The Man Behind the Mask Behind Diana Nyad's Historic Cuba-Florida Swim

When Diana Nyad created history with her record-setting 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida this past Monday, the media spotlight turned immediately—and solely—to the 64-year-old swimmer whose motto, “Never, Ever Give up,” will sound familiar to anyone who has triumphed in an endurance race.

But hidden behind the glory that Nyad so deservedly earned is a 48-year-old Occidental College alumnus and Altadena resident named Stefan Knauss whose role in Nyad’s victory might be compared to the indispensable assistance that Tenzing Norgay offered to Sir Edmund Hillary during his pioneering ascent of the Everest 60 years ago. 

Knauss, a prosthetics expert who graduated from Oxy in 1988 with degrees in religious studies and physics, built a mask for Nyad that arguably played a crucial role in the success of her open-water feat by preventing toxic jellyfish attacks to her face.

Click here to read the full story on the Oxy website.