists,
I said it and I meant it.
I couldn't have done it a fingernail faster.
[song fades]
You need to just wake up and do it again and again
until you get there.
So at 4:00, it depends on the day, but, like, today was 4:45.
I get in my gym.
My neighbors, it's dark.
My neighbors are all soundly asleep, and I play...
[playing rousing tune]
Which means, "Get up!"
If this is my navigation...
- [Bonnie] That's what we used last year. - [Diana] It's not gonna be like that.
[dramatic music playing]
[music fades]