October 11th 2023.
Nyad, starring Annette Bening, is one of Netflix's hopeful contenders at the Oscars – but has raised some questions. Who is Diana Nyad? And why is the new Netflix film controversial?
Diana Nyad, now 74, was born in New York City in 1949, and started training as a swimmer when she was at school, with hopes of making the 1968 Olympics. After falling ill with heart inflammation, she headed to college where she refocused on long-distance events. She first rose to prominence in 1975, when she swam around the island of Manhattan in seven hours and 57 minutes.
In 1979, Nyad set a record in distance swimming over open water – for men and women – by swimming 102 miles from Bimini in the Bahamas to Juno Beach, Florida in 27 hours and 30 minutes. The year before, she had attempted to swim from Havana, Cuba to Key West in Florida in a steel shark cage, covering around 76 miles in just under 42 hours before she was removed from the water due to dangerous weather and sea conditions.
The Netflix movie follows American Beauty and The Kids Are All Right star Bening as Nyad as she tries multiple times between 2011 and 2013 to become the first person to achieve the open water swim unaided. In her fifth overall attempt, Nyad finally made it to Key West on September 2, 2013, exhausted and swollen, where a crowd of people stood waiting to congratulate the athlete after almost 53 hours in the water.
However, shortly after her triumph at the age of 64, questions were raised over the authenticity of her claim. Nyad is known to be a somewhat divisive figure in the swimming community thanks to her ego and previous exaggerated swimming accomplishments in her career. These include her claim that she finished sixth at the Olympic trials in 1968, broke a world record in 100-metre backstroke, and forgetting that six women before her had successfully swum around Manhattan.
Regarding her completed Cuba-to-Florida swim, sceptics questioned her surge in speed hours in, and her ability to be able to make a short speech afterward, as well as the use of a specially designed protective suit and mask to guard against potentially deadly jellyfish stings, arguing it made the swim ‘assisted’. Nyad told the New York Times just days after her swim: ‘I’m an absolutely above-board person who never cheated on anything in my whole life.’
Analysis of data made available later revealed that Nyad had benefited from a powerful current in her favour thanks to the Gulf Stream. Her completed swim has not been ratified by any marathon swimming governing body, nor was it overseen by one, with the Guinness Book of World Records recently removing her record from its database when a World Open Water Swimming Association report flagged that.
Given the performer pedigree and inspirational subject, Nyad is thought to be one of Netflix's top contenders for the 2024 Academy Awards. However, Nyad's claim to have completed her epic swim unassisted has faced scepticism, raising questions about the film and its potential success. Actress Bening reportedly trained for a year to depict the long-distance swimmer in the movie, co-starring Rhys Ifans as Nyad’s chief navigator on her quest, John Bartlett, as well as Anna Harriette Pittman as the young version of Diana, Erica Cho, Luke Cosgrove, Eric T. Miller and Garland Scott. Jodie Foster stars as Nyad's best friend and coach, Bonnie Stoll, in the movie.
The controversy around Nyad has certainly been an interesting one, and it will be interesting to see how the film fares at the Oscars. Will it be able to overcome the scepticism surrounding Nyad's swim? Only time will tell.
Nyad, starring Annette Bening, is one of Netflix’s hopeful contenders at the Oscars – but has raised some questions.
The identity of one of the most controversial films playing at this year’s London Film Festival may surprise you. A-List cast led by a multiple-time Oscar winner and nominee, Nyad is set to be released by Netflix later this year. It’s based on a real-life record-breaking American sports figure, swimmer Diana Nyad, who, with support from her best friend and coach Bonnie Stoll, started training at the age of 60 to finally attempt achieving her life-long dream: a 110-mile open ocean swim from Cuba to Florida.
The star-studded cast includes Rhys Ifans as Nyad’s chief navigator on her quest, John Bartlett, as well as Anna Harriette Pittman as the young version of Diana, Erica Cho, Luke Cosgrove, Eric T. Miller and Garland Scott. Nyad is also the feature directorial debut of Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, who netted an Oscar for their 2018 climber documentary Free Solo. Given its performer pedigree and inspirational subject, it is thought to be one of the streaming platform’s top contenders for the 2024 Academy Awards.
But what is the fuss around the sports movie Nyad, and why is it causing controversy?
Diana Nyad, now 74, had hopes of making the 1968 Olympics and rose to prominence in 1975, when she swam around the island of Manhattan in seven hours and 57 minutes. In 1979, she set a record in distance swimming over open water – for men and women – by swimming 102 miles from Bimini in the Bahamas to Juno Beach, Florida in 27 hours and 30 minutes. The year before, she had attempted to swim from Havana, Cuba to Key West in Florida in a steel shark cage, covering around 76 miles in just under 42 hours before she was removed from the water due to dangerous weather and sea conditions.
Actress Bening reportedly trained for a year to depict the long-distance swimmer in the film. The Netflix movie follows Bening as Nyad as she tries multiple times between 2011 and 2013 to become the first person to achieve the open water swim unaided. Two people had undertaken the challenge before – 65-year-old Walter Poenisch in 1978 and 22-year-old Susie Maroney in 1997. Both used shark cages, which Nyad rejected, while Poenisch also used a snorkel and fins.
In her fifth overall attempt, Nyad finally made it to Key West on September 2, 2013, exhausted and swollen, where a crowd of people stood waiting to congratulate the athlete after almost 53 hours in the water. However, shortly after her triumph at the age of 64, questions were raised over the authenticity of her claim. Nyad, as is shown in the film, is known to be a somewhat divisive figure in the swimming community thanks to her ego and previous exaggerated swimming accomplishments in her career.
These include her claim that she finished sixth at the Olympic trials in 1968, broke a world record in 100-metre backstroke, and forgetting that six women before her had successfully swum around Manhattan. Nyad’s claim to have completed her epic swim unassisted has also faced scepticism. Analysis of data made available later revealed that Nyad had benefited from a powerful current in her favour thanks to the Gulf Stream. Her completed swim has not been ratified by any marathon swimming governing body, nor was it overseen by one, with the Guinness Book of World Records recently removing her record from its database when a World Open Water Swimming Association report flagged that.
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