Diana Nyad ready to start her 5th attempt to swim from Cuba to USA

See for instance CNN and diananyad.com

If Diana Nyad never realizes her dream of swimming the Florida straits, it won’t be for lack of trying. The 64-year-old says she will begin her fifth and last bid to swim from Cuba to the United States early Saturday.

Previous attempts were thwarted by dehydration, ocean currents and excruciating jellyfish stings to her tongue.[…]

This time, Nyad said, she will wear surgical gloves and a specially designed prosthetic face mask to prevent the jellyfish from stinging her.

“It took us a year, we made mold after mold,” Nyad said of the mask, adding it was the kind used to protect people who had suffered injuries to their faces.

“It’s a two-edge sword for me. It’s cumbersome, it’s difficult to swim with, but it doesn’t matter. I am safe. There’s no other way.”

@luannnablue Yes! There will be a spot tracker going live on http://t.co/2b9vDukc0p following #XtremeDream #CubatoFlorida - TEAM NYAD — Diana Nyad (@diananyad) August 31, 2013