Lisa Amorao died on May 29, 2022, while swimming in California’s Monterey Bay. I didn’t know Lisa outside of her social media presence. Tributes to her often emphasize the sweetness and positivity of that presence. Last year, though, she took on Diana Nyad and pissed her off enough that Nyad responded.
An independent investigator recently concluded an exhaustive reexamination of Nyad’s crossing. In particular, she looked at the World Open Water Swimming Association’s (WOWSA) ostensible ratification of Nyad’s endeavor. Two weeks ago, WOWSA uploaded the final report to its website. Among its conclusions: Other than the organization’s founder (Steven Munatones) sowing confusion, it had nothing to do with Nyad’s endeavor. Neither WOWSA nor any other organization ratified, recognized, sanctioned, oversaw, or otherwise consecrated Diana Nyad’s crossing.[1]
In light of that finding, I offer the following to honor another side of Lisa Amorao.
(I posted an earlier version of “How Dare You?!!!” on Facebook four days after Lisa’s comment.)