How many Great Lakes surfers can swim 10 miles across any lake?

Lake bests challenger


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Foils second attempt by girl, 13, to set age record for swim

By DEIDRE WILLIAMS
News Staff Reporter
9/8/2006


Harry Rosettani
Francis Kerr projects confidence at Sturgeon Point, before embarking on her quest to become the youngest and fastest person to swim across Lake Erie. Cooler water temperatures scuttled the bid.

Francis Kerr tried again to set the record for the youngest and fastest person to swim across Lake Erie, and for the second time, the 13-year-old Canadian girl fell short.
Francis' second attempt started at 7 a.m. Thursday at Sturgeon Point. She was scheduled to reach the shores of Crystal Beach, Ont. at around 1:30 p.m. after swimming about 12.4 miles or 19.5 kilometers. But about 21/2 miles into the swim, Francis was pulled out. The water was too cold.

"She tried but couldn't handle the cold temperatures," said her mother, Margaret. "She really wanted to do this, but the weather conditions just weren't there. Since [the remnants of Tropical Storm] Ernesto came through, the water temperatures have really dropped. Last week, the temperatures were in the mid-70s. Today, they're in the mid-60s."

"It was really cold. When I started, the temperature was 64 degrees. I was just freezing," said Francis, a Toronto eighth-grader who has been swimming since she was 2 years old and competitively since she was 4.

A member of the Variety Village Flames swim team, Francis also plays on her school's basketball team, as well as the cross-country and track and field squads. In addition, she plays soccer for the Scarborough United team.

Had she completed the crossing as planned, Francis would have been the youngest and fastest person to swim across Lake Erie - the 11th largest lake in the world by surface area and the shallowest and warmest of the five great lakes.

According to Solo Swim Ontario - a Canadian corporation that oversees and governs long distance solo swims in Lakes Erie, Ontario and Huron and the Georgian Bay - the youngest person to make the swim was 15 years old. The fastest person made the aquatic journey in 9 hours and 33 minutes.

Francis initially tried to break the age record July 24, but was pulled out of the water less than two miles from shore because the 5- to 7-foot high waves became too powerful. The young swimmer had to arch her back to resist the impact of the waves, but that gave way to lower back pain, said her coach, Vicki Keith-Munro. Neither coach nor swimmer wanted to risk injury.

Though she didn't make it all the way across Lake Erie that time, she did swim a marathon because she hit the 10-mile mark. And even though she hasn't reached her goal, Francis might try again next year.

"I'm not sure yet," she said. "I spent this whole summer training. We'll see."


Magilla Schaus: If she wore a wetsuit it would have been to a marathon swimmer like doing the Tour de France on a mopehead.

The first African American swimmer to swim the English channal was from Buffalo and his name is Charlie "the tuna" Chapman.

There have been other swimmers who have successfully completed swims across the Great Lakes that are not properly documented for their feats but have had their swims documented by the press over the last 50 years. Any Great Lakes swimming organization who fails to recognize these other swimmers is not being just to distance marathon swimming in the Great Lakes.