Jay Serdula

Jay Serdula is a 35 year old man with Asperger’s syndrome (Autism Spectrum Disorder) from Kingston whose goal was to swim Lake Ontario to raise awareness and money for Asperger’s syndrome. He was not diagnosed until in his 20’s and hoped that by raising awareness of the syndrome, other children would not be misunderstood like he was. 

Jay has the distinction of the longest time for a Lake Ontario crossing at 41 hours 1 minute. He swam from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Leslie St. Spit on July 28 – 30, 2008. A northwest wind for half of the second day created waves of 1-2 feet, which slowed him down to 1 km/hr. Then he hit the Humber current and his GPS position actually went backwards. It took an extra 3 hours to get back on pace and course. In the last 2 hours and 2 kilometers he really struggled with fatigue and hypothermia but was lucid and able keep going. 

The Swim Master, Marilyn Korzekwa, said, "Jay is an inspiration to all athletes, both disabled and able. He pushed himself further than I have ever seen a human being push themselves. He never asked to come out. He regrouped and revived his stroke countless times in the last 2 hours displaying immense courage every time."