Annaleise Carr: 14-Year-Old Girl Swims Lake Ontario

by NowPublic Staff | August 20, 2012 at 07:47 am

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14-Year-Old Annaleise Carr Becomes Youngest Person to Swim Lake Ontario

Annaleise Carr, a 14-year-old girl described as a "toothy, diminutive girl from Norfolk County", Ontario, became the youngest person to swim Lake Ontario, after a 27-hour ordeal. Carr finished the swim at around 9pm local time on August 19, 2012.

Carr's motive: to help kids with cancer. She's too young to volunteer at Camp Trillium, so her Plan B was to swim across a Great Lake to raise money for the program.

The route that Annaleise Carr swam was first set by Marilyn Bell, herself only 16 when she became the first person to swim Lake Ontario in 1954. In 2009, 15-year-old Jade Scognamillo took the record as the youngest Lake Ontario swimmer. However, Carr did not beat Scognamillo's time of 19 hours, 59 minutes and 49 seconds.

The Marilyn Bell route spans 52km (32.3 miles) from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Toronto.

Annaleise Carr trained for a year to do the Lake Ontario Swim, practicing night swims and planning for mishaps such as cramps and illness. Carr's coach was nearby in a Zodiac raft, as well as a rotating group of pace swimmers and lookouts in kayaks.. Annaleise Carr's core temperature was monitored with the aid of a thermometer pill.