The 61-year-old U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad will attempt to swim the 166 kilometers from Cuba to the United States of America in what she called a symbolic gesture.

“I love Cuba and I would like my attempt to serve to connect these two countries,” Nyad stated in a Sunday morning press conference at the Marina Hemingway’s International Nautical Club west of Havana.

Nyad began her meaningful swim Sunday night from the Marina Hemingway in Cuba and if everything goes as planned she will arrive in Florida in 60 hours.

US swimmer Diana Nyad, Swim from Cuba to Florida started at 19.45 et

The experienced open-water long-distance swimmer first attempted this swim in 1978 and had to stop after high waves and strong currents had pushed her too far off course.

She will not use a shark cage, but rowers in kayaks will use electric “shark shields” to frighten off sharks, which are abundant in the Florida Strait.

”There’s no getting around the fact that we’re in an ocean here where some dangerous species of shark swim,” she said at the news conference.

She said the whitetip shark, however, wasn’t bothered by the Shark Shields, so she will also have shark divers on hand to help distract them. “Nobody is going to use any lethal weapon on this swim,” she added.