Sad story on The New York Times
Six boys aged 9 to 14 were killed on a swimming outing in Northern Afghanistan, apparently the victims of policemen gone fishing who fired a rocket-propelled grenade into the river. Using explosives to stun or kill fish is not uncommon in Afghanistan, but this one went astray and exploded among a group of children bathing on the opposite shore, killing the six boys instantly and wounding two others.
Read The Huffington Post (and see Twitter)
President Barack Obama tweeted his congratulations to Diana Nyad, who on Saturday became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage.
Congratulations to @DianaNyad. Never give up on your dreams.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 2, 2013
CNN’s Sanjay Gupta talks with 64-year-old Diana Nyad about her record-breaking swim from Cuba to Florida.
pic w/ @diananyad a few hrs after 53 hr swim. her mouth is swollen from device she wore to protect against jellyfish pic.twitter.com/BA0cZFmXFI
— Dr. Sanjay Gupta (@drsanjaygupta) September 3, 2013
“Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad walked weakly ashore on Key West’s Smathers Beach about 1:30 p.m. Monday, becoming the first person to swim across the Florida Straits from Cuba to the Florida Keys without a shark cage.”
Her fifth try. 52 hours, 54 minutes and 18.6 seconds. Amazing
Our #FearlessNyad has at long last achieved her #XtremeDream and reached #TheOtherShore . An historic moment that proves #DreamsDoComeTrue
— Diana Nyad (@diananyad) September 2, 2013
An hour to go or so. Awesome
See CNN
Diana Nyad is just a few miles shy of a goal she’s been chasing for more than 35 years, but the strain of more than two days of swimming is showing.
Nyad, 64, is on her fifth attempt to swim the 103 miles from Cuba to Florida without a protective cage or flippers.
Only 6.5 miles from Key West around 7:30 a.m. ET Monday, Nyad had a swollen tongue and lips 46 hours into her swim, her support team reported on its website.
China’s Zhao Jing winner of the women’s 50 meter backstroke at the 15th FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain. Also in picture, China’s silver winner Fu Yuanhui. See the result list here.
Sobering comments on diananyad.com
At 2am: First Feeding Since Storm
Diana came in for the first time since we’ve resumed formation, for a feeding. She knows where she is; she understands what’s going on. Almost 90 percent [coherent] she asked me specific questions.
At 5am:
Diana is on course to swim 112 statute miles. This is 35 more miles than anyone has ever swam.
We’re expecting to cross reef marker 32 at 11 a.m.
Then we have 5 miles to Smather’s Beach in Key West, which is 1 1/3 miles east of White Street Pier.
Local knowledge from teammates tells us it is an ideal landing spot for Diana.
We hope to make that landing between 4pm and 6pm today.
And
“During this time, Diana has stopped numerous times to tread water trying to restore herself. We don’t know how strong she is swimming at this point, but we’ll get an update soon.” Usually seeing the dawn helps; daylight tends to uplift her.
John stresses the following: “The greatest variable here is the extension of human endurance; how long will it take her to make those last 100 strokes at the end, and all the ones from here to then?”
