KEY WEST, Fla.— Defeated before in bids to swim from Cuba to Florida, Diana Nyad would cry and rage through swollen lips and welts at the jellyfish tentacles that lashed her and derailed her plans to become the first swimmer to make the 110-mile crossing without a shark cage.

Her lips were swollen Monday, as in the past, when she emerged from the waters off Key West, but the 64-year-old American endurance swimmer managed a tight smile for supporters. And this time, she was victorious.

The stinging sea life that had plagued her four previous attempts to swim the Florida Straits failed to appear until the final hours of her journey.

After about 53 hours in the water, she stepped onto the sands of a Florida beach, her crossing complete.