tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley.tonight a conversation diana nyad, who just completed something most of us cannot even imagine. she completed a marathon swim that had pbs lead to fetid her. -- that had previously defeated her. we are glad you joined us for a conversation with diana nyad coming up now.

♪ >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. >> diana nyad had tried to swim from cuba to florida four times only to be defeated i strong currents and merciless jellyfish. she refused to give up, and five times was the charm.

she refused to give up. it was her amazing physical and mental strength that brought her to her goals. i am honored to have you. mine. honor is all tavis: you swam for 52 hours, 54 seconds,eight teen .6 110.86 miles. -- 18 .6 seconds, 100 10.86 miles. >> i will never forget it. why?: >> for me it was not really about the sport. 60, had not swum in 30 years. it was one hard dream i had.

i must say if we had been friends i would not say every day it was eating at my gut, but it was in the back. that was the one i wanted to make. i have 22 years left to live. eyes 10 yearsour passes. i do not want to live with regrets and being timid and fearful. i am going to feel bold. if i am going to take every ounce of commitment, what will i do? i have not swum in nerdy years.

-- 30 years. will i have the will? i am going to do that cuba swim. i started training. why? if you look at the map there is no more famous bodies of water with people trying to make it across on rafts. a 100 mile stretch, which is a long way. my 60's. my baby boom generation is going to say, right on. you show us the way. there are all kinds of non- swimming things. that was at 60, and now i am 64. i am not doing any more marathon

swims. i am done. it taught me those lessons, and i am back. i am back to being fully committed every day. thingsthere are so many i want to ask. let me jump right in. why walk away from some and you did so much and loved so well? why walk away from it? doin world-class sports you not see too many quarterbacks, tennis players -- there are older people who do things, but not at the world-class level, so was thirty,irty, -- i was worn out. i was ready.

it was time to be an adult, make a living, and it is time to retire from sports. i was burned out. there is a lot of back-and-forth up and down. it is turnout. -- burnout. tavis: you started as a sprinter, and a health concern shifted you. >> not really. i had a heart disease. i had read months of bed rest, -- three months of dead rest. i am -- of bed rest. i am not going to pretend i would have been an olympic sprinter. i had a fairytale dream, but the truth is i was not right. tavis: you explain it remarkably well.

you become a marathon or the first place? >> i put a lot of time in the pool, and my friend said, there is adventurous sports. i had done sprint swimming, and when i turned 20, a friend said, these eccentric people go around the world and swim. these people stand on shore, a gun goes off, and they try to beat each other. you love the character. so i went to lake ontario and spent the next 10 years ring that sport.

-- doing that sport. marathone life of a swimmer is what? fill in the blank. >> i cannot tell you what young people do today. world.veled around the you had to dig down. tavis: how did you live? >> you are just for like most athletes. athletes can barely pay their rent. love just doing a sport i and never thought i would do it forever. manhattan was a kick in the pants. 6, and it was a beautiful day. people took a day off work and the around battery.

the world trade center was still around. there was a kick in the pants because there was a lot of pain to it. that one in particular. as you describe it, 52 hours in the water. >> 53. don't want to chop off an entire hour, and don't forget the 18 seconds. what is it like to be in the water for 52 hours with all those elements swimming around? like?s that >> there is the body and the mind. aty had been in 40 hours

that point. i was in full-fledged hallucination. the body is so trained, and when your trainer says, get back, this metronomic stroke starts and i was not even soar when it was over. i was foggy. tavis: we saw some pictures. who thesesense of people are in the water with you. >> i have a flotilla. i have a team of 44 people. i could never do it without them. i am swimming next to that boat.

someone is hanging out there. shark guy, there are two guys on top. they have got very good visibility. they can see a mile away. the kayakers have an electronic shield. the kayaks are protected me with their electronic shield. they are in the water with me. they are looking for eyes that are this far apart. then they know it is a big predator. we do not use any fatal gear. wirelooks kind of like a coat hanger, but it is pvc

piping. real -- they are ready to poke it in the nose. usually they are so aggressive. they do not want to get hurt. an aerosol can. if you shark comes and brushes and shakeake that key it and throw it in the water, and it makes a horrible smelling liquid. that for moments of desperation. most: what was the desperate moment for you? what was the most desperate moment of the swim.

decided tot night, i protect myself. the most deadly animal in the ocean, this has a vietnam you would not wish on your worst enemy. this is a venom that does not just sting your skin. the second its things, harpoons shooed out. it goes right to your spinal cord,, and lugs. are a little bigger, so we can may be last, but most people died. used pantyhose and surgeons gloves. i use a suit made of lycra. pantyhose just those little lips and this vast ocean,

these animals are genius. they are 600 million years old, and they have six sets of eyes. you are not going to beat them. they are everywhere. i feel i am going down. backfool would i be to go if i did not have something more ?han i had last time he makes these beautiful silicone masks. it came into the mouth, so i breathe, but it was tough to swim. the inside was making big legions. it protected me, but 13 hours with that mask the first night i

was a tough cookie and had all the results in the world, but i am not sure i am going to make it another night with this thing on. they come up at night. they are photo phobic, so they come up at night. i the time it is daylight you can take -- by the time it is daylight you can take them off. the time in the 53 hours -- when was the moment you were most tired, and when was the time you were stroking and you said, i got this? >> a almost happened back-to- back. >> the second night i had been in dirty six hours, and a big storm was coming. and a big storm

was coming. we have a protocol. we have lights and flares, and we just tread water and hang out in the open ocean. it is pitch black. there is no moon. you are never allowed to be held up. when it was over it turned out it was an hour and 20 minutes. i was hanging on. i thought i saw the tiles mahal. i did not inc. i saw it. -- i saw the taj mahal. i saw it.think i was hanging on, and i would see giant pine trees the size of the milky way, and i would say to them, and they would say,

that's ok. just keep treading water. we will get through the storm. i am starting to get chilly. and them gets over, boats come back. i said to my trainer, i guess if i keep swimming i will get my clarity back. she said, i want to show you something. right, and ithe saw a white light on the horizon, and i thought, the sun is going to come up so i can take off the jellyfish suit. she said, that is not the son. that's the lights of key west. you are going to make it. minutes before i had been treading water saying, i do not know if i am going to make this. you can make anything when you

know it is there. tavis: what did you learn about your self is ugly, emotionally, spiritually? question.a good i almost wrote a letter to have at the beach. if it is a big achievement, i do not negate caring about that, but i said, at 60, you want to stop worrying about things you cannot control. there are bigger things in this if you don'tn believe in god. .here is nature and friendship during the swim as hard as i one, to be the disciplined never without the team could we have come across in this expedition. i worried about the weather.

was in neuroses. you cannot do this without some luck. why worry about that when you cannot change it. it. annot worry about i learned you have to think big. life is fun when you think the egg instead of the smallest about your self. -- life is fun when youth think big instead of the smallest about yourself. do you get in the ring and fail and fall down over and over again but will get up over and over again? that is the person i want to be, and this swim proof that is who i am. i want to be a person who never gives up. tavis: you mentioned earlier in

the conversation, and i want to give you time to expound on that --the success of this effort lifexpect to impact your in what way is going forward? >> the ways we are talking. are youple say, what going to do now? i am done with that. i am going to do a charity raising swim to raise money for hurricane sandy. i am going to do 48 hours, and i am going to ask celebrities to .et in the pool next to me me letters. send that's a bad joke. i have no buoyancy. >> in the end we hand over the

big check to hurricane sandy victims. that's going to be my legacy. just became that person i have always been, but i said, don't forget this. you may be doing a one-woman show, but think big tom a dream big. do not leave anything out. and get up and grabbed that tiger the next day. that's how i feel. what type of responses have you gotten from people, specifically in your age range? >> i heard from one guy. was the harvard graduate who was going to write

the great american novel. it was happened. i am left raising four children , making a living, and now my kids are getting up and out. is it too late for me to write that great american novel? no. say, we are not done. when you are 90 you can watch the sunset and recollect your days, but 64 is vital. i feel like i am having the absolute time of my life, even physically. tavis: you walked in kind enough hug.ve me a i was checking you out. i felt it. >> i want to keep that going, too.

tavis: you talked about a whether and how weather has to cooperate. how did you choose the time of day you were going to do this? >> i arrived in key west primed and ready on june 25, so we every fifthll month day -- it looks like the window -- it is not going to be long enough. we need three full days. then the weather is ok but not the gulfstream. all the conditions are very able and very hard to get. i am thinking about the and letting go of things

you cannot control. >> you need some luck on your side. you cannot rest mother nature. you just need to go with it. i feel more really shouldn't after being done with it. frustration of letting people down and training again. training is grueling. and that it is finally over than having the big big three. -- big victory -- i feel more elated that it is finally over rather than having the egg .ictory -- big victory

>> it has been great talking to you. >> i have done a lot of interviews, and i have been a fan of yours. are severely, intensely engaged, and there are not many of your ilk. you have been right there. tavis: that's our show for tonight. until next time. -- >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a

conversation with a writer. that's next time. we will see you then. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

there you go. hello. welcome to "this is us." this week we're at the happy hollow park and zoo, i'm with the lemurs. they are so gentle. they're beautiful creatures from madagascar. they're hungry. they like fruit and they're eng dangered. so y you can see their beautiful fur is meant for rain forest, so the fur actually keeps the rain off them. would rather have a cherry, is that it? okay. want a berry? all right. their tails are lovely. don't know if you can see them on camera, their tails are about two feet long. and they've got