Cuba gives US swimmer Diana Nyad sporting medal

Posted on Saturday, 08.30.14

Cuba gives US swimmer Diana Nyad sporting medal

U.S. endurance swimmer Diana Nyad arrives for a ceremony where she will
receive Cuba's The Order of Sporting Merit medal in Havana, Cuba,
Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014. Nyad is the first swimmer to swim the crossing
between Cuba and Florida without flippers or a shark cage for
protection. Nyad made four previous attempts; first in 1978, and three
times in 2011 and 2012. Ramon Espinosa / AP Photo

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HAVANA -- One year after becoming the first person confirmed to have
swum from Havana to Key West, Florida without a shark cage, U.S.
endurance swimmer Diana Nyad was back in Cuba to receive that country's
Order of Sporting Merit award.

After a ceremony led by First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel on
Saturday, Nyad said she dreams of uniting Cubans and Americans to walk
with her the length of the island of Cuba "as good neighbors and friends."

Diaz-Canel called Nyad's feat "a symbol of the friendship between our
peoples," referring to the United States and Cuba.

Nyad attempted the swim from Cuba to Florida four times before finally
completing the journey on her fifth attempt one year ago, making her the
first to make it without a shark cage.

Source: HAVANA: Cuba gives US swimmer Diana Nyad sporting medal -
Americas Wires - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/08/30/4319155/cuba-gives-us-swimmer-diana-nyad.html