As we reported, Diana Nyad became the first person to swim the 110-miles stretch of ocean separating Florida and Cuba without a shark cage on Monday. Her inspiring story is perfectly captured in this bit from Reuters, emphasis mine:

Her face sunburned and lips swollen, with barely enough energy to speak, Nyad waded ashore at Key West after a 53-hour swim and delivered a simple message to onlookers: "We should never, ever give up . . . You never are too old to chase your dreams."

Nyad's inspiring story, like so many others, doesn't start with Monday's success, however.  During a TED talk in 2011, she discussed her past failed attempts at the endurance swim, including some truly unfortunate run-ins with jellyfish: