Veteran long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad reaches dry land on Tuesday -- although not the way she had hoped.<br/> <br />The 62-year-old American, who battled squalls, rough seas and jellyfish, had set out from Cuba on Saturday to cross the Florida Straits.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (English) DIANA NYAD, MARATHON SWIMMER, SAYING:<br/> <br />"All the mountains have been climbed. All the deserts have been crossed. But this piece of ocean has never been done by a swimmer without a cage. And I'm a think big, live large person so back in the seventies when I first imagined this, the history is what filled my senses."<br/> <br />It was her fourth attempt to make the swim.<br/> <br />Completing it would have given her the world record for the longest unassisted open ocean swim, which means without a shark cage.<br/> <br />The marathon swimmer gave up at a point where she had between 28 and 40 hours of swimming left.<br/> <br />She had already swam for 50 hours and said this was her last attempt.<br/> <br />The Cuba-U.S. swim has only been completed once by 22-year-old Australian Susan Maroney, who used a shark cage when she made the crossing in May 1997.
