To help lakes, local man swims across big one: Ontario
Wilfrid Laurier prof’s 18-hour trip raises funds for Great Lakes
A Hamilton man swam across the deep waters of Lake Ontario to raise funds and awareness for the Great Lakes.
Loren King, a 48-year-old professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, started his nearly-52-kilometre journey in Niagara-on-the-Lake Monday evening and after swimming for more than 18 hours came ashore in Toronto Tuesday afternoon.
“We just had a perfect night and then a perfect day,” said King, who said the water remained around 20 C from the time he took off at 8:40 p.m. to completion just before 3:15 p.m. the following day.
After swimming competitively as a kid and lifeguarding throughout college, King started open-water swimming seriously about five years ago when he moved back to the Hamilton area from the U.S.
Coming back, he said he found “the lakes, frankly, quite a bit more improved than I remember them.” King has established a fund through the Hamilton Community Foundation called the Great Lakes Trust to raise money to support organizations working to improve the waters, including Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and the Bay Area Restoration Council. So far, about $7,000 has been raised, he said.
“We hear a lot about the things we’re doing wrong with the environment,” King said. “One of the things I’ve hoped for this swim and the Great Lakes Trust is to highlight the things we’re doing right and the things we can do right.
“The lakes are better. Municipalities are starting to think about really basic things that just weren’t really on their radar about watershed management.”
While there are other environmental funds set up at the Hamilton Community Foundation, this is the only one dedicated strictly to the Great Lakes, said vice-president of philanthropic services Sheree Meredith.
“This is unique, so it’s pretty exciting,” she added.