In Key West, a gay tourist Mecca, they know Nyad is a lesbian... Why it matters that Nyad is a lesbian is because she’s an historic figure, a role model, an icon. On Aug. 31, Nyad, 64, –making her fifth attempt in 35 years–got into the waters off Cuba without a shark cage and swam for 53 hours and 110.7 miles to Key West, Florida. Staggering onto land, sunburned, bent over, her black and blue swimsuit encrusted with salt, Nyad nearly fell into the arms of a waiting woman, her trainer and friend Bonnie Stoll, to the cheers of onlookers, many of them waving rainbow flags.