“Never ever give up.”
Don’t miss renowned swimmer’s inspirational keynote!
K001 – Keynote with Diana Nyad
5-5:45 p.m. | Thursday, Aug. 1
Ballroom 6A
Later today, renowned swimmer and public speaker Diana Nyad will deliver the 2024 AAD Innovation Academy keynote in Seattle. Nyad is renowned for her historic swim — a record 110.86-mile swim in 2013 from Cuba to Florida in just under 53 hours.
Twenty-five million people worldwide rooted for Nyad as she reached the Florida shore, achieving her 35-year quest of becoming the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida. On a Key West, Florida, beach on Sept. 2, 2013, Nyad told the crowd, “Never ever give up.” In that moment, Nyad demonstrated to the world the power of the human spirit.
Nyad is a prominent sports journalist, filing stories for more than 30 years for National Public Radio (NPR), the New York Times, and others. Nyad has earned her place as a compelling storyteller. Her memoir, Find a Way, has earned worldwide praise. Her groundbreaking op-ed in the New York Times on her childhood sexual abuse drew a passionate response from around the world.
Recently, Nyad brought her off-Broadway play, The Swimmer, to the stage in 2019. The show played to sold-out crowds, and in 2023, a film about Nyad’s historic swim, Nyad, was released on Netflix, starring Annette Bening and Jodie Foster.
Nyad and her best friend and Cuba Swim expedition leader, Bonnie Stoll, launched the nationwide walking initiative EverWalk, sparking America to become a nation of walkers. In turn, EverWalk launched yet another initiative, OceansCommit, hosting walks along shorelines, and asking individuals and businesses to reduce single-use plastic.
Nyad is a member of the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame and the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame. She has earned many awards of distinction. President Obama invited her to the Oval Office to congratulate her and then asked her to accompany him on his peace visit to Havana in 2014.
