Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad swims in the Florida Straits between Cuba and the Florida Keys, August 19, 2012.
Nyad Abandons US-Cuba Swim
A 62-year-old woman who was trying to become the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage has abandoned her effort.
Veteran U.S. long distance swimmer Diana Nyad was pulled from the water on Tuesday, after battling jellyfish stings and a storm that forced her off course. Her crew says she was about half-way through the 166-kilometer swim.
Nyad set out from Havana on Saturday in her fourth bid to swim across the Straits of Florida. She had hoped to arrive in Florida on Tuesday, a day before turning 63.
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Australian Susan Maroney successfully made the swim in 1997, but she used a shark cage.
Nyad had been using a special device that pulses a mild electrical current to help keep sharks at bay.
She attempted the same swimming feat last year, but was forced to abandon her trip after painful jelly fish stings.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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