Never, ever give up | Diana Nyad

In the pitch-black night, stung by jellyfish, choking on salt water, singing to herself, hallucinating ... Diana Nyad just kept on swimming. And that's how she finally achieved her lifetime goal as an athlete: an extreme 100-mile swim from Cuba to Florida -- at age 64. Hear her story.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.

[ysabeldelrio]

This is a BIG slap in my face. I'm 24, and thought I am old to study again and by the time I graduated, I'll be 30 and I may not be able to enjoy my late 20s. This is so so so inspiring.. I cried.... no visuals, just your imagination. Great story teller..

[NahedKashmiri]

I watched her movie in Netflix 'NYAD' and i was shocked and inspired.. she is my hero, i am 42 and i have already given up but after watching her movie i am up again after my dream . Thankyou Diana 🎉

[williamtendo]

Who else is here after the Netflix movie.. *Nyad*, this has reinvigorated me to keep going at 34 in a 3rd world country, the parallels of her journey & the perils of life and success will stick with me for the rest of my life.. Thanks for your courage.

[MikaelaAryanna]

If she can get through 53 hours in those conditions at 64, I can get through anything! So inspiring.

[keshacovington]

Just finished watching the movie Nyad and I am ashamed to have never known about her amazing accomplishments 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

[adorablebelle]

This woman has dreamed in a way most young people wouldn't dare to. She is confident without being cocky. I admire her so much.

[evekeith]

Until I heard this talk I had been wondering if my starting a new business at 70 should be a concern.
Thank you Dana

[toploader]

OMG I am blown away. What an incredible woman. Wow!!! She is hugely inspirational and she is my new hero. My favourite line is when she says she is in the prime of her life at 64. She is. I love that. I love the way she kicked her way out of every obstacle in her life to achieve her dream. Brilliant.

[legallau]

I have watched this TED talk over and over and over again since 2 years ago. At that time, I was training for Hood to Coast, which is a 200 miles relay race, from the Mt. Hood to Seaside, Oregon. In this race, all teams need to run continuously. The race started, I remember I was running in the mountain with no cellphone service, it was 2:00AM, with the moonlight illuminated the road, the forest, and myself. The distance between runners were so long that we couldn't see one another. But I felt a strong light behind me, that was one of my competitors catching up, he was fast and over took me easily. What I could do was do the best to follow him but not slow down. Around 15 minutes later, he was half a miles in front of me. At that moment, the image of Diana Nyad swimming across the ocean floated in my mind, yes, Never ever give up! I began to speed up and short the distance with that fast runner...There was one and half mile left to the exchange point, I caught up with him, I over took him and arrived at the exchange point 2 minutes earlier that him.


Today, I train for Boston Marathon. Every moment when I suffer from trainning, I think of Diana Nyad and her feat and her inspiring speech, thank you! Never ever give up, you could chase your dreams at any ages and you're never too old!

[NeoDragonFlame]

This woman was part of the reason i put my thoughts and dreams into action Diana thank YOU so much.

[stevehecht]

If you think you can, you can, If you think you can't, you can't
we are all programmed for failure, but designed for success!!!
Find A Way!

[srimansrini]

Diana Nyad is a dreamer, achiever and above all wonderful human being. Here, she recounts the adventurous 100-mile plus (Cuba to Florida) swimming expedition. A great inspiring tale of never ever give up. Highly recommended. 

[Me-xdbd]

That was a story, not a talk. I listened to the entire thing, she took me on a journey. This could have been easily winning speech of Toastmasters, Champion of Public Speaking. Great speech and I expected that because this is how elderly people should be, full of wisdom and love. Life experiences to give back to others.

[caramelcoffees]

one of my fav ted talks. from the message to the way she sets up the narrative. the wry humour and strength of character. even the crowd is great. i always find myself coming back to this vid

[seydaaydn]

“The journey is the main goal.” This talk almost made me cry.. I will try to remember this brave and inspiring woman and her words at every struggling moment of my life. Most thing I love was the powerfull and realistic posture behind her own words. She stands behind every single word. Really amazed.

[CookingwithQ]

this talk makes me feel like the laziest asshole ever and I love it

[driesketels]

I've seen this talk already 10+ times and still get tears in my eyes the moment she see's the lights of Key West. Powerful.

[scottcohen]

I love a great story of someone beating the norm, breaking the mold and defying the doubters. super positive. I fight an addiction which feels impossible to beat sometimes, this opens a new facet of hope.

[anneshelley-smith]

What an inspiration.  We're never too old to fulfill our dreams.  Thank you Diana.  I wish you well.

[thomasofthecarr]

This is the first youtube video i have ever read the comments and all of them are positive, no hate, no racism, no sexism, no insulting - just inspiration... that is a testament to the power of this talk if ever there was one!