The 26-year-old swimmer spent 7 hours and 57 minutes in the water, but emerged with a new record, shaving nearly an hour off the previous unofficial record set 48 years earlier. This was Diana's second attempt within 11 days, with the first being spoiled by constant rain and winds.

Diana Nyad would go on to become known for her endurance swims, including a 102-mile swim from the Bahamas to Florida and a swim from Cuba to Florida that had to be done inside a shark cage! In September 2019, Nyad performed a play at the Minetta Lane Theatre in the West Village that told the story of her 111-mile swim from Cuba and the hardships she faced along the way.

Almost exactly 38 years after her swim around Manhattan, Diana Nyad would return to New York for a marathon swim within the city, in a pool at Herald Square! The 48 hour endurance swim in the pool was to benefit people impacted by Hurricane Sandy, and raised $103,001 that was distributed by the AmeriCares Foundation, a disaster relief agency.