Veteran long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad reaches dry land on Tuesday -- although not the way she had hoped.

The 62-year-old American, who battled squalls, rough seas and jellyfish, had set out from Cuba on Saturday to cross the Florida Straits.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) DIANA NYAD, MARATHON SWIMMER, SAYING:

"All the mountains have been climbed. All the deserts have been crossed. But this piece of ocean has never been done by a swimmer without a cage. And I'm a think big, live large person so back in the seventies when I first imagined this, the history is what filled my senses."

It was her fourth attempt to make the swim.

Completing it would have given her the world record for the longest unassisted open ocean swim, which means without a shark cage.

The marathon swimmer gave up at a point where she had between 28 and 40 hours of swimming left.

She had already swam for 50 hours and said this was her last attempt.

The Cuba-U.S. swim has only been completed once by 22-year-old Australian Susan Maroney, who used a shark cage when she made the crossing in May 1997.