Status
Available
Publication
Knopf (2015), Edition: First Edition, 320 pages
Description
"On September 2, 2013, at the age of 64, Diana Nyad emerged onto the shores of Key West after completing a 110 mile, 53 hour, record-breaking swim through shark-infested waters from Cuba to Florida. Her memoir shows why, at 64 she was able to achieve what she couldn't at 30 and how her repeated failures contributed to her success"--
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User reviews
LibraryThing member brendajanefrank
Diana Nyad is a swimming machine with incomprehensible mental ability to withstand sleep and sensory deprivation, pain, and year after year of arduous training leading to her successful swim from Cuba to Key West in 2013 at the age of 64. “Find a Way,” details her path to success and the
Personally, I find Nyad to be intelligent, obsessive, and articulate. I would say “inspiring,” but, to me, her dedication to achievement and exploits exceed “inspiring” and enter the category of “amazing” and “astonishing.”
Part of the memoir was difficult to read. She suffered from the trauma of sexual assault by both her father and her high school swim coach. Her mother failed to protect her and her coach continued to become an Olympic coach, despite his continued sexual abuse of many teenage swimmers. Some people overcome hardship and become stronger through survival. Nyad seemed to do so.
Even Nyad describes her lifestyle as fanaticism. At the age of ten she would waken at 4:30 each morning and execute 1,000 sit-ups and 50 chin-ups. This routine occurred 365 days a year, without exception. The day included four hours of swimming and training, before and after school. In her sixties, Nyad still subjected herself to a brutal discipline with a regime of 10 - 30 hour open-water swims.
To my surprise, I learned that box jellyfish exist in the Atlantic, as well as the Pacific. Nyad suffered from dangerous stings in the four attempts to swim to Key West prior to her success. She invested a great deal of time, energy and resources in designing equipment and finding experts and treatments to protect her during the risky nighttime swimming through jellyfish-infested waters. Her ultimate success was largely due to discovering methods to defend her from this hazard.
I can’t say that “Find a Way” was an enjoyable read, but it was educational and gave me new respect for Nyad’s amazing accomplishments.
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obstacles she overcame to become a superhuman open-water swimmer able to complete the goal of swimming 110 miles in 53 hours.Personally, I find Nyad to be intelligent, obsessive, and articulate. I would say “inspiring,” but, to me, her dedication to achievement and exploits exceed “inspiring” and enter the category of “amazing” and “astonishing.”
Part of the memoir was difficult to read. She suffered from the trauma of sexual assault by both her father and her high school swim coach. Her mother failed to protect her and her coach continued to become an Olympic coach, despite his continued sexual abuse of many teenage swimmers. Some people overcome hardship and become stronger through survival. Nyad seemed to do so.
Even Nyad describes her lifestyle as fanaticism. At the age of ten she would waken at 4:30 each morning and execute 1,000 sit-ups and 50 chin-ups. This routine occurred 365 days a year, without exception. The day included four hours of swimming and training, before and after school. In her sixties, Nyad still subjected herself to a brutal discipline with a regime of 10 - 30 hour open-water swims.
To my surprise, I learned that box jellyfish exist in the Atlantic, as well as the Pacific. Nyad suffered from dangerous stings in the four attempts to swim to Key West prior to her success. She invested a great deal of time, energy and resources in designing equipment and finding experts and treatments to protect her during the risky nighttime swimming through jellyfish-infested waters. Her ultimate success was largely due to discovering methods to defend her from this hazard.
I can’t say that “Find a Way” was an enjoyable read, but it was educational and gave me new respect for Nyad’s amazing accomplishments.
Show Less
Awards
William Hill Sports Book of the Year (Shortlist — 2016)
British Sports Book Award (Winner — 2017)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2015
ISBN
0385353618 / 9780385353618