Right now Diana Nyad, the woman who recently swam from Cuba to Florida, is about 26 hours into a 48 hour pool swim charity even to benefit Hurricane Sandy relief. The swim is taking place in Herald Square (right in front of Macy's) in a two lane temporary pool that was built just for the event. You can watch the entire event live here.
To keep her motivated, Diana invited special guests, heroes from Sandy, regular people and professional athletes (that's where I came in!) to pace her throughout the swim and raise awareness to the cause.
When I arrived at the pool, after taking Amy on her first subway ride, I was informed that I was to enter the water right after Richard Simmons. He was joining Diana for the last few minutes before the 24 hour mark and his swim, in a bedazzled speedo, was being broadcast on Good Morning America. Richard swam a few laps with Diana and then I joined her for 15 minutes. It was incredibly inspiring to swim next to Diana and to look up and to catch a glimpse of the Empire State Building while breathing.
The water in the pool was warm, compared to the air, and I would have loved to stay in the water to do the 4k swim workout I have planned for today. The atmosphere of the event was so positive, I probably would have had one of my fastest swims ever.
