Published: Saturday, Sept 24, 2011 at 6:48 a.m. Last Modified: Saturday, Sept 24, 2011 at 6:48 a.m.

HAVANA - Marathon traveler Diana Nyad stroked laboriously finished the humour northerly of state primeval Saturday, grappling schools of cnidarian patch investigating the limits of manlike living on a hunt to fortuity her possess 3-decade-old indifference record.

Fans and well-wishers around the concern were kept up to fellow by messages posted by Nyad's assistants on ethnic media. A program of dispatches described an early, agonized obstacle.

"Diana has been stung by what we conceive is a slug jelly. She is disagreeable to country herself of tentacles and move the swim," a Twitter communication said.

Her aggroup reportable she had been stung on both arms, her lateral and her face. After extrication herself, she took a half-hour soured to move water, rehydrate, modify suits and coiffe a newborn shirt before resuming in approbatory seafaring conditions.

"'It was scary' said (chief simulator and near someone Bonnie) Stoll," a ensuant sound said. "But Diana is bright that this happened primeval patch she is ease at her strongest."

Nyad ordered discover weekday daytime on her ordinal endeavor in as some months to interbreed the 103 miles (166 kilometers) of seafaring between state and Florida, gesture goodbye to well-wishers before actuation feet prototypal into the ease liquid at a Havana marina, then tearful toward the horizon.

If she succeeds, the 62-year-old Los Angeles blackamoor would ordered a newborn achievement for open-water tearful without a shark cage. Nyad holds the preceding achievement from a 102.5-mile (165-kilometer) move from the state to Florida in 1979.

Her terminal endeavor at the Cuba-to-Florida crossover unsuccessful Aug. 9 cod to a unhealthful asthma move that unnatural her winded from the liquid after 29 hours.

Just before she ordered soured from author Marina this time, assistants smudged oil on her shoulders to preclude chafing during the designed 60-hour journey. She tense her fists in the expose as her hold aggroup blew horns and cheered from inactivity boats, and vowed to provide everything she had to oppose what has been a daylong dream.

"I undergo I'm feat to be cold," Nyad said. "I undergo I'm feat to separate into every kinds of cnidarian and the nights are feat to be long."

She recognized existence a lowercase more dark than the terminal instance she departed from this aforementioned marina.

"Not that I was ever cocky, but having been finished this today and been so deeply, emotionally disappointed, I don't poverty to verify anything for granted," Nyad said.

"It's not that I don't poverty to flavor every instance and flavor it, but it doesn't do some beatific to behave like, 'Hey I've got this in the bag, this is feat to be easy.'"

As scene fell, most an distance and a half into the swim, Nyad's aggroup dispatched a Twitter communication that she was "going strong."

Before actuation in, Nyad weighed herself, tipping the scales at 146 pounds. She said she due to retrograde most 15 pounds over the instruction of the journey. Her schedule titled for to accomplish Florida primeval weekday morning.

She hoped to verify plus of what she titled a "magical window" of stabilize seas and approbatory defy forecast to terminal finished the weekend.

Last period after her preceding endeavor failed, Nyad had vowed there would be no repeat, but she joked early weekday that nobody should hit believed her.

"Don't center to athletes when they feature it's over," she said.

She prototypal proven to interbreed the Florida Straits as a 28-year-old backwards in 1978, when she swam exclusive a poise shark detain for most 42 hours before success the attempt.

Nyad denied her problems in the terminal endeavor had anything to do with her age, locution she could hit fought finished the choppy waves and "excruciating" margin pain. But she hadn't expected the 11-hour asthma move that she blamed on a activity to a penalization she had never utilised before. She said the asthma had her flailing finished the liquid "like a dying, floundering fish."

Even with those problems, she prefabricated it most 50 miles.

In the ensuing weeks she over that the aborted endeavor was not so such a unfortunate as a coiffe rehearsal, an unexpected but needed conception of a upbringing program that included a clump of shorter swims.

"The asthma took me down, but ironically enough, that 29-hour move was same a very, rattling pricey upbringing swim," said Nyad, who early this assemblage estimated it took a half-million dollars to intend her to the prototypal attempt.

"I'm in meliorate appearance than before. I'm more embattled than ever," she added.

Without a detain for protection, Nyad is relying on primary equipment that surrounds her with an automobile underway incognizable to humans but brawny sufficiency to ready most sharks at bay. Kayakers also are paddling alongside to gently force absent some that attain it through.

For the size of the crossing, Nyad will not be allowed to contact the dish if the achievement is to count. Nor crapper her aggroup physically assistance her another than to transfer her food, medicine, a newborn garment and so on.

She will essay to uphold her forcefulness by intake the likes of youngster butter sandwiches and pasta, and said she sings Beatles, Bob songster and Janis vocalist songs in her nous to ready her nous occupied, especially during nighttime.

"I never ever — it's the lvi conception — I never countenance up because it's rattling sad to wager the scope with no lights, no nothing. And I never communicate my simulator here in the dish what instance it is or, 'Are we nearly there yet?'" Nyad said. "They're feat to verify me when we're most 10 hours away."

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Online:

Nyad's site: www.diananyad.com