Angela Kondrak

At age 17, Angela Kondrak, a resident of Toronto, became the 9th person (6th female) to cross the lake, with a time of 23 hours 48 minutes on 22-23 August 1976. Angela's success, with coach Art Dufresne, came after two previous attempts to cross the lake in 1974 and 1975. Her first attempt, at age 14, came after she had successfully competed in the 1974 La Tuque swim.

Swim Master Ian Lenathen reported that Angela averaged 60 strokes per minute (ranging between 55 and 63), and fed a total of 14 times on a variety of nutrients that included: peaches and honey; chicken broth; herb tea: and Lucozade (a carbonated, carbohydrate drink). She started from the mouth of the Niagara River at Niagara-on-the-Lake at 1:35 am on Sunday, August 22nd 1976, and landed at Ontario Place in Toronto at 1:23 am the following day.

During her swim, her coach talked, and played Angela's favourite music, into a transmitter which was picked-up by a receiver on the inside of Angela's swim cap. A calm start to the swim, at 69degrees F, had changed to a south-west wind with a 1.5 to 4 foot chop by daylight. The wind eventually died down when she was about 4 miles from Ontario Place but, with darkness, a heavy mist set in and obscured the Toronto skyline; however, a fireworks display at Ontario Place helped to lift Angela's spirits. The Swim Master reported that pacers, Bob Bannerman and Cliff Lumsden, were major assets in Angela's success.