HAVANA – American endurance swimmer Diana Nyad jumped into Cuban waters Sunday evening and set off in a bid to become the first person to swim across the Florida Straits without the aid of a shark cage.

Tanned and freckled from long hours training in the open seas of the Caribbean, the 61-year-old Nyad expressed confidence before starting off. She said the still air and flat water were perfect conditions for her attempt to make a 103-mile (166-kilometer), 60-hour swim from Havana to the Florida Keys.

“The adrenaline’s flowing now,” Nyad said at a jetty in western Havana as she looked at the water. “… I don’t believe much in destiny, but you have to take what you can get, and this is what I dreamed of: a silver platter.”