Diana Nyad's Cuba To Florida Swim Continues Despite Jellyfish Stings, Storm

Diana Nyad is not letting a multitude of jellyfish stings that sidelined her 2011 swim from Cuba to Florida derail her latest attempt at the feat.

The latest update from the 62-year-old endurance athlete's website, posted at 2:30 a.m. Monday EST, indicated that Nyad encountered a storm on her trip from Havana to Key West. The post said the stop was only a temporary break on the way to Florida, this being Nyad's fourth attempt to make the swim without a shark cage surrounding her. Her first try was in 1978 at 28 years old.

"Since [the storm] is not moving, they are now trying to find a path out of the storm," wrote Alex de Cordoba on Nyad's behalf. "They have decided to begin moving north and west, close to the course that will take them to Key West anyways. Diana is safe, feeling strong and is now swimming again."

De Cordoba, a member of Nyad's support team, described the storm and said Nyad's GPS tracker stopped sending location data because of the weather.

"There is lots of lightning out there and the storm is blowing right on top of Diana. The signal is most likely being blocked by the storm," de Cordoba wrote. "All the warm calm weather from earlier today is now churning with the upper atmosphere, creating lightning, rain and winds. As they say in Key West, it's kind of like like mixing a mojito!"

The storm is just one of the obstacles on Nyad's adventure from Havana to Key West.

Nyad, a Los Angeles resident, had dealt with a number of jellyfish stings to her lips, forehead, hands and neck, according to her team.

The stings could have impacted Nyad's performance because jellyfish release toxins when they sting, and the bites derailed her last attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida, AFP noted.

Nyad started her swim Saturday and her team did not say the distance she swam since then when it gave an update Sunday night, although they said she passed the 28-hour mark, according to the Associated Press. Before that update, they said the 62-year-old traveled 27.7 miles and was swimming in "ideal conditions."

Nyad is wearing a specially designed bodysuit to stave off jellyfish attacks, although the garment is not having the desired effect.

"At least two of the stings were from the dangerous box jellyfish, which forced her to cut short her second of two attempts last year as toxins built up in her system," the AP reported. At one point, with jellyfish particles everywhere in the water, Nyad changed strokes to keep her face out of harm's way."

Should Nyad be successful in her swim, the 103-mile trip from Havana to Key West should take 60 hours, which would put her in Florida sometime around Thursday afternoon.

While Nyad does not have a shark cage surrounding her during the swim, she is equipped with electronic shark repellent and her team has divers to protect her from the deadly creatures, CNN reported.