KEY WEST, Fla. – Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad is scheduled to be honored Monday, on the eve of the anniversary of her successful swim from Cuba to Key West.
A bronze plaque commemorating Nyad will be unveiled at the ceremony, which is set to be held on Smathers Beach Monday. The public is invited to attend the event near beach entrance 11 at 10 a.m.
The plaque will be installed on the promenade wall in front of the beach where Nyad came ashore on Sept. 2, 2013. It was the 64-year-old's fifth attempt at completing the swim, in which she became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage. It took her 52 hours and 54 minutes to make the 111-mile journey.
According to Michael Shield, the board chair of Key West's Art in Public Places, a life-size bronze sculpture of Nyad will eventually be added to the plaque.
On Saturday, Nyad was honored by the Cuban government for her successful swim. First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel gave her Cuba's Order of Sporting Merit award and called her feat "a symbol of the friendship between our peoples."