Keynote Speaker
Diana Nyad
SPORTS
In 1979, Diana Nyad stroked her way to the longest swim in history, for both men and women. The distance was 102.5 miles--from the island of Bimini to the Florida shore--and that incredible record still stands today. Diana was front page news throughout the Western world, the lead story for Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News, and many times guest of The Tonight Show.
For ten years (1969-1979) Diana was the greatest long-distance swimmer in the world. She broke numerous world records, including the 50-year-old mark for circling Manhattan Island (7hrs., 57 min.) in 1975.
Diana was honored in 2006 with an induction in the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame. In 1986, Diana was inducted into the National Women’s Sports Hall of Fame. She is also a Hall of Famer at both her college (Lake Forest College, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa) and her high school (Pine Crest School).
JOURNALISM
Diana is heard by eight million people each week on National Public Radio. She is a columnist each Thursday on “All Things Considered” and is the sports business reporter for the award-winning show “Marketplace”.
On television, you can now see Diana on the prestigious CBS News Sunday Morning program as well as CBS Early Morning where she delivers thought-provoking commentary.
Previously, Diana was the Senior Correspondent for FOX SPORTS NEWS for five years (1996-2001), investigating stories such as the use of performance enhancing drugs by athletes and reporting live from such sporting events as the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
Prior to Fox (1994-1996), Diana was host of all foreign documentaries on the “Outdoor Life Network”, traveling to Africa, for instance, for part of the series “The Great Cats of the World”.
From 1989-1992, Diana hosted her own show on CNBC, “One on One with Diana Nyad” where she interviewed the likes of Ed Bradley and Julia Child and where she garnered a reputation as a skilled and passionate interviewer.
While an announcer with ABC’s Wide World of Sports (1980-88), Diana covered three Olympic Games, the New York City Marathon, the Ironman, and dozens of other events around the globe. Capitalizing on her background as an adventurer extraordinaire, she swam with 100-ton “Right” whales in Patagonia, kayaked over 40-foot waterfalls in Borneo, and biked the length of Vietnam .
OTHER
Diana has written three books, “Other Shores”, “Basic Training”, and “The Keyshawn Johnson Story”. She also writes for The New York Times, Newsweek, and other publications.
Diana is fluent in French, German, and Spanish.
Diana to this day is an inspiring example of strength and joy through fitness. Diana and her best friend Bonnie Stoll (former #3 in the world on the Pro Racquetball Tour) have launched a fitness movement for women over 50 called BravaBody.com. The first BravaBody DVD (“the small space workout”) is designed for hotel rooms, apartments, home rug areas and requires no equipment whatsoever, not even sneakers. All the exercise DVD’s released
by BravaBody are geared to offset slowing metabolism and to understand the lifestyle demands among women over 50.
Diana and Bonnie give weekly tips for the woman’s body and offer a team of experts to answer all questions about the woman’s body, along with healthy
weekly menus.
Over the past twenty years, Diana has earned a reputation as a riveting public speaker. She combines her talent for dramatic story-telling with a natural sense of humor and a charismatic stage presence. She never uses notes -- she speaks from her heart and her audiences are both riveted and inspired.
