HIGH ACHIEVERS: It took time, but marathon swimmer Bill Leonard conquered Lake Ontario in fastest debut swim

By Martin Cleary

Marathon swimmer Bill Leonard knows all about patience and perseverance. He could lecture on the topic.

In 2017, the Metcalfe, ON, father of two planned to conquer the renowned English Channel with a 33.7-kilometre swim. But, using the term of the sport, he was “weathered out.”

For 10 days, he sat on the beach in Dover, England, and never took a stroke. The winds were far too strong to attempt to cross the channel and reach Cap Gris-Nez, France, during the short 10-day available schedule. He lost that window of opportunity for a marathon crossing.

In top physical shape for a long swim, he quickly tried to put together the required pieces with his friends to swim across Lake Ontario. But it never materialized.

He registered again with Solo Swims of Ontario for another Lake Ontario crossing attempt, but the COVID-19 pandemic kept him on shore in 2020.

“I never gave up, but had to wait for the right opportunity and time,” Leonard said in a phone interview this week.

But shortly after the National Capital Commission’s director of real estate won the 21-kilometre Swim Around Charleston race in four hours, 23 minutes and six seconds in the fall of 2024, thoughts of swimming across Lake Ontario resurfaced.

“I felt I was in good shape and I could get back to where I was to make a Lake Ontario swim,” he rightly reasoned.

This time, the opportunity didn’t get away and it was a record-breaking moment … yes and no.

On Monday, Aug. 4, Leonard walked into Lake Ontario from Queen’s Royal Park at the mouth of the Niagara River in Niagara on the Lake, swam 51.5 kilometres to Marilyn Bell Park in Toronto and completed the traditional south-to-north course in the second-fastest time ever, according to Solo Swims of Ontario.

Surrounded by favourable weather and water conditions, encouraged by a supportive crew of a dozen family members, friends and officials and motivated by an email from inaugural Lake Ontario-crosser Marilyn Bell, Leonard, 46, finished the gruelling task in 14 hours, 45 minutes and 24 seconds.

While his time missed the official record for the traditional course by a mere three minutes, his clocking was the fastest by a marathon swimmer in a first attempt to cross Lake Ontario. Scott, 33, set the record in his second Lake Ontario crossing on Aug. 12-13, 1994 at 14:42.

Leonard’s swim across Lake Ontario from Niagara on the Lake to Toronto was the 78th successful result on the traditional route, according to Solo Swims of Ontario. He is the 10th (tied) oldest swimmer to complete the daunting task.

At 16 years old, Bell was the first swimmer to cross Lake Ontario from Niagara on the Lake to Toronto in 20:55 on Sept. 8-9, 1954. She still has a keen interest in the marathon swimmers going head-to-head with one of the five Great Lakes and sent Leonard an email, when he was about 10 kilometres from shore or about 11 hours into his race.

“As Bill gets ever closer, I am getting more excited by the minute and wish him a fantastic final stroke,” Bell wrote. “Hope we get a picture of him climbing the ladder (out of the water).

“All good wishes to Bill’s team and congratulations to the navigator and pilot. As always, my heart is always full of gratitude to the swim master and SSO (Solo Swims of Ontario) for another safe crossing of our Great Lake.”

Instead of climbing a ladder, Leonard simply touched the shore to end his aquatic adventure, which triggered a sensation of joy and the smallest tad of disappointment.

“I was trying to break the record and a couple of people knew,” Leonard explained. “You can’t break a record on talent alone. You need a lot of luck. I knew the conditions and I had a chance.

“It didn’t bother me (missing the record), but it does bother me. But so much went well. I enjoyed the experience.

“I’m glad I did it this year. It all came together – the training, nutrition, weather, water temperature (22C to 23C) and crew. I’m getting older and there are only so many good years for my A-game.”

In the early morning darkness of Aug. 4, Leonard covered his body with Penaten cream to protect his body against sunburn, chafing and heat retention. He covered 99 per cent of his body, but missed a small strip in his lower back, which became his sunburned red badge of courage.

Despite leaving at 4:20 a.m., which was 20 minutes later than planned, everything fell smartly into place for the big task of trying to conquer a big lake. He wanted to leave at 4 a.m. to reduce his time swimming against occasional lake currents. Maybe that added a few extra minutes, which prevented a record-setting time.

When he won the 2024 Swim Around Charleston on Oct. 13, Leonard was training 140 kilometres a week at a variety of Ottawa pools, including Champagne and Altea.

His plan for a successful Lake Ontario crossing required him to ramp up his training in May, June and July to between 215 to 220 kilometres a month. He followed a schedule of five 10-kilometre and one 15-kilometre swims each week, which would take about 2.5 hours and 4 to 4.5 hours respectively. Besides pool swimming, Leonard also trained in the Rideau River at Manotick.

Leonard also assembled a strong support team. Mike Zavitz oversaw Leonard’s lake-crossing attempt as the swim master from Solo Swims of Ontario, and Swim 51/King Slayer Sportfishing provided a main boat and two Zodiac boats piloted by Devin and Connor.

His marathon swim team also featured father Robert, son Eli, and friends Kurt Rohmann, Steve DiBiase, Tom Burns, Dominique Leonard, Bryan Flannigan, Nancy Black and Antoine Normandin.

Leonard’s family and friends made sure he was well fuelled in his journey. He would stop every 30 minutes, roll onto his back and drink 350 millilitres of water, which included 40 grams of carbohydrates and electrolytes, and have a brief conversation. From start to finish, he did this 29 times. He had enough nutrition for 20 hours, just in case.

For the first two hours, the water was somewhat choppy and he came in contact with the occasional sandbar. But the next six hours were a dream as the water was “flat as glass.” In the second half of his swim, the wind and current picked up and there were two- to three-foot waves for the last few hours. May have lost some time there on the hunt for the record.

At one point, a container ship was heading their way. The ship’s captain was asked to steer the vessel behind the swimming flotilla. The captain agreed, but changed course and went in front of them. Extra waves caused by the ship could have added extra minutes to Leonard’s time.

“But it was almost the best-case scenario,” Leonard said with happiness.

When he finally reached shore in Marilyn Bell Park at about 7:05 p.m., he was thrilled to have completed his swim across Lake Ontario.

“I was happy. I was really proud of my crew. They were encouraging me and screaming and there were high fives. At no time was I concerned that I wouldn’t finish,” Leonard added.

“I’ll have to have a party for them.”

Leonard met his wife Michelle and daughter Penelope along with Rohmann’s wife Nadine and daughter Ivy on the Toronto shoreline before joining the entire crew for a champagne toast, celebration and post-race talk.

If the day wasn’t long enough for Leonard, it was far from over. The boats needed to be returned to Niagara on the Lake, which meant the main boat towed the two Zodiacs and some crew on a 3.5-hour return trip mostly in the dark.

At least the return trip was much faster and Leonard was surrounded by the warmth of clothes instead of the coolness of the water.

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