Diana Nyad accomplished an incredible feat last week, swimming 110 miles from Havana, Cuba, to Key West, Florida, in a grueling 53-hour marathon. But haters, as they say, will hate, and now members of the online , along with a gaggle of social media pundits, have descended on Nyad in an .
According to the 鈥溾 for marathon swimming, the swimmer cannot wear anything that aids their speed, buoyancy, heat retention, or endurance. This includes the protective suit Nyad wore to defend against jellyfish stings. Purists have also protested the lack of an unbiased observer to track her progress, something most channel swimming associations require for official events.
鈥淏ecause it’s a solitary sport and not watched live by many people, it’s important to record notes and take down documentation so when people ask the question, ‘did you actually do this,’ you have evidence,鈥 said Marathon Swimmers Forum creator Evan Morrison.
Nyad has also hurt her case by withholding the data from her 53-hour swim, including her speed, number of strokes, feeding schedule, and GPS coordinates. 鈥淚f she’s accomplished what she’s claiming to accomplish 鈥 I wonder why she wouldn’t take the extra steps to make sure people believe it was actually true,鈥 says Morrison. Given the steady stream of publicity from Nyad鈥檚 team, the lack of data is troubling for some swimmers, like Mo Siegel, who just completed a 20-mile crossing of Cape Cod Bay. 鈥淚’m skeptical if she swam every stroke of that 110 miles,鈥 . 鈥淚鈥檇 love to be proved wrong.鈥
Team Nyad has yet to comment on the issue.