{"id":978,"date":"2020-06-12T21:39:42","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T21:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nyadfactcheck.com\/annex\/2020\/06\/12\/a-23-year-old-speech-exposes-diana-nyads-decades-of-deception\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T22:33:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T22:33:09","slug":"a-23-year-old-speech-exposes-diana-nyads-decades-of-deception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nyadfactcheck.com\/annex\/a-23-year-old-speech-exposes-diana-nyads-decades-of-deception\/","title":{"rendered":"A 23-Year-Old Speech Exposes Diana Nyad\u2019s Decades of Deception"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s important if you are going to take a look at your life
\n<\/em><\/strong>that you have to be honest about it.<\/strong>
\n<\/em>\u2014Diana Nyad, \u201cThe Courage to Succeed\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

In September of 1997, members of the American Railway Bridge and Building Association gathered in Kansas City, Missouri, for their 102nd annual meeting<\/a>. Glancing at the program, attendees might have been surprised to find, sandwiched between more routine offerings such as \u201cExplosive Removal of Bridges,\u201d \u201cSafety Improvement Trends in Maintenance of Way Equipment,\u201d and \u201cReopening of Stampede Pass,\u201d something unexpected: \u201cThe Courage to Succeed,\u201d presented by \u201cDiana Nyad, Journalist.\u201d<\/p>\n

I recently came across a transcript of that presentation<\/a>. It establishes beyond any doubt that, for Diana Nyad, lying is standard procedure. The transcript also provides the most persuasive evidence to date that Nyad fabricated her sexual abuse allegations against her high school swim coach.
\n<\/p>\n

Below, I\u2019ve analyzed the most brazen claims[1]<\/a><\/sup> in \u201cThe Courage to Succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

A National Title and a World Record<\/h5>\n

Diana Nyad never won a national title, nor did she ever hold a world record in the 100 backstroke. But that\u2019s not the story she told in Kansas City.<\/p>\n

It came to be that when I was 16 years old I won the United States Nationals. I was the best in the United States. Later that summer, I broke the world record for the 100-meter back stroke. I was the best in the world!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How close did Nyad come to being \u201cthe best in the world\u201d? Not very. She swam her fastest 100 back in May of 1966. Her 1:04.6 in a 25-yard pool would have set a national high school<\/em> record had she not been disqualified<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We can still use that time to compare with U.S. swimmer Cathy Ferguson\u2019s prevailing world record<\/a> of 1:07.7 for 100 meters. Various online tools\u2014see, for instance, the converters at Swimming World<\/em><\/a>, SwimSwam<\/em><\/a>, and TeamUnify<\/a>\u2014give results between 1:12.9 and 1:13.75, nowhere near Ferguson\u2019s time.<\/p>\n

As for the nationals win\u2014that never happened either. In the 1960s, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) held two U.S. national meets every year: a short-course championship<\/a> in the spring and a long-course championship<\/a> in the summer. Of the ten national meets from 1964 through 1968, Nyad\u2019s prime pool years, she qualified for two. Again, she had her highest finish as a 16-year-old in 1966: a 19th place 100-yard back<\/a> in 1:05.2.\u00a0 Multiple world record holder and Olympic medalist Elaine Tanner<\/a> won the event in 1:00.7.<\/p>\n

Two years later, Nyad finished 36th in the 200<\/a> in a time of 2:22.7. Another world record holder and Olympic champion, Kaye Hall<\/a>, took the event in 2:10.8.<\/p>\n

\n
Nationals results, 1964-1968 (via Swimming World Magazine<\/em>)<\/strong>:\r\n1964 SC<\/a> \/ 1965 SC<\/a> \/ 1966 SC<\/a><\/strong> \/ 1967 SC<\/a> \/ 1968 SC<\/a><\/strong>\r\n1964 LC<\/a> \/ 1965 LC<\/a> \/ 1966 LC<\/a> \/ 1967 LC<\/a> \/ 1968 LC<\/a><\/pre>\n<\/div>\n
Could Nyad\u2019s national championship claim be a one-off? No. She had plenty of opportunities to repeat the lie. The documentary version of \u201cThe Courage to Succeed\u201d came out in 1977<\/a>. She began giving \u201cThe Courage to Succeed\u201d presentations by 1979<\/a>. She kept at it until around 2000, after which she gave it a more appropriate title: \u201cThe Courage to Fail<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, I haven\u2019t found a copy of the film* or of any other \u201cCourage to Succeed\u201d transcripts. However, a journalist describing a 1989 version in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, wrote that\u2026<\/p>\n
Nyad wanted to represent the United States in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. And she seemed certain to do just that when in 1966, at the age of 17, she won a national championship. (Leader-Telegram<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
*Since uploading this post, I found a copy of the movie. It’s devoted entirely to Nyad’s three failed English Channel attempts. I’ve posted some clips on YouTube<\/a>.<\/div>\n
Diana Goes Viral<\/h5>\n
In Kansas City, Nyad blamed a four-month illness for all but ending her Olympic quest.<\/p>\n
I first came down with something called viral endocarditis\u2026.<\/p>\n
When I got out of that sick bed at the end of four months, I couldn\u2019t lift five-pound weights, not once.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Like many of her stories, Nyad never tells this one the same way twice.\u00a0 Other versions have her convalescing<\/a> for six weeks, three months, four months in the hospital with six additional weeks in bed, and on up to one year and beyond<\/a>.<\/p>\n
But viral endocarditis had nothing to do with Nyad\u2019s failure to reach the Olympic trials. And she knows it\u2014or at least she used to. In 1971, she told Dan Levin<\/a> of Sports Illustrated:<\/em> \u201c\u2018I just wasn\u2019t fast enough.\u201d Levin went on to note, \u201cIt seems a strange admission, but it is honest, devoid of regret.\u201d<\/p>\n
The regret will arrive later. First, though, let\u2019s get back to the Olympics.<\/p>\n
\u201968 Olympic Trials: \u201cI remember it like it was yesterday.\u201d<\/h5>\n
Diana Nyad never qualified for the Olympic trials, but folks who heard \u201cThe Courage to Succeed\u201d would have told you differently.<\/p>\n
It came to the Olympic trials [for] Mexico City\u2026. [B]y the grace of God, I made it into the final eight. The Olympic trials were at Long Beach. Eight people are going to go for the three top spots. Three people would then get to go to Mexico City and wear the navy blue U.S.A. sweats and would get to swim for the United States and march in the opening ceremonies. The rest of us were going to go on with the rest of our lives\u2026.<\/p>\n
I remember it like it was yesterday<\/a>\u2026 I looked up at the electronic scoreboard and I was sixth. I didn\u2019t go to Mexico City after all that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Sorry, Diana, but sixth place went to 14-year-old Laura Novak (now Laura Artemenko)<\/a>. Click the image below for the complete results.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>Even if Nyad qualified for the trials, she might have missed her heat. In 1968, the men\u2014not the women\u2014raced in Long Beach. The women faced off at the Los Angeles Swim Stadium.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Screenshot from \u201c1968 Olympics: Women\u2019s Swimming Trials<\/a>\u201d (via 68Olympix<\/a>). That\u2019s the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the background. Janie Barkman<\/a> represented the U.S.A. at the Olympics in 1968 and 1972, earning two golds and a bronze.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
In 2015, Nyad repeated her trials lie on film when she gave the commencement address at Lake Forest University<\/a>. (For just the trials part, see this clip<\/a>.)<\/p>\n
Hamilton<\/h5>\n
After giving up racing in the pool, Nyad turned to professional open-water marathon swimming. In 1970, she traveled to Hamilton, Ontario, for her first pro race, the Labbat\u2019s International Championship<\/a>, a 10-mile swim in Lake Ontario. She finished 10th overall in a field of 30<\/a>, setting a women\u2019s record of 4 hours and 23 minutes, and beating five-time world champion Judith de Nijs by twelve minutes. Not too shabby for her first time out.<\/p>\n
But that fine debut has never been enough for Diana.<\/p>\n
Whenever she tells the story of this race, she begins, as she did in Kansas City, by belittling de Nijs. \u201cShe looked a little more like a linebacker for the Chicago Bears than she did a swimmer,\u201d declared Nyad of the woman who, despite having finished behind Diana, was the far superior athlete. The 28-year-old de Nijs won two events in the month leading up to Hamilton: a 12.5-mile race in Holland<\/a> and the 20-mile Capri-Napoli contest<\/a> in Italy. The week after Hamilton, she would win a 25-mile race in Quebec<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The 21-year-old Nyad, on the other hand, came to Hamilton rested and fresh.\u00a0 The Lake Ontario 10-mile race would be the first and only event Nyad completed that summer.<\/p>\n
After attacking de Nijs, Nyad goes after the numbers. The rest is definitely not history:<\/p>\n
Well, I finished third among the men that day. There were 200 men swimming in this race. I also finished first among the women. So the Dutch woman later that day announced her retirement from the whole sport. I mean, this is great power! I retired someone out of the sport and I just loved it.<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t believe it, but I started traveling around the world. I can\u2019t believe how long it lasted, but I did it for ten years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n