Five Ontario women set out to make history Tuesday by diving into cold water to relay-swim the length of Lake Ontario.
The women jumped off a dock near Kingston, Ont. Tuesday around 10 a.m. to begin their 305.2-kilometre journey.
“I'm pumped, excited, nervous, every emotion you could possibly think of right now,” swimmer Nicole Mallettetold CTV Toronto prior to kicking off the swim.
Mallette, 48, joins Colleen Shields, 61, Samantha Whiteside, 23, and Rebekah Boscariol, 18. All of them have made the 52-kilometre swim across Lake Ontario from Toronto to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The youngest in the group, Mona Sharari, 18, crossed the English Channel last year.
The team has been training six to seven times a week since early June.
“There’s been yoga throughout the year, swimming in cold water, swimming in waves, just swimming in any conditions we might come across,” team member Samantha Whiteside said.
During one of their last training swims the water had cooled to just 9 C.
The relay trip across the length of Lake Ontario has never been completed.
The women will swim in two hour shifts around the clock, covering about 61 kilometres each.
“It is amazing to see this happening and launching from Kingston and I want to congratulate the women involved in the swim who look to raise money for such an important cause to bring gender equality for women,” Kingston Mayor Mark Gerretsen said at the launch.
The team hopes to raise $300,000 for the “Because I am a Girl” initiative.
If all goes well, the team will swim into Burlington’s Spencer Smith Park on Saturday around 6 p.m.
“We would love to see that park packed with supporters ringing bells, honking horns, and cheering us in,” Mallette said.
You can donate and track the team’s progress here: http://becausegirlscan.ca/
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Zuraidah Alman
