This will not be a text from the series “You can do anything”,
“It’s all in your head”, although it could be. This will be an article about girls who, despite what they heard about themselves –
you are too old, too young, too short, you are a woman – have made their dreams come true.

Diana Nyad
It was 2 September 2013. Hundreds of people gathered on the beach in Key West to witness the moment. After 52 hours, 54 minutes and a swim of 177 kilometres from Cuba to Florida, Diana Nyad emerged from the water. She was unsteady on her feet, but to complete her attempt, she had to stand on the sand with both feet. Loud cheers of “Nyad, Nyad!” and shouts from her 40-person team of “Don’t touch her!” could be heard. Finally, Nyad reached the beach with great difficulty and said in a weak but determined voice:

“First of all, never give up. Secondly, you are never too old to make your dreams come true. Thirdly, although it may seem like an individual sport, achieving success requires the work of an entire team”¹.

Her devoted trainer and long-time friend Bonnie Stoll was the first to embrace her, but the daring attempt was also made possible by the navigators, doctors and rescuers, who were as close to Diana as possible at all times. It was her fifth attempt; the first one was when she was 28 years old. She succeeded at the age of 64. It took her more than 30 years to savour the taste of victory, which was not only achieved through gruelling training, but also through dehydration, exhaustion and skin rubbed raw.

Diana Nyad is not only an extreme swimmer, but also a sports journalist and motivational speaker. The story of her superhuman achievement is told in the 2023 Netflix film “Nyad”. Annette Bening plays the role of the swimmer, while the role of Bonnie Stoll is played by Jodie Foster. It is a story about the power of friendship and support, but also about the fact that sometimes the hardest fight we have to fight is the one with ourselves and the traumas
of the past.

¹diananyad.com/the-cuba-swim [access: 11.03.2025]

Jessica Watson

Sixteen years, 210 days alone at sea, four yacht transporters and success – on 15 May 2010, Jessica Watson arrived in Sydney and became the youngest person in the world to sail solo around the world. When she was welcomed on the coast by the then Prime Minister of Australia, he said she was a hero. In response, he heard: “I must disagree with the Prime Minister. I don’t consider myself a hero. I am just an ordinary girl who believed in her dream”². The Prime Minister smiled and shrugged, and Jessica was rewarded with applause from thousands of fans.

She followed the traditional clipper route (fast merchant ships), the route around the three great capes, covering the area between 40 and 50 degrees south latitude, known as the Roaring Forties. The prevailing conditions are difficult due to the constant, very strong westerly winds. On 18 October 2009, she set sail from Sydney and crossed the equator in November. She spent Christmas at Point Nemo, the most remote place from land. In January 2010, she passed Cape Horn. For her voyage to be considered around the world, she had to cross the prime meridian and then Cape Agulhas. Having passed Cape Leeuwin, she was able to set a course for Australia. This was done on a 10-metre yacht called Ella’s Pink Lady, which is pink not only in name.

“True Spirit” is a film about a blonde teenager who grows up in a loving family with older and younger siblings, but a little differently than her peers – without a TV and travelling or living on a boat. Supported by her parents, her coach and sailing mentor Ben Bryant, she decides to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world, despite journalists and the public saying the same thing: “She’s too young, she’s still a child”. In 2010, Jessica wrote a book about her journey called “The Real Courage”. She quoted the following meaningful words: “Helen Keller said it much better than I can: ‘Life is either a daring adventure or nothing’”³.

 

Jarosława Jóźwiakowska*

She is standing on the second step of the podium, sharing the honour with British athlete Dorothy Shirley. Iolanda Balaş from Romania wins the gold medal. When Iolanda takes her place on the platform, her legs end at the height of Jarosława Jóźwiakowska’s shoulders. The woman from Romania is 185 cm tall, the Polish
woman is 167 cm tall. The date is 8 September 1960, Rome, the Olympic Village. Jarosława has one dream – to be among the six best jumpers in the world. A few hours later, she is standing on the run-up track. She easily passes over a height of 165 cm.

When the bar is at 168 cm, the Pole also jumps over it. In a moment, she will face a height of 171 cm, which means that she will have to beat her personal record by 3 cm. Focus, get ready, go! She jumps. The bar trembles, but does not fall. However, whether the Pole wins a medal will be decided by her opponents. Iolanda fights the longest and only finishes the competition after three failed attempts at 187 cm. Jarosława already knows that she has struck gold: “It was sheer hysteria. I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I only remembered that I was competing in the high jump. That it was the Olympics”⁴. Jarosława does not have her own coach. Only after the Olympics in Rome will her husband, Maciej Bieda, start training her. The Polish woman is jumping in one shoe. Why is that? She doesn’t know. There is no rational explanation: “I started jumping like this and it stayed that way”⁵. There is no tartan surface on the run-up, there is sand or cinder. After each attempt,
the competitors fall into a pile of sand, which provides little cushioning and sticks to the whole body. Jarosława doesn’t mind.

What matters to her is movement. She also plays volleyball – here, too, her short stature does not get in the way. She has been involved in sports since high school. Her friend Barbara Lerczak, later Janiszewska, and finally Sobotta, who would become a leading Polish sprinter a few years later, encouraged her to train. Jarosława was accepted to the University of Economics in Sopot. She travelled to the Olympics in Rome at the last minute as a reserve athlete because the officials of the Polish Athletics Association were not in her favour. What is it exactly – is she jumping or playing volleyball?! But Jóźwiakowska was already the Polish high jump champion. Fortunately, a place became available just before she was due to leave. “I just jumped by impulse because I wanted to, I liked jumping”⁶. Her character, determination and love of sport made her an eight-time Polish high jump champion. Fifteen times she set a record for our country – from 160 cm to 175 cm. She won a silver medal at the Olympic Games and crowned her career with a bronze medal at the European Championships. “Sporting was the best time of my life”⁷.

*Based on the report “Olimpijki” by Anna Sulińska.
⁴ Source unknown, quoted from: A. Sulińska, “Olimpijki”, Wydawnictwo Czarne, Wołowiec, 2020, p. 28.
⁵ Ibid., p. 21.
⁶ Interview with Jarosława Jóźwiakowska broadcast on Radio Gdańsk on 1 August 2024, radiogdansk.pl/sport/2024/08/01/skok-spod-siatki-w-dal-jak-jaroslawajozwiakowska-zostala-wicemistrzynia-olimpijska/ [access: 18.03.2025].
⁷ Ibid.