Solo Swims
of Ontario
Safety is our mandate
Marilyn Korzekwa
*First Canadian Triple Crown
*First Canadian Triple Crown of California
*Over 35 Years of Major Marathon Swims
Apart from her Lake Ontario conquests Dr. Marilyn Korzekwa was the first Canadian to complete the Triple Crown of Marathon Swimming (The English Channel, The Manhattan Island swim, and the Catalina Channel) and the first Canadian to complete the California Triple Crown (Catalina and Santa Barbara Channels and Lake Tahoe).
All of Marilyn's swims are documented in the long swims database.
SSO Recorded Swims
International & East Coast Swims
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Santa Barbara Channel (from Santa Cruz Island; 2018)
Lake Ontario, 1983 & 1984
Marilyn Korzekwa, MD was the first person to have completed Lake Ontario swims from both south-to-north and north-to-south directions on September 1-2, 1983 and August 17-18, 1984 respectively. Her 1984 north-south swim was the first completed by a Canadian, and had only been preceded by USA swimmer Diana Nyad in 1974.
The start of the 1983 swim is shown above, together with the approach to Leslie Street Spit (Toronto) with the legendary Cliff Lumsdon driving the inflatable. There was a strong northerly head wind that slowed Marilyn down and hurt her shoulders.
The start and finish of the 1984 swim are depicted below. On the left and about to exit the inflatable to start at Leslie Street Spit, Marilyn is seen well-greased with (L-R) friend, Cliff Lumsdon, and Brian Mercer. At the right, and 21 hours 0 minutes later, Marilyn is seen exiting the water at Lakeside Beach in Port Dalhousie. She was caught in the current exiting from the Port Dalhousie Harbour and had to sprint to get through it to the beach.