On September 2, 2013, at the age of sixty-four, Diana Nyad emerged onto the sands of Key West after swimming 111 miles, nation to nation, Cuba to Florida, in an epic feat of both endurance and human will, in fifty-three hours. Diana carried three poignant messages on her way across this stretch of shark-infested waters, and she spoke them to the crowd in her moment of final triumph:

1.   Never, ever give up.
2.   You’re never too old to chase your dreams.
3.   It looks like a solitary sport, but  it’s a Team.

Millions of people around the world cheered this maverick on, moved by her undeniable tenacity to be the first to make the historic crossing without the aid of a shark cage. At the end of her magnificent journey, after thirty-five years and four crushing failures, the public found hope in Diana’s perseverance. They were inspired by her mantra—find a way—that led her to realize a dream in her sixties that had eluded her as a young champion in peak form.

In Find a Way, Diana engages us with a unique, passionate story of this heroic adventure and the extraordinary life experiences that have served to carve her unwavering spirit.

Diana was a world champion in her twenties, setting the record for swimming around Manhattan Island, along with other ocean-swim achievements, all of which rendered her a star at the time. Back then, she made the first attempt at the Mount Everest of swims, the Cuba Swim, but after forty-two hours and seventy-nine miles she was blown desperately off course. Her dream unfulfilled, she didn’t swim another stroke for three decades.

Why, at sixty-four, was she able to achieve what she could not at thirty? How did her dramatic failures push her to success? What inner resources did Diana draw on during her long days and nights of training, and how did the power of the human spirit trump both the limitations of the body and the forces of nature across this vast, dangerous wilderness? This is the gripping story of an athlete, of a hero, of a bold mind. This is a galvanizing meditation on facing fears, engaging in our lives full throttle, and living each day with no regrets. 

An Amazon Best Book of October 2015: When 64-year-old Diana Nyad emerged from the water after her historic 52-hour open-ocean swim from Cuba to Florida in 2013, she said, “One: Never, ever give up. Two: You’re never too old to chase your dreams. Three: It looks like a solitary sport but it’s a team.” Memoirs about the uber-successful—especially extreme athletes—can provoke intimidation instead of inspiration, but Nyad, who tried and failed to complete this trek at least five times, is frank about her mistakes along the way, and her focus on the teamwork that got her to the Florida shore isn’t just lip service. Friends and experts support her during every stroke in her hours of practice and her previous attempts, and a heartrending breakdown in that team almost puts her final swim in jeopardy. Ultimately, though, it is willpower and dedication that fuel Nyad’s success, and that is a life lesson that we can all embrace, no matter our dreams. -- Adrian Liang

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