<Tr> <Th> Known for </Th> <Td> Championship swimming; endurance swimming; journalism; motivational speaking </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> www.DianaNyad.com </Td> </Tr> <P> Diana Nyad / ˈnaɪˌæd / (née Sneed; born August 22, 1949) is an American author, journalist, motivational speaker, and long - distance swimmer . Nyad gained national attention in 1975 when she swam around Manhattan (28 mi or 45 km) and in 1979 when she swam from North Bimini, The Bahamas, to Juno Beach, Florida (102 mi (164 km)). In 2013, on her fifth attempt and at age 64, she became the first person confirmed to swim from Cuba to Florida without the aid of a shark cage, swimming from Havana to Key West (110 mi or 180 km). Nyad was also once ranked thirteenth among US women squash players . </P> <P> Nyad was born in New York City on August 22, 1949, to stockbroker William L. Sneed Jr. and his wife Lucy Winslow Curtis (1925--2007). Her mother was a great - granddaughter of Charlotte N. Winslow, the inventor of Mrs Winslow's Soothing Syrup, a popular morphine - based medicine for children teething that was manufactured from 1849 until the 1930s . She is also a great - grandniece of women's - rights activist Laura Curtis Bullard . </P>

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