| Tens of thousands of runners will race the New York City Marathon today—an impressive feat for most, but a casual jaunt by the standards of Diana Nyad. In 2014, The New Yorker’s Ariel Levy profiled Nyad a few months after the swimmer faced her own epic test: a fifth attempt to stroke her way from Cuba to Florida. A former sportscaster and radio commentator, Nyad was now a senior citizen—and undeterred by the journey, a hundred and eleven miles through waters strewn with sharks, jellyfish, and the potential for storms and hypothermia. Even if nature coöperated, the effort would require several days and nights without sleep. Nyad’s project, Levy notes, was “the equivalent of five English Channel crossings,” and followed a life of both rare achievement and acute struggle: an unstable childhood, abuse, and a father figure who had concealed his true identity. Nyad’s biography provides enough plot for a movie—and, indeed, Netflix has just released one: “Nyad,” starring Annette Bening as the swimmer and Jodie Foster as a longtime supporter and ex-girlfriend. Even among Nyad’s devoted fans, Levy writes, her doggedness raises questions about her judgment, and occasionally her sanity. Still, it’s hard not to admire her determination, or to see the connection between Nyad’s last name and the naiads, the protective water nymphs of Greek mythology. Levy quotes the words of the man who helped to raise the swimmer: “This is your destiny, dahling!” | 
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