Full Text of HR0588 98th General Assembly
HR0588 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to congratulate Diana Nyad on the occasion | 4 | | of being the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without | 5 | | the protection of a shark cage; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Diana Nyad was born on August 22, 1949 in New York | 7 | | City, New York; after her family moved to Fort Lauderdale, | 8 | | Florida, she began swimming competitively in the 7th grade; in | 9 | | the mid-1960s, she was enrolled at the private Pine Crest | 10 | | School, where she swam under the tutelage of Olympian and Hall | 11 | | of Fame coach Jack Nelson; during this time, she won three | 12 | | Florida State high school championships; after graduating from | 13 | | Pine Crest School in 1967 and briefly attending Emory | 14 | | University, she enrolled at Lake Forest College, where she | 15 | | resumed swimming and started training in distance events; she | 16 | | graduated from Lake Forest College in 1973 with a degree in | 17 | | English and French; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, After college, Diana Nyad began concentrating on | 19 | | distance swimming; in 1979, she swam from the Bimini Islands in | 20 | | the Bahamas to Florida, setting a distance record for non-stop | 21 | | swimming without a wetsuit that still stands today; she also | 22 | | broke many world records during this time, including the | 23 | | women's record of 8 hours, 11 minutes in the 22-mile Bay of |
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| 1 | | Naples race in 1974; in 1975, she made national headlines by | 2 | | swimming 28 miles around the island of Manhattan in 7 hours and | 3 | | 57 minutes, breaking the 45-year-old record; in 1979, she set a | 4 | | world record for distance swimming over open water by swimming | 5 | | 102 miles from North Bimini Island, Bahamas, to Juno Beach, | 6 | | Florida without the use of a protective shark cage, completing | 7 | | the swim in 27 hours and 30 minutes; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, By January of 2010, Diana Nyad was determined to | 9 | | begin training for a summer attempt to swim from Cuba to | 10 | | Florida. Taking up residence in the Caribbean island of St. | 11 | | Maarten, from January through June she began doing 8-, 10-, | 12 | | 12-, and 14-hour swims every other week; on July 10, 2010, at | 13 | | the age of 60, she began open water training for a 60-hour, | 14 | | 103-mile swim from Cuba to Florida; a combination of adverse | 15 | | weather conditions and jellyfish stings prevented her from | 16 | | completing attempts in August and September of 2011, but Diana | 17 | | Nyad would not be deterred; after another attempt in August of | 18 | | 2012 was thwarted by jellyfish stings, she decided to wear a | 19 | | silicone mask, a full bodysuit, gloves, and booties for | 20 | | protection; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, On the morning of August 31, 2013, Diana Nyad | 22 | | began her fifth bid to swim from Havana, Cuba to Florida, a | 23 | | distance of about 110 miles, without a shark cage; before | 24 | | reaching Florida, she broke a 2012 distance record for the Cuba |
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| 1 | | to Florida swim, putting Nyad closer to Key West than anyone | 2 | | swimming without a shark cage; at approximately 12:55 PM | 3 | | Central Time on September 2, 2013, she reached the beach in Key | 4 | | West, about 53 hours after she began her journey; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Diana Nyad serves as a model of hard work, | 6 | | courage, and determination for the people of the State of | 7 | | Illinois; therefore, be it
| 8 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 9 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 10 | | we congratulate Diana Nyad on the occasion of being the first | 11 | | person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the protection of a | 12 | | shark cage and wish her continued success and happiness in her | 13 | | future endeavors; and be it further
| 14 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 15 | | presented to Diana Nyad as a symbol of our esteem and respect.
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