Something really ticks me off at the coverage of Diana Nyad's accomplishments.

[MarianJack]

Of course, if I wrote a thread about what the media does RIGHT, it may well be a 30 words or less thread.

IMHO, Diana Nyad is one of the greatest athletes ever in any sport. She accomplished a feat at age 64 that surpassed remarkable. At the same time that I've been saying that the calandar is catching up to Roger Federer, my favorite male tennis player, at the age of 32 (half Diana's age).

Today, I woke up to see stories on the web, probably written by 300+ pound "journalists" who were eating jelly doughnuts as they typed, stating that according to Diana Nyad's own swim timer, she isn't swimming as fast as she did in the 1970s. Shit!

Big frickin' whoop! Does freakin' ANYBODY do anything as fast as we did in the 1970s? I sure as hell don't!

Are there really sports writers out there so determined to shit all over something great that they stoop to saying that a great 64 year old swimmer is a little slower than she was as a great late 20s/early 30s swimmer? I call BULLSHIT!

If there is something that an athlete does wrong, than go git'em! Slowing down a little after 40 years? PUH-LEEZ!

If this is in the wrong forum, I apologize, but I seem to remember Diana Nyad coming out a few years ago. If I'm mistaken, than at least I'm sharing this in one of my favorite places in DU!

That's my 2 cents, and quite possibly overpriced at that!

PEACE!

[juajen]

1. I so agree! What crap. She is truly remarkable for any age!

[MarianJack]

2. I love swimming, but...

...I doubt that I've swum the distance between Cuba and Florida in my entire life, even without a bunch of sharks who could bite my ass off in my immediate vicinity!

Even when I was a dipshit homophobic college student in the 70s with the moronic notion that any gay guy was after my silly little sausage, I had enormous respect for Diana Nyad!

PEACE!

[Half-Century Man]

3. Faster = better????

not really.....
Anyone know the old joke that ends with...Lets walk down and f*ck them all.

[MarianJack]

5. My dad told m that one,...

...but he said "get" them all. I was about 14 at the time. I told my 13yo son the same way. It's a funny parable about a funny "pair a bulls!"

peace!

[theHandpuppet]

4. Sadly, I'm not really all that surprised

Following some of the threads here and elsewhere concerning this amazing feat, I learned quite quickly that there was no shortage of individuals eager to diminish and belittle Nyad's acomplishment. One of the greatest individual athletic performances in sports history credited to a WOMAN? And an older woman at that! Can't have that, now.
Don't know if Nyad is gay but I can imagine that would really send the doughnut eaters over the edge.

[MarianJack]

6. A WOMAN?

NEVER!...hay, pass me a glazed jelly, will'ya?

peace!

[FreeState]

7. She is an out proud lesbian

(not that it matters, but she is a great example to our community).

[theHandpuppet]

8. Cool!

Hasn't been mentioned in the news reports so I wasn't sure. Of course, that will be another reason she'll be ignored by sponsors who would normally be falling all over themselves to sign her up. First, she's a woman; second, she's an older woman; third, she's a lesbian. Where advertising is concerned that's three strikes and you're out.

[MarianJack]

11. I think you're right about advertisers, but...

... also think that Diana Nyad doesn't give a rat's patoot about them.

PEACE!

[theHandpuppet]

13. Oh I'm sure she doesn't care

I'm just being mad for her and for all women champions who lose out on advertizing dollars.

[MarianJack]

14. Yes, very true!

PEACE!

[MarianJack]

12. I agree, but...

...I think she's a great example for everybody!

PEACE!

[LeftofObama]

9. I was going to make another post yesterday about her just to give her one more shout out,

but I figured most people would just ignore it.

Diana Nyad is an inspiration to me! I just got chills when I heard her say, "Never give up!" She did an interview with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America yesterday and it just reaffirmed my admiration for her. Even though I'm a gay man, I swear I am in love with this woman. She is truly a hero!

[MarianJack]

10. I agree!

She IS a hero on SO many levels.

peace!

[Ms. Toad]

15. Just for reference -

until I developed vertigo about a year ago, I was swimming about 100 miles a year, in 1+ mile chunks.

I am around a decade younger than Diana, and it takes me about 45 minutes to swim a mile. So - if I swam my year's worth back to back it would still take me 82.5 hours. I swim faster than I did in the 70s - and when I showed my stats to folks who were actually on the swim team in the 70s, they were impressed.

Swimming even one mile in 29 minutes is a good clip, let alone 110 of them.

[MarianJack]

16. Good for you!

I have so danged much arthritis that don't think I even breathe as fast as I did then! I'm 8 and I used to play tennis and run (not jog) 7 mile day.

MANY kudos to you for improving on your time!

PEACE!