Bill Text: IL HR0588 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Congratulates Diana Nyad on the occasion of being the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the protection of a shark cage.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2013-10-22 - Resolution Adopted [HR0588 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2013-HR0588-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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