Nanomagnets are widely used to store information in non-volatile spintronic devices. Spin waves can transfer information with low-power consumption as their propagations are independent of charge transport. However, to dynamically couple two distant nanomagnets via spin waves remains a major challenge for magnonics. Here we experimentally demonstrate coherent coupling of two distant Co nanowires by fast propagating spin waves in an yttrium iron garnet thin film with sub-50 nm wavelengths. Magnons in two nanomagnets are unidirectionally phase-locked with phase shifts controlled by magnon spin torque and spin-wave propagation. The coupled system is finally formulated by an analytical theory in terms of an effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. Our results are attractive for analog neuromorphic computing that requires unidirectional information transmission. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]@en