The Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens travel to Mile High to kick off the NFL season against the Denver Broncos. The Boston Red Sox head to the Bronx to face the New York Yankees in a four game weekend series with some serious playoff implications. Tennis goes prime time as ESPN treats its viewers to nightly matches from the U.S. Open. Oh yeah, and some lady you’ve probably never head of swims from Cuba to Florida.
Say what?!
September is a great time to be a sports fan, but probably the most amazing athletic feat of this season, or year, or maybe even much longer, didn’t receive nearly the build up that our more television (gambling) (bar room) -friendly sports have enjoyed over the past week or so, as 64-year-old Diana Nyad became the first person ever to swim from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida without a shark cage. The 110-mile route took her just under 53 hours. It was her fifth attempt at the crossing. Her first came in 1978, when she was 28 years old.
Who even knew there were people actually attempting such a feat. Why isn’t this the top story on SportsCenter every night?
To learn more about Diana Nyad, check out her website: http://www.diananyad.com/
and her TED Talk: “Extreme swimming with the world’s most dangerous jellyfish.”
And remember, a full Iron (Wo)man Triathlon usually includes a 112 mile bike ride, 26.2 mile marathon run, and 2.4 mile swim. Which means that Nyad’s 110-mile swim is the equivalent of about 45 marathons. Which is just completely insane.
To say nothing of the two-plus-days of constant swimming. Heck, it would be hard enough to sit on the couch for 53 straight hours.
Which is what I hope to do a bit of this weekend. After all, there’s some great sports games on TV.
