The Crossing of Lake Ontario by Marilyn Bell

Marilyn Bell

There are two plaques in Toronto about this famous swimmer.
Both can be seen on this page.

Photo and text by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted June, 2009

Photo Source - Wikipedia

In Budapest Park, on the lakeshore, just west of the Palais Royale and the pedestrian bridge connecting the lakeshore to the Queensway/King Street intersection, is this Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada plaque which says:

Plaque coordinates: 43.636453 -79.448643

On the evening of September 9, 1954, 16-year-old marathon swimmer Marilyn Bell became the first person to swim across Lake Ontario. Racing unofficially against the heavily favoured American swimmer Florence Chadwick, Bell endured eels, high winds, and frigid waters for almost 21 hours to complete her world-record-breaking 51.5-kilometre swim here. Her courageous achievement won unprecedented attention both at home and abroad for the sport of marathon swimming in Canada. Bell's swim demonstrated that women could compete in even the most gruelling sports and fostered immense national pride.

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted September, 2006

Photo by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted October, 2012

At the south end of the former Ontario Government building (now the Liberty Grand) at Exhibition Place is another plaque celebrating Marilyn Bell. Here's what the plaque says:

Plaque coordinates: 43.630667 -79.426630

This plaque is dedicated to the honour of Marilyn Bell, a Toronto, Ontario girl who on Sept. 9th, 1954, at the age of 16 years, performed the magnificent athletic feat of swimming the full width of Lake Ontario, thus being the first know person to have accomplished this arduous task, of which all Canadians are justly proud.

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