Diana Nyad forced to abandon 103-mile swim from Cuba to Florida

[Graziella]

she trained 12 ! hours the day
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/0...wim/index.html

[Lawrence]

I was a bit surprised by her technique and wondered whether that explains the shoulder pain she suffered.

[HandsHeal]

Hi Lawrence, interesting point you make. Some of the swim activities that I've heard cause shoulder problems are: cross-over on the recovery, forcing an EVF, and an exaggerated S-pattern.

The shots of Ms. Nyad stroking across the Gulf are brief and all above water line. One shot appeared to show a bit of cross over of the same arm she later had iced down. However, this lady is a career Long Distance swimmer, which makes me think that faulty stroke mechanics would have shown up as problems long ago. It may be she recently developed a bone spur that finally impinged with the added training for the Cuba-Florida attempt.

Anyway, the moral of the story could be that we swimmers should be careful with our shoulders. If it hurts - figure out why! Like that old corny joke where the patient tells the doc, "Doc it hurts when I do this..." To which the doc replies, "Well, dont' do that!"

We wish Diana well! Geesh, at 61 she jumped both feet in the water to swim 103 miles! I have discipline problems getting up in the morning to go for a mile :) !!


Happy Strokes

[andreasl33]

I think we should be careful not to read too much into the video. After all, she had swum a looong distance, so muscles tire. Moreover, this is rough salty water, and she was suffering breathing problems. Everybody has to lift the head somewhat under such conditions, which impairs other elements of the stroke. It is unfair to compare this to a few lengths swum in still pool water.