You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one.

I'm Sadata Sese, an assistant commissioner of podcasts for BBC Sounds.

I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects,

relationships, identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life.

So one day I'll be helping host develop their ideas, the next fact-checking, a feature,

and the next looking at how a podcast connects with its audience.

And maybe that's you.

So if you like this podcast, check out some others on BBC Sounds.

Back in the 50s, when my guest Diana Nyad was a kid, she'd stand on the beaches of southern

Florida with her mom, and she'd squint. Just out of view was an island, an island that became

almost like a myth. It was called Cuba.

I asked my mom, where is it? I know Cuba's out there. I can't see it because it was just over

the horizon, over the curve of the earth. And most people in our area of Florida knew Cuba very well.

For Diana, it was a mysterious island.

It fascinated her in the way that things do in the supercharged imaginations of children.

Then, at the end of the 1950s, the Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro seized power.

After that, the country was a no-go zone for most Americans.

The island would become even more isolated,

even more far away in the years to come. At the same time, Diana was developing another obsession,

swimming. I think I had what they call a feel for the water. In swimming, you want to grab onto

resistance. You want to be able to feel the water and be able to push it efficiently behind you to thrust

you forward.

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