No news: Women can jump, big time

She stood on the beach last week, pale and shivering, this 61-year-old long-distance swimmer whom some have called the greatest athlete in the world. Diana Nyad had just finished a 24-hour training swim off St. Maarten in preparation for her next attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida later this summer.

She swam all day and all night through cool, choppy water that made her so sick she vomited violently, but she kept swimming. In her own words, she was hanging by a thread for many hours during the night, but she endured and landed on the beach, one step closer to the Cuba challenge. Last August, after 29 hours in the water, she had to give up the swim because of jellyfish stings, asthma and a shoulder injury.

“It may be extreme and challenging, the prep for Cuba,” she said, “but it’s a joy to throw our best selves into it.”

If I could have played ball or thrown a discus or run fast, I believe my life would have been different; I might have seen opportunity where I saw only limitations. For me and many women of my generation there was not only a glass ceiling but glass walls all around, keeping us off the playing fields and out of the locker rooms.

The world changed for women 40 years ago this week, when Title IX was passed, opening the door for women in sports. Coincidentally, 40 years ago, two sports heroes were born: soccer star Mia Hamm and basketball legend Lisa Leslie. Both of them, along with thousands of other women, walked through that door. Diana Nyad swam through, and she didn’t wait for Title IX, either.

Women’s achievements in sports aren’t newsworthy any more, thank goodness. We take it for granted today that any girl who wants to play basketball or soccer will be able to compete.

It is worth noting, on the anniversary of Title IX, that when these athletes move on to business and professional careers, their success can be tied directly to their early competence in competitive sports and parents who encourage them to take on the risk of competition.