NyadFactCheck
In search of the truth about Diana Nyad
Articles, et al. | Standings/Rankings | Misc./General | Letters | Swimming World columns | WPMSF Bulletins | Press Releases
Articles
Nyad-related
Date | Source | Title/Description | |
---|---|---|---|
1973 | 20 Aug | Chicago Tribune | |
1975 | 6 Oct | Daily News (NY) | |
1976 | 1 Aug | New York Sunday News | “The Challengers of the Channel”: [page 1] [page 2] [page 3] [page 4] |
1978 | 21 Jun | Barrie Examiner (ON) | “Swimming Hall Of Fame Director To Speak At Neptunes’ Banquet” “As a hobby, Mr. Dawson managed a women’s marathon swim team which included Olympic swimmers Marty Sinn and Diana Nyad.” (Dawson was a close associate of Nyad so would have known that she wasn’t an Olympian.) |
1978 | 9 Aug | Fort Lauderdale News | “If Diana Nyad Goes The Distance, She’ll Be Swimming In The Money” |
1978 | 12 Sep | Minneapolis Star | |
1978 | 15 Oct | Chicago Tribune | Television schedule showing Nyad on “John Callaway Interviews” See video here. Among other things Nyad says in this classic: 17:45—“I swam in the North Sea a few years back, a race down the Dutch coast that took me 40 hours and 3 minutes.” No one has been able to identify this swim. 11:36—“I don’t want to sound too braggartly, but I think that, on August 13th of this year, standing on the Cuba coast about to set off, that I was in the best physical shape of anybody on the face of the earth for that day.” |
1979 | 4-5 Sep | Pensacola News | “Diana Nyad: If it Hurts to Achieve, She’ll Accept the Pain” / “Ultimate Challenge: Cuba-to-Florida Swim” Two stories on “Diana Nyad, a woman swimmer with perseverance.” |
Diana’s Last Stands
Date | Source | Title/Description | |
---|---|---|---|
1978 | 22 Mar | Fort Lauderdale News | “Diana Nyad To Try Cuba To Key West Record Swim” “‘And that,’ said Diana Nyad, ‘will be it. I’ll never do another long distance swim. It’s the most boring sport in the world.’” |
1979 | 24 Oct | Windsor Star (ON) |
|
1979 | 24 Oct | Fort Lauderdale News | |
1979 | 28 Oct | Lebanon Daily News (PA) | |
1979 | 2 Nov | Hartford Courant (CT) | |
1980 | 14 Mar | South Bend Tribune (IN) |
Other
Date | Source | Title/Description | |
---|---|---|---|
1930 | 13 July | Muncie Sunday Star (IN) | Sports photo spread which includes Lillian Garrick (fourth woman around Manhattan) and Leah Riley |
1971 | 25 Mar | Atlantic City Press (NJ) | |
1972 | Mar | Swimming Times (London) |
|
1972 | 20 Apr | Atlantic City Press | |
1978 | 17 Aug | Post-Star (Glen Falls, NY) |
John Kinsella breaks Lake Ontario record. |
1981 | 24 July | La Presse (Montreal, QC) | LE CIRCUIT DE MARATHONS DE NAGE LONGUE DISTANCE: Beauté, amitiés…et ouverture sur le monde (THE LONG DISTANCE SWIMMING MARATHON CIRCUIT: Beauty, friendships…and openness to the world) |
Standings/Rankings
Year | Title/Description |
---|---|
mult. | WPMSF, IMSA, and FINA World Champions, 1963-2007 (via Open Water Boek 2008) |
1967 | “Iglesias, Denijs Named World’s Swim Champion,” The Register: Danville, VA, 18 Oct 1967. |
1970 | |
1970 | |
1971 | |
1971 | “Horacio Iglesias, le meilleur mageur au monde,” Le Nouvelliste, 6 Dec 1971. |
1972 | |
1974 | |
1974 | Federation de Marathons de Nage Professionnelle du Quebec (totals for Canadian races) |
1974 | “D’un marathon à l’autre…” Le Soleil, 21 Aug 1974 (totals for Canadian races) |
1976 |
Misc./General
1963 - 1973 | |
1970 (20 Apr) | Joe Grossman to Abilio Couto on upcoming races & Catalina record attempt. |
1970 - 1972 | |
1970 - 1975 | |
1978 (21 Aug) | Richard Mullins’ Observer report from Diana Nyad’s 1978 Cuba-Florida attempt |
1980 - 1983 | |
1998 |
Letters
(This table is an edited version of the Diana Nyad Fact Check Annex page, “Docs Project: We Get Letters!” first posted on 25 September 2019.)
Three letters between Buck Dawson, the executive director of the International Swimming Hall of Fame at the time, and Joe Grossman. Dawson writes that he has discovered a new swimmer who will “re-inject some glamour” into the pro racing circuit. |
1970 | 11 May | original | ||
14 May | Grossman to Dawson |
original | transcription | |
20 Jul | Dawson to Grossman (This is a press release in letter form extolling the virtues of the WPMSF’s new “Golden Greek.”) |
original |
The following letters address, among many other things, the controversy surrounding Nyad’s 1974 WPMSF World Championship. Dennis Matuch’s explanation, “When is a world champion not a world champion?” provides a diplomatic coda. Don Watson, who coached both Sandra Bucha and John Kinsella, provides another view in “Bucha Deserves Just Reward.” |
1974 | Sep | Diana Nyad to Dennis Matuch |
original | transcription |
9 Nov | Nyad to Matuch |
original | transcription | |
Nov | Nyad to Matuch to Conrad Wennerberg |
original | transcription | |
4 Dec | Nyad to Sandra Bucha’s parents |
original | ||
14 Dec | Nyad to Matuch |
original | transcription |
Swimming World Marathon & Distance columns
AUTHOR | SUBJECTS (partial) | ||
---|---|---|---|
1970 | Sep | Joe Grossman | |
Oct | — | ||
Oct | Grossman | ||
Nov | 〃 | ||
1971 | Feb | Grossman | |
Mar | 〃 | ||
May | 〃 | Announcement of a Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame. Includes statement that “the male and female World Champion Marathon Swimmers…are eligible for inclusion….” |
|
Jun | 〃 | ||
Jul | 〃 | ||
Sep | 〃 | ||
Oct | 〃 | ||
Nov | — | ||
1972 | Feb | Grossman | Final 1971 standings—Shadia El Ragab succeeds Judith de Nijs |
Mar | 〃 | ||
Mar | 〃 | ||
Apr | 〃 | ||
May | 〃 | ||
Jun | 〃 | ||
Jun | 〃 | ||
Jul | 〃 | ||
Aug | 〃 | ||
Sep | 〃 | ||
Oct | 〃 | ||
Nov | 〃 | ||
Dec | 〃 | End of year WPMSF wrap-up—Shadia El Rageb takes women’s title |
|
1973 | Jan | Grossman | |
Feb | 〃 | ||
Jun | 〃 | ||
Mar | 〃 | “Marathon swimming, anyone?” Grossman’s draft here. |
|
Jun | — | ||
Jul | Dennis Matuch | ||
Aug | 〃 | ||
Sep | 〃 | Results of first three pro races of season & Nyad drops out of La Tuque |
|
Oct | 〃 | Results of Lac St-Jean and Chicago, Sandra Bucha’s first pro swim |
|
Nov | 〃 | ||
Dec | 〃 | ||
1974 | Feb | Matuch | |
Mar | 〃 | ||
May | 〃 | ||
Jun | 〃 | ||
Jul | 〃 | ||
Sep | — | “Bucha is regarded as the top female marathoner now in the United States, possibly the world.” (via “Off the Blocks” section) |
|
Oct | — | More on Bucha (via “Off the Blocks” section) |
|
Nov | Conrad Wennerberg | ||
Dec | — | ||
1975 | Jan | Matuch | Partial column: “When is a world champion not a world champion?” (partial column) |
Jan | 〃 | Complete column: Marathon race funding & “When is a world champion….?” |
|
Feb | 〃 | ||
Feb | Don Watson (letter) | Watson, Sandra Bucha’s coach, explains why Bucha deserved championship |
|
May | Wennerberg | ||
Jul | Matuch | On solo swim stunts: “[W]hen a newspaper article describes some fantastic or projected 20 to 136 mile ocean swimin which the marathoner would average three m.p.h, or better, I holler ‘FRAUD.’” |
|
Aug | 〃 | ||
Oct | — | 1975 rankings & Paul Bucha (Sandra Bucha’s dad) on the ranking system |
|
Nov | — | ||
1976 | Jul | Matuch | |
Oct | 〃 | ||
Nov | 〃 | ||
1977 | Jan | — | |
Mar | Wennerberg | Jon Erikson in ad for Nutrament & Comparison of pro swimmers, 1964-1977 |
|
May | — | ||
Jul | Wennerberg | ||
Nov | Matuch | ||
1978 | Jan | Matuch | Lac St-Jean & Cynthia Nicholas’ double EC & 1977 men’s world rankings |
Feb | 〃 | ||
Mar | Stephen Malley | ||
Jun | Matuch | ||
Jul | 〃 | ||
Nov | Wennerberg | ||
1979 | Jan | Matuch | World rankings: Kinsella wins 4th championship; Passfield best woman. |
Feb | 〃 | On the mind of the marathoner, including Penny Dean’s mental prep for her EC world record. |
|
Mar | Wennerberg | ||
Jun | Wennerberg | ||
Oct | — | Jon Erikson attempts triple EC, settles for a double (and two records) |
|
1980 | Feb | Matuch | |
1981 | Feb | James A. Barry |
WPMSF Bulletins
(This table is a new and improved version of the Diana Nyad Fact Check Annex page,
“Docs Project: WPMSF bulletins,” first posted on 31 August 2019.)
1964 | #1—Spring | #2—Autumn | ||
1965 | #3—Spring | #4—Summer | #5—Autumn | |
1966 | #6—page 2 | #7—Summer | #8—Winter | |
1968 | #9—Spring | #10—Autumn | #11—Winter | |
1969 | #12—Spring | #13—Autumn | ||
1970 | #14—Winter | #15—Spring | ||
1971 | #16—Winter | #17—Spring | #18—Dec | |
1972 | #19—Spring | #20—Autumn | ||
1973 | #21—Dec | |||
1974 | #22—Feb | #23—May | #24—Nov | |
1975 | #25—Feb | #26—May | #27—missing | #28—Oct |
1976 | #29—Feb | #30—Apr | #31—Jun | #32—Nov |
1977 | #33—May | #34—Nov | ||
1978 | #35—Feb | #36—Jun | #37—Oct | #38—Dec |
1979 | #39—May | #40—Dec | ||
1981 | #??—Oct | |||
1985 | #85-3—Dec |
Press releases
ORGANIZATION | SUBJECT | |
---|---|---|
1970 | WPMSF | |
1971 | MSHOF |
Draft notated by Joe Grossman. |
1972 | MSHOF | |
1972 | WPMSF | |
1976 | WPMSF | |
1978 | Kalmus Corp. |
Rife with hyperbole and fiction, this is the document that Nyad distributed before her first Cuba-Florida expotition. See “Anatomy of a 1978 Nyad Press Release” at the Nyad Fact Check Annex. |
??? | WPMSF |