Senior US distance swimmer Diana Nyad will plunge into the ocean on Friday for a third attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida, Cuban authorities said.
Shoulder pain, asthma and ocean swells prevented Nyad, 62, in August to fulfill her quest to swim the 100 miles (161 kilometers) across the treacherous Florida Straits from Havana from Key West, Florida.
Nyad will take off from the Ernest Hemmingway International Nautical Club, just west of Havana, the Cuban foreign ministry said Thursday.
Australian swimmer Susie Maroney, at 22, became the first person to swim from Cuba to the United States in 1997, though she used a shark cage.
If Nyad succeeds, she will be the first person to swim the stretch of ocean without shark protection.
Nyad tried to swim across the shark-infested straights in 1978, but gave up after 42 hours in the water due to bad weather.
Nyad set an open sea record by swimming from the Bahamas to the Florida Keys -- a journey that is the same distance as the Cuba-Florida swim, but a feat she described as much less dangerous.
Five yachts and four kayaks accompanied her on her latest journey, along with a 45-person support team, including trained shark divers and electronic devices designed to repel the predators.
Nyad set a record for circling the island of Manhattan at the age of 50, clocking in at seven hours and 57 minutes.
The United States has not had diplomatic relations with Cuba since 1961 when it slapped a trade embargo on the communist-ruled island.
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