Bill Leonard swims Lake Ontario in second fastest time

Bill Leonard, from Ottawa, almost broke the record on the traditional course on August 4, 2025. He swam from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Marilyn Bell Park, a distance of 50.5 km, in 14:45:24. It was a nail biter watching the SPOT tracker because the time to beat was 14:42 (John Scott 1994). He did a heroic job of chasing the record by picking up his pace in the last 2 hours. The conditions were quite good with only a few waves and a lovely temperature at 22-23 deg. C. Unfortunately, the air quality due to forest fire smoke was very unhealthy but that didn't seem to slow Bill down.

Bill already has a lot of success in 7 marathon swim races including Charleston (came in 1st), Atlantic City (Absecon Island circumnavigation, came in 1st), Manhattan circumnavigation (3rd) and the Red River in Minnesota (2nd).

This swim prompted a discussion regarding the record. The fastest time on the record list is John Kinsella, from a professional race in 1978 that went from Port Dalhousie to Ontario Place a distance of 48.8 km. This is significantly shorter than the "traditional" route that SSO now considers for time records.