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This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

Defector

Dave McKenna

Diana Nyad speaks at the FEMME Awards 2025 at Terranea Resort on March 20, 2025 in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

Swimming

Diana Nyad Finally Got Her Plaque

Julie Kliegman is a writer and editor in Queens, New York. They wrote <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/mind-game-9798216378051/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/mind-game-9798216378051/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1763134080975000&amp;usg=AOvVaw15Dx3xf4fCxIqYQnD4bF_R">Mind Game: An Inside Look at the Mental Health Playbook of Elite Athletes</a>. Their next book, the biography Finding Renée Richards, is due out in August 2026. Kliegman’s work has also appeared in outlets including The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, Bookforum, Slate, The Ringer, Texas Monthly, Vulture, BuzzFeed News, and The Verge.

Julie Kliegman

art of a swimmer with their head half above water

What Does A Great Trans Athlete Deserve?

US author and journalist Diana Nyad arrives for Elle's 2023 Women in Hollywood celebration, at Nya Studios in Los Angeles, California, on December 5, 2023.

Lawsuit: Open Water Swimming Expert Rewrote Swimming History To Glorify Diana Nyad

Heather Chen is a former Defector intern and the managing editor at the Columbia Daily Spectator. She loves hockey, photography, and the good ol’ state of Michigan.

Heather Wei-Xi Chen

NANTERRE, FRANCE - JULY 31: Zhanle Pan of Team People's Republic of China celebrates after winning gold in a world record time in the Men's 100m Freestyle Final on day five of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena on July 31, 2024 in Nanterre, France.

Olympics

I Am Aging Rapidly While Watching Pan Zhanle Swim

Luis Paez-Pumar

Katie Ledecky of Team United States competes in the Women's 1500m Freestyle Final on day five of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena on July 31, 2024 in Nanterre, France.

Not Even The Cameras Can Keep Up With Katie Ledecky

US swimmer Diana Nyad is seen in the water during her departure from the Ernest Hemingway Nautical Club in Havana on August 18, 2012 . Veteran US endurance swimmer Diana Nyad announced that she will try to swim the treacherous waters from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage.

Diana Nyad’s Swimming Brought Her Glory, Fame, And An Adversary Dedicated To Exposing Her Lies

Laura Wagner

TOPSHOT - A member of Team USA (R) swims to recover USA's Anita Alvarez (L), from the bottom of the pool during an incident in the women's solo free artistic swimming finals, during the Budapest 2022 World Aquatics Championships at the Alfred Hajos Swimming Complex in Budapest on June 22, 2022. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

U.S. Artistic Swimmer Rescued After Fainting In Pool For A Second Time

Figure Skating

Gymnastics

Table Tennis

Track And Field

Lauren Theisen

Bobby Finke Pulled Off Another Unbelievable Comeback

Patrick Redford

OMAHA, NEBRASKA - JUNE 19: Katie Ledecky and Katie Grimes react during the Women’s 800m freestyle medal ceremony during Day Seven of the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials at CHI Health Center on June 19, 2021 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Katie Grimes Is USA Swimming’s Next Big Katie

Maitreyi Anantharaman

Yui Ohashi of Team Japan celebrates after winning the Women's 200m Individual Medley Final on day five of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre on July 28, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.

The Spotlight Found Yui Ohashi

Ahmed Hafnaoui of Team Tunisia celebrates after winning the gold medal in the Men's 400m Freestyle Final on day two of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre on July 25, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.