Nyad finishes swim

NEW YORK – Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad on Thursday ended her 48-hour swim in pool set up at a busy Manhattan intersection to benefit the victims of Superstorm Sandy, an event that raised more than $105,000 in donations.

“It honestly was tougher than I ever imagined it to be,” the 64-year-old Nyad said as she emerged from the pool at 8:48 a.m. Her words were drowned out by whoops, claps and cheers from the crowd.

“That was a long two days,” said Nyad, bundled up in a blanket and receiving fluids intravenously as she spoke to reporters.

Nyad, a New York City native, started the swim Tuesday morning in the 40-yard pool set up in midtown Manhattan’s Herald Square, getting out only to use the restroom. Her aim was to raise money for people still struggling a year after Sandy.

“I think my real point here was, regardless of whether you’re from New York, we, the citizens of the world, can’t forget these people, because a year ago the storm ravaged their lives,” she said.

According to the AmeriCares Foundation, the swim raised $105,711 as of Thursday afternoon.