US swimmer Diana Nyad - the first to swim across the Florida Straits without a shark cage - was presented with Cuba's Order of Sporting Merit on Saturday, the first American athlete to receive the award.

Nyad, after four failed attempts, successfully swam from Cuba to Key West, Florida in September 2013 without a shark cage, in a 53-hour feat.

Speaking in Spanish, the 65-year-old said the Cuban award was "the most precious honor of my whole life."

First Vice-President Miguel Diaz-Canel, also head of Cuba's Olympic Committee, said Nyad had been given the award in "recognition of her prowess, as a symbol of friendship between our peoples."