A man can be beaten but not defeated, How Santiago avoids defeat in "The Old Man and the Sea"

"They beat me, Manolin...they truly beat." The first thing that one should consider when addressing this question is what does it mean to be beaten? Beaten in this context should not be interpreted literally as it actually means to be defeated. Bearing this in mind would I agree with Santiago's evaluation of the outcome of his adventure at sea? The answer to that question would most definitely be no. Santiago states this on (Page 103) …showed first 75 words of 1416 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1416 total…went out to look at Santiago's skiff and measure the length of the marlins skeleton, they stood in awe and they now had a new found respect for Santiago. Santiago the humble protagonist can be seen as a victor at the end of the novel. He never backed down from the challenges. He faced them despite the possible outcome and in the end even though his trophy was destroyed he was never defeated, never "beaten".