Zoomer endurance swimmer Diana Nyad is battling the elements as she tries once again to become the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the aid of a shark cage. 

She’s had to endure painful jellyfish stings, and is currently trying to swim her way out of a storm that blew into her path last night.

Mark Sollinger is Nyad’s operations chief. He says she’s safe and feeling strong.

 Diana says what keeps her going is a mental playlist of about 65 songs “mostly from her generation”, including “Me and Bobby McGee”. Diana said on a video posted on her website, “if I sing that, 2,000 times in a row, the whole song, I will get though five hours and 15 minutes.”  She added, “It’s kind of stupid, but it gets me through.” 

The Los Angeles woman, who turns 63 Wednesday, has been training for three years and is said to be in peak shape.  The team expects Nyad will take at least 60 hours to complete the swim, meaning she would arrive in the Florida keys sometime Tuesday.