Former Dolphins Player Rob Konrad Tells of 16-Hour Swim for Survival

The 38-year-old Konrad’s escape was a testament to willpower and world-class athleticism.

“It’s an incredible story,” the endurance swimmer Diana Nyad said. “Taking his life in his hands and deciding he was going to save himself.”

Konrad, who played for the Miami Dolphins from 1999 to 2004, had been around boats since his childhood on Boston’s North Shore. So he knew what it meant when he fell off his 31-foot Grady-White while fishing alone nine miles from land.

“A boater’s nightmare,” he said.

He swam to Palm Beach, covering a distance of 27 miles before ringing the doorbell of an oceanfront home for help at 4:30 a.m. Thursday.

The details of his survival were hard to believe, he and his wife, Tammy Konrad, agreed.

“It was a miracle he made it home,” she said.

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