[y66]

Too mind blowing for words.

[kenberg]

I saw a brief interview with her, she is really something. Humming old Beatles songs as she swims! Maybe Get back, get back, get back to where you once belonged?
But her actual choice of She's got a ticket to ride, but she don't care also sounds appropriate.
Whispering words of wisdom, let it be.

It's really wonderful.

[Mbodell]

I can barely imagine staying awake for 50+ hours straight, let alone doing it while exercising the whole time swimming at more than 1.5 miles an hour.

[FM75]

Think about what it would be like if she actually had to navigate!

[onoway]

or had to deal with sharks, which I was curious about...were the people with her going to shoot any that showed up, or what? Wouldn't that just bring more? Whatever, it is an amazing achievement and she richly deserves to be honored for it.

[blackshoe]

I suppose if sharks had become a problem, she would either have entered a cage, assuming one was available, or aborted the swim.

[onoway]

blackshoe, on 2013-September-05, 10:58, said:

I suppose if sharks had become a problem, she would either have entered a cage, assuming one was available, or aborted the swim.

no she didn't have a shark cage but she had people with her who had "shark zappers". Can you imagine tasering a shark??

The swim has apparently been done before with a shark cage, but that affects the amount of effort it takes or something...sort of like drafting behind a big truck on the highway maybe.

[blackshoe]

I would expect coordination between the people moving the cage and the swimmer to be rather difficult.

I can imagine tasering a shark, though I've never had occasion to do so. I can't imagine, as a swimmer, relying on a taser to keep the shark(s) away from me, particularly if there are a lot of them.

[Winstonm]

Chalk one up for unnecessary inane accomplishments.

[blackshoe]

Some once asked Sir Edmund Hillary why he climbed Mt. Everest. He replied "because it's there". Unnecessary and inane? Perhaps, but the climb made him famous, and earned him a knighthood.

I don't think Diana Nyad will get a knighthood out of this, but it's an accomplishment that few others could make, and I think she deserves recognition for it.

[Winstonm]

Saying something is unnecessary and inane is not a condemnation.

[barmar]

Sports and art could all be considered "unnecessary and inane", but they're both part of all human societies, and significant achievements are celebrated. Why decry this particular one?

[kenberg]

Winstonm, on 2013-September-06, 16:40, said:

Chalk one up for unnecessary inane accomplishments.

Unnecessary yes, actually most things, such as my continued existence on this planet, are unnecessary. But an accomplishment such as this is stunning.

Of couse we all get to choose. I do mathematics, I play bridge, I enjoy watching tennis, I don't (my failing no doubt) much understand soccer. Inane, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, but I find this swim to be stunning.

Back a few years much enthusiasm was expressed on these pages for Glee. I watched it. And then watched again, maybe I was missing something. And again. Then I quit. To each his own. But Ms. Nyad is exceptional, her accomplishment is exceptional, I celebrate her existence.

[Winstonm]

kenberg, on 2013-September-07, 09:57, said:

Unnecessary yes, actually most things, such as my continued existence on this planet, are unnecessary. But an accomplishment such as this is stunning.

I agree that it is remarkable - but it was also pointless and unnecessary.

[blackshoe]

Yeah. So what? It's her life, she can do what she wants with it.

[kenberg]

blackshoe, on 2013-September-07, 12:11, said:

Yeah. So what? It's her life, she can do what she wants with it.

Exactly. We mathematicians are very fond of this viewpoint.

[y66]

I met a guy this summer who traveled around the world years ago as a young man riding as many steam trains as he could. He just had a thing for them. He met his future wife in Brazil where she was working in the Dutch peace corp, married her in Holland a few years later, settled down on a farm in upstate Vermont, raised 3 kids, taught at the University of Vermont and taught himself how to make just about anything out of metal that can be made by hand, forge and the machines in his workshop. He's building a 1:5 scale steam locomotive pretty much from scratch and he's got 1100 feet of track going around the farm. He and his wife still work pretty hard to keep the farm up. He's still chasing the dreams he had as a young man and leading a pretty full life at the same time. What can I say. It would never occur to me to build something like that. But I really admire this guy. And I'm somewhat envious.