Lady LUX

For Diana Nyad, the second time was not the charm. The long-distance swimmer made another attempt at crossing the 103 miles from Cuba to Florida early this week, but suffering from an asthma attack and an agonizing shoulder, she struggled against the strong waves and winds that swept her 15 miles off course, reported Reuters and CNN.

After 29 hours into the estimated 60-hour trip, the 61-year-old American, completely spent and vomiting, decided to throw in the towel Tuesday.

“I thought this was my time. We set out, thinking the conditions were favorable. They were not. The winds were stronger and the waves were bigger than what I'd expected,” the veteran swimmer told Reuters.

This was her second try at becoming the first person to make the crossing without a shark cage, having attempted the feat at age 28. Now it looks like she will take the dream to her grave.

The waters were initially calm as Nyad dived into the seas near Havana at 7:45 p.m. EDT on Sunday. Until an asthma attack caused her to wheeze for oxygen, she was making good progress. Then disaster struck as an “excruciating pain” hit her shoulder and unexpectedly vigorous ocean swells pushed her body to its limits.

“Last night at midnight, I was trembling, the 11 hours of asthma had taken so much from my body ... I just knew that it wasn't mind over matter anymore, I was absolutely spent,” record-winning Nyad told CNN.

Utterly exhausted, she reports she was “limping” and “slapping around” as she struggled against the choppy waves. She switched to breaststroke and her doctor, temporarily jumping into the water, provided medicine and inhaler pumps. But it wasn’t enough.

“I'm hurting, I'm hurting,” Nyad told him, according to CNN.

At 12:45 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, she gave up, realizing she had too much distance left to cover under her condition, and was pulled aboard an escort boat.

“I would be lying to say I'm not deeply, deeply disappointed,” Nyad told CNN. “This was a big dream, not just of the last two years but some 30 years ago when I tried it.”

Despite this disappointment, she expressed no regret about her attempt. She still tried to live her dream and was able to inspire others of advanced age to realize what they can accomplish.

“I was the best person I could be ... that's the message. I dug down, I dug deep ... Whatever you're doing, do your job well,” Nyad told CNN.

She abandoned her first undertaking in 1978 due to whipping winds and forceful waves. While Australian Susan Maroney completed the swim in 1997, no one has successfully crossed without a shark cage. That was Nyad’s dream. Her accompanying boats featured an anti-shark shield that transmitted an electronic signal to detect the fearsome creatures, common in the Florida Straits. Other than that, she fended for herself in the water.

For two years, Nyad had stuck to an intensive training schedule, swimming up to 12 hours each day, plus attempting a 24-hour practice swim. After years of dreaming and working, her decision to quit was “a bitter pill to swallow,” she said to CNN.

Is a third attempt in store? “You don't beat Mother Nature ... I think I'm going to have to go to my grave without swimming from Cuba to Florida,” Nyad explained to CNN.

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