My regard for the media is such that it would not surprise me if they tried to hype the eating of a ham sandwich as an historic event.
This essentially is what I think of the way they hyped the latest attempt by Diana Nyad to become the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage. After all, this was her fourth attempt to accomplish at 63 a feat she failed to accomplish on her first attempt at 28. Was the outcome ever in doubt? And we all know what they say about people who do the same thing over and over again expecting a different result….
True to form, her team reported on Good Morning America (GMA) early yesterday that the very same stormy seas and jellyfish stings that caused her to end each previous attempt, caused her to end this latest quixotic swim, which she began late Saturday night. This, of course, is rather like reporting that strong winds and hypothermia caused a climber to end her quest to become the first person to summit Mount Everest wearing just a bikini and flip-flops.
Yet to listen to the gnat-brained twits on GMA waxing disappointment you’d think Nyad stood a realistic chance of making it this time. In fact, even though she made it farther than ever before, she still had more than 33 of her 103-mile swim to go.
Nevertheless, given that Nyad thought she could do this at 63, it would not surprise me if she deludes herself into thinking she can do it at 73. But if she tries again, anyone who enables her in any way should be arrested and charged with elder abuse.
That said, let me hasten to clarify that any hint of schadenfreude on my part is entirely unwitting. As a former competitive swimmer myself I have a genuine appreciation for her efforts. And that she hails from Pine Crest, a rival prep school in Florida that routinely whipped my school, Saint Andrew’s, in dual meets during my high-school days does not diminish my appreciation in the least.
I just think the only person worthy of the kind of media attention being lavished on Nyad in this respect is Michael Phelps – if he decides to accomplish this endurance swim now that he has retired from competitive swimming.