Senior US distance swimmer Diana Nyad abandoned her third attempt to cross the shark-infested sea from Cuba to Florida on Sunday, citing dangerous Portuguese man-of-war stings.
The 62-year-old, who was seeking to become the first person to make the 100-mile (160-kilometer) swim across the Florida Straits without a shark cage, had spent more than 40 hours in the water and completed 67 nautical miles before ending her bid at 11:00 am (1500 GMT).
"The medical team said I should not go another two nights in the water and risk additional likely man-of-war stings which could have a long-term cumulative effect on my body," Nyad said from the water before climbing aboard an escort vessel, her support team wrote on her website diananyad.com.
"But for each of us, isn't life about determining your own finish line?" she was quoted as saying.
"This journey has always been about reaching your own other shore no matter what it is, and that dream continues."
Earlier on Sunday her team said Nyad had been weakened by a series of jellyfish stings after starting her journey on Friday night. She received treatment and resumed her swimming, accompanied by three shark divers, her support team wrote early Sunday in a blog post.
Nyad failed on two previous bids, in 1978 and again last month, in her quest to swim across the treacherous Florida Straits from Havana to Key West, Florida.
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