The currents in the Florida Straits finally proved stronger than the determination that had pushed Diana Nyad across vast stretches of open water before.
Nyad, 61, stroked through shoulder pain and floated on her back when asthma made it difficult for her to breathe on the attempt to swim from Cuba to Key West that she began Sunday.
She said she pictured herself emerging from the water onto the beach and vowed to doggy-paddle there, if that was what it took. By early Tuesday, trembling in the water, the record-setting marathon swimmer knew she had to stop, even though it meant giving up on her dream.
