Outside Magazine names Nyad one of their Adventurers of the Year

So what do you think?
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/The-Stalwart-Diana-Nyad.html
Make sure to compare her to the others who were named. Who said showmanship doesn't count?
http://www.outsideonline.com/photo-galleries/Adventurers-of-the-Year.html
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/The-Stalwart-Diana-Nyad.html
Make sure to compare her to the others who were named. Who said showmanship doesn't count?
http://www.outsideonline.com/photo-galleries/Adventurers-of-the-Year.html
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Comments
...anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
Norwich University motto: “I Will Try”
.... kind of falls a bit flat.
...anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
Oh, boy. What happens if she does succomb to a jellyfish sting or athsma attack? At what point does the rest of the world start doubting her credibility?
I am not looking forward to the same debate this summer.
loneswimmer.com
I wouldn't say that a boat is a guarantee of safety, but I do think all of us would agree that is tremendously decreases a lot of risks associated with open water swimming.
She is still only one of a handful people in history taking on such distances and will soon be drawing an old age pension. It may not be pure or have the integrity of what most ows believe, but I don't think that matters quite so much at these extremes.
Remove the escort boats and lets see a 20 mile open water swim. That will rattle some cages.
With that said, I agree with Karen that Nyad’s finish resume is thin and that she has done a great job of self-promotion; it likely helped getting her into IMSHOF. And how many of us have been inducted into the Hall of Fame? Actually quite a few inductees are still active here; Karen, Steve, Penny, Anne; to name a few. Most of these, like Karen, were honored for their amazing body of work while swimming under the radar of the general public.
But back to the topic of the thread… I may be in the minority on this forum; I personally prefer seeing a swimmer get recognized as Adventurer of the Year, rather than some guy who parachuted 24 miles from a balloon. Were there more successful open water, marathon and endurance swimmers in 2012? Absolutely, yes! Are any of them a more recognizable household name than Diana Nyad? Probably not. Is Nyad’s most recent failed attempt any more adventurous than her other 3 attempts? Probably not, but does it deserve comments like “seeing her in there was unpleasant”? I would have hoped our community would be a bit more supportive.
Seeing her placed ahead of Steve Redmond, who wasn't mentioned for last year, is ludicrous. She has led the general public into seeing her as the face of marathon swimming, which most people here, who understand the sport and the genuine accomplishments, dislike. (And I see evidence of this on the incoming search hits I get on my blog). No-one else being as recognisable a name as DN isn't really any sort of endorsement other than of her self-promotion, and doesn't, I guess, engender any jealousy from most of us, only sorrow or annoyance.
loneswimmer.com
I would add that I have a swim idea that excludes the boat and observer. But does require other aids that swimmers don't normally take the benefit of. The swim is otherwise impossible. Some swims , go beyond normal and so need different aids .
Nyads swims seem to be caught between the normal swimming swims, and swims that cannot be classed as normal. Abnormal swims cannot always confirm with normal swim rules.
This does not mean her swims are without merit, crumbs, they are nearly 100 miles.