The Swim Begins

What a scene it was this balmy evening! Only a few hours passed after the vessels Mirage and Bellisimo arrived in Cuba to join The Voyager. Any plans for days spent in Cuba vanished as it became clear the Extreme Dream swim would indeed begin tonight. Hurry! Where’s the ice? Somebody ordered pizza. Dr. Broder made sure he had his supplies. Diana was in great spirits as all the boats, shark divers, handlers, observers amd media gathered for a meeting led by she and Bonnie…(see Candace’s report!)

We moved to the departure shore area just after 7 pm. A small but enthusiastic crowd of Cuban and Americans gathered, some swimming in the water, some pulling up in 1950s era cars. People held up a large Cuban flag while chanting “USA! USA!”
Diana emerged from a small golf cart in her black bathing suit, spoke briefly to the gathered reporters and photographers, slowly put her blue swim cap on, hugged her chief handler Bonnie, adjusted her goggles, and hopped into the water as though she were entering her backyard pool. Official time was 7:45 pm and 10 seconds. The water was absolutely still, no wind, the kind of hot humid no-breeze weather you’d complain about in normal life.

I write this about an hour later. It’s dark, overcast, with a hazy moon overhead. Diana is swimming between two kayaks, alongside Voyager’s boom carrying LED lights that are guiding her. About half hour ago a shark diver entered the water to take a look around. Diana has had her first feeding, and her first hydration. Everyone is arranging sleep shifts, eating shifts, watch shifts. Each of the escort boats lights shimmer along the horizon. The radios crackle as the boat crews chat. It is a gentle night…the first long night of the Extreme Dream has begun.

— Elaine Lafferty