What is Netflix’s ‘Nyad’ about and is it based on a true story?

Nyad is a beautiful tale of determination, following your dreams, and the true power of friendship. 

It was released on Netflix in 2023 and immediately gained popularity for resurrecting the story of Diana Nyad in people’s consciousness. However, with the highs and lows faced by the titular character, it’s easy to wonder if any real-life figures inspired the Oscar–nominated sports drama. 

What happens in Nyad?

Nyad is a story about a woman’s journey, as she swims from Cuba to Florida. Throughout the movie, we see flashbacks into Diana Nyad’s childhood, the early days of her career, and the adversities she faced all through her life. In many ways, Nyad is less about the actual Cuba to Florida swim, and more about the protagonist’s enduring strength and determination. Moreover, the heart of the movie is the friendship between Diana and Bonnie, played by the Award-winning Annette Bening and Jodie Foster respectively. Both actresses have since received nominations at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and Screen Actors Guild Awards for their performances.

Diana Nyad made five attempts in total to swim from Cuba to Florida. While everyone believed that she had abandoned the dream, at age 60, she reignited an obsessive passion to complete it, appointing her best friend, Bonnie, to be her trainer. For those who had never heard of Diana Nyad, the “based on a true story” tag in the movie might have caused some confusion. After all, the events depicted in Nyad seemed almost too surreal to be true. 

Is Nyad based on a true story?

Nyad is based on the true story of Diana Nyad, detailed in her 2015 memoir Find a Way. She began swimming at a young age, and showed immense talent, taking home three Florida championship wins in high school for the 100-yard backstroke. In college, she focused on distance swimming and began setting records for her speed and endurance. She made her first attempt at the Cuba-Florida swim at age 28 in 1978. The attempt was however thwarted due to bad weather, pushing her off course. One year later, she participated in her last competitive swim.

At age 30, Nyad gave up competitive swimming and began pursuing other career paths, primarily in journalism and media. 30 years later at the age of sixty, she began training again for the swim from Cuba to Florida. Unlike when she was younger, she didn’t give up after the first failed attempt, and finally accomplished her dream in 2013, completing the 53-hour swim on the 2nd of September. 

Controversies about Diana Nyad’s epic swim 

There has been some skepticism about the validity of Nyad’s claims over the years. Primarily, alleged discrepancies obtained from the GPS technology she used to track her speed have led some people to believe that she might have cheated along the way. This was also further legitimized by the lack of footage of her expedition, as she didn’t record the entirety of her swim. The undertaking was also never certified by the World Open Water Swimming Association, due to the scanty recording of the feat. However, the swim did in fact take place, and Diana Nyad is definitely a heroine by all accounts.