Long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad began a 48-hour-crawl Tuesday in a specially designed lap pool near Herald Square, swimming to raise money for Hurricane Sandy victims. NY1′s Elizabeth Kaledin filed the following report.
Diana Nyad is no stranger to long swims, but this time, she’s putting her endurance to the test for New Yorkers.
Fresh off her record-breaking swim from Cuba to Florida, where she swam 110 miles without a shark cage, Nyad plunged into a specially designed pool in the heart of Herald Square Tuesday morning for a 48-hour dip.
The goal is to raise awareness and funds for Hurricane Sandy victims still struggling nearly one year later, people like Karen Zboinski, whose entire family on Staten Island lost a total of eight homes.
“We are still here, we are still trying to recover and we still need help,” Zboinski said.
Every penny from the event, underwritten by Nyad’s sponsor, Proctor and Gamble, will go toward disaster relief. The money will be distributed by Americares.
“Diana is a saint for coming here and shining a light on the work that still needs to be done for the thousands and thousands of people that are out of their homes, for the people that can’t get health care because their neighborhood clinic was destroyed,” said Curt Welling, president and CEO of Americares.
She’ll be joined in the pool by some celebrities, but also regular New Yorkers directly affected by the storm.
Before long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad began a 48-hour swim Tuesday to raise money for Hurricane Sandy victims, she spoke with NY1′s Elizabeth Kaledin about the fundraiser.
“We’re going to have a lot of New York firefighters,” she said. “We’re going to have Sandy victims. We’re going to have a dog, Elizabeth, named Roscoe, who evidently swam his way through the floods of Hurricane Sandy.”
Nyad has a special love for New York and the resilience of its people.
“There is a spirit in this city, and, you know, you go to Far Rockaway, you go to Staten Island, there’s a spirit,” she said “We will stay up for days to help each other.
Nyad will be staying up for days to help, wrapping up her swim for relief on Thursday morning.
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via Great Local News: New York http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info
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