The straight-line distance between North Bimini and the Florida coast is about 60 miles, but Miss Nyad's trainers said that with currents she had to swim farther. She negotiated the powerful Gulf Stream, which frustrated other attempts to swim from the Bahamas to Florida, without difficulty.

While it is geographically "possible" in the sense that the distance is roughly 50 to 60 nautical miles, swimming from Florida to the Bahamas is an extreme and life-threatening feat that has only been accomplished by a handful of elite marathon swimmers. The journey involves crossing the Gulf Stream, a powerful current that flows northward at speeds of 2 to 2.5 knots, which can push a swimmer miles off course. Beyond the physical exhaustion of swimming for 24+ hours, you would face significant hazards including high-traffic shipping lanes, unpredictable weather, and the presence of sharks and stinging jellyfish. In 2026, any such attempt requires a professional support boat, navigators, and medical staff to manage dehydration and hypothermia. For the average person, "swimming" to the Bahamas is entirely impossible; it is strictly a world-class endurance challenge that requires months of specialized training and high-level logistical planning.