I have always been captivated and inspired by our space program. In fact,
July marked the 45
th
anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and the historic and outstanding achievement
of landing on the moon. It reminds me that the impossible is always possible.
Similar to the Apollo Mission's success is Diana Nyad, the iconic endurance
swimmer and keynote speaker at the recent American Orthopaedic Society
for Sports Medicine meeting in Seattle. Her amazing life, inspiring words
and incredible accomplishments captivated me and all who attended. I was
impressed by her
Victorious
spirit and her commitment to the
Win Within
over her lifetime. Her story is a special one because it reinforces to
us all that life is about taking part and not about the win. It is process
over outcome and journey over destination.
As a young girl, Diana began swimming as a sport, but family challenges
and adversity created a disciplined and insatiable passion to be her personal
best and compete in the Olympics. She fiercely trained and integrated
workout programs that brought her to Olympic performance levels, but she
fell just shy of qualifying. But out of this adversity came an unimagined
opportunity. Diana had learned that her real strength was not in short
races but in long distance and endurance swimming. At the age of 30, Diana
gained fame by swimming around Manhattan in record time, something which
afforded her opportunities to become an author and broadcaster.
With her newfound prospects, Diana left endurance swimming for the next
30 years. Then at age 60, she had a vision and a dream to swim from Cuba
to Key West, Florida - something no one had ever successfully done before.
In a way, her vision reminds me of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy in
1961 proclaiming that the USA would successfully land on the moon and
return safely by the end of the decade. It had never been done before,
but we as a nation were called to have collective faith that it would.
Massive teams of pilots, engineers, administrators and government agencies
were assembled to work as one unit to achieve what no one thought possible.
Having realized major successes and crushing failures with the Mercury,
Gemini and Apollo programs, the space program's collective Win Within
resulted in Neal Armstrong and the Apollo 11 taking that historic "one
small step for man and one giant leap for mankind" on July 20, 1969.
It changed the plight of humanity.
The unique clarity of Diana Nyad's vision came at a time when most
of her generation was slowing down and transitioning towards retirement.
Analogous to JFK and the space program, she developed a
Mission,
Vision and
Plan to accomplish her goal. An aging body, jellyfish, sharks, tides, winds,
currents and 100 miles of swimming were the comprehensive challenges that
she faced. Diana systematically developed a team of orthopedic and sports
medicine specialists, exercise physiologists, nutritionists, oceanographers,
marine biologists, sailors, coaches and many others to develop a master
plan for accomplishing her goal. She trained intensively for at least
12 hours a day in the pool and lifted weights which transformed her mind
and body as she inched closer to achieving her dream. She had tried and
failed to complete her goal four different times. Her team considered
shark and jellyfish sting repellents, massive currents, and winds, not
withstanding the over 50 hours of endurance and painful swimming. But
on her fifth try Diana succeeded and she completed the swim to the beaches
of Key West, Florida. What an extraordinary feat with all of its trials
and tribulations.
Let us celebrate these two iconic events in our lifetime. One by recognizing
our country as it marshalled all of its leadership, teamwork, resources
and expertise. The other by honoring a woman whose victorious spirit demonstrated
repeatedly that any of us can make their mark on humanity. The requirement?
Tenacity, stick-to-it-iveness and believing against all odds.
Together, we will continue to learn that the WIN is within!
~ Bert