After completing a record-breaking swim, Diana Nyad told ABC News’ Gio Benitez Monday that people were “hungry for that life message of never, ever give up… and I didn’t.”

Nyad is the first person to swim from the approximately 110 miles from Cuba to Florida without the help of a shark cage.

The endurance swimmer told “ABC World News” that she “went through hell on Saturday night for 13 hours.” She pointed to lacerations over her mouth, describing how “it was difficult to breathe, but my resolve on this thing was deep. I just had this attitude of: It doesn’t matter what it is, find a way.”

Click here for the full story of Nyad’s journey.

Related on HuffPost:

Loading Slideshow...

  • Diana Nyad

    United States endurance swimmer Diana Nyad is greeted by a crowd as she walks on to the Key West, Fla., shore Monday, Sept. 2, 2013, becoming the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the help of a shark cage. Nyad arrived at the beach just before 2 p.m. EDT, about 53 hours after she began her swim in Havana on Saturday. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

  • Diana Nyad

    In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Diana Nyad, positioned about two miles off Key West, Fla., Monday, Sept. 2, 2013, swims towards the completion of her approximately 110-mile trek from Cuba to the Florida Keys. Nyad, 64, is poised to be the first swimmer to cross the Florida Straits without the security of a shark cage. (AP Photo/Florida Keys News Bureau, Andy Newman)

  • Diana Nyad

    CORRECTS DISTANCE OF TREK TO ABOUT 110 MILES INSTEAD OF 111 MILES – In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Diana Nyad, positioned about two miles off Key West, Fla., Monday, Sept. 2, 2013, swims towards the completion of her approximately 110-mile trek from Cuba to the Florida Keys. Nyad, 64, is poised to be the first swimmer to cross the Florida Straits without the security of a shark cage. (AP Photo/Florida Keys News Bureau, Andy Newman)

  • Diana Nyad

    In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Diana Nyad, positioned about two miles off Key West, Fla., Monday, Sept. 2, 2013, is escorted by kayakers as she swims towards the completion of her 111-mile trek from Cuba to the Florida Keys. Nyad, 64, is poised to be the first swimmer to cross the Florida Straits without the security of a shark cage. (AP Photo/Florida Keys News Bureau, Andy Newman)

  • Diana Nyad

    In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Diana Nyad, positioned about two miles off Key West, Fla., Monday, Sept. 2, 2013, swims towards the completion of her 111-mile trek from Cuba to the Florida Keys. Nyad, 64, is poised to be the first swimmer to cross the Florida Straits without the security of a shark cage. (AP Photo/Florida Keys News Bureau, Andy Newman)

  • Diana Nyad

    In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, swimmer Diana Nyad talks with her crew less than two miles off Key West, Fla., Monday, Sept. 2, 2013. Nyad, 64, is poised to be the first swimmer to cross the Florida Straits from Cuba to the Florida Keys without the security of a shark cage. (AP Photo/Florida Keys News Bureau, Andy Newman)

  • Diana Nyad

    U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad, 64, points towards Florida before her swim to Florida from Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. Endurance athlete Nyad launched another bid Saturday to set an open-water record by swimming from Havana to the Florida Keys without a protective shark cage. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

  • Diana Nyad

    U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad, 64, adjusts her goggles before jumps into the water and start her swim to Florida from Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. Endurance athlete Nyad launched another bid Saturday to set an open-water record by swimming from Havana to the Florida Keys without a protective shark cage. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

  • Diana Nyad

    U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad, 64, adjusts her swimming cap before her swim to Florida from Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. Endurance athlete Nyad launched another bid Saturday to set an open-water record by swimming from Havana to the Florida Keys without a protective shark cage. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

  • Diana Nyad

    U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad, 64, right, begins her swim to Florida from the waters off Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. Endurance athlete Nyad launched another bid Saturday to set an open-water record by swimming from Havana to the Florida Keys without a protective shark cage. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

  • Diana Nyad

    U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad, 64, jumps into the water to begin her swim to Florida from the waters off Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. Endurance athlete Nyad launched another bid Saturday to set an open-water record by swimming from Havana to the Florida Keys without a protective shark cage. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

  • Diana Nyad

    U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad, 64, begins her swim to Florida from the waters off Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. Endurance athlete Nyad launched another bid Saturday to set an open-water record by swimming from Havana to the Florida Keys without a protective shark cage. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

  • Diana Nyad

    U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad, 64, begins her swim to Florida from the waters off Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. Endurance athlete Nyad launched another bid Saturday to set an open-water record by swimming from Havana to the Florida Keys without a protective shark cage. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

  • Diana Nyad

    U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad, 64, salutes before her swim from Havana, Cuba, to Florida in Havana on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. Endurance athlete Nyad launched another bid Saturday to set an open-water record by swimming from Havana to the Florida Keys without a protective shark cage. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

  • Diana Nyad

    U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad, 64, greets her support team before her swim to Florida from Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013. Endurance athlete Nyad launched another bid Saturday to set an open-water record by swimming from Havana to the Florida Keys without a protective shark cage. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

  • Diana Nyad

    U.S. swimmer Diana Nyad, 64, gestures as she explains the jellyfish bites she experienced in her previous attempt to swim from the Florida Straits to the U.S. mainland, in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Aug. 30, 2013. The U.S. marathon swimmer arrived in Cuba Friday for her fifth attempt to swim across the Florida Straits to the U.S. mainland without a protective cage toward off shark attacks. The grueling swim is scheduled to start early Saturday, weather permitting. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)