TORONTO - A 14-year-old Caledon, Ont., girl laid claim Saturday to barely week-old records for being the youngest person to swim across Lake Erie, and for the fastest crossing.
Jade Scognamillo set out from Sturgeon Point, N.Y., just before 7:30 a.m. Saturday, surrounded by about two dozen friends, supporters and spotters travelling along by boat.
"The waves were pretty high, pretty choppy, but I didn't come across any seaweed which was good, but it was pretty cold," Scognamillo told The Canadian Press in a phone interview.
She completed the 19.2 kilometre swim to Crystal Beach, Ont., in five hours, 40 minutes and 35 seconds.
"I wasn't expecting to break the record by so much," Scognamillo said. "I'm really happy about that."
Last weekend, Natalie Lambert, 14, of Kingston, Ont., made a 20-kilometre crossing from Fort Erie, Ont., to Derby, N.Y., in just under eight hours in nearly ideal conditions -- but did it using the gruelling butterfly stroke.
"I was relieved that it was over," a weary Scognamillo said, recounting the moment she came ashore, greeted right away by her teary-eyed mother, Jane.
"My mom was really proud of me, and so's my dad" she said.
"She's done so much to help my swims."
Scognamillo's birthdate is Dec. 8, 1993, making her roughly four months younger than Lambert, spokeswoman Francis Gambino said.
Last August, Lambert became the youngest person to swim across Lake Ontario in a record time of just more than 23 hours. She plans to make a 52-kilometre crossing of the west end of the lake using the front stroke next week.
Scognamillo has been swimming competitively since age nine, and immigrated to Canada in 2005 from her native England, a news release from her school north of Toronto stated.
She's not sure what her next potential aquatic conquest will be, but says being an long-distance Olympic swimmer is certainly a long-term goal.
"It's something I would love to do."
Like Lambert, Scognamillo's crossing was in support of charity. Scognamillo has raised about one-third of her goal of $30,000 for the neonatal unit at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, Gambino said. The money is for the purchase of an infant incubator.
"They've helped a lot of people, and I know many people who've been there," Scognamillo said. "And I like working with kids, too."
Lambert's swims have helped raise money for a program to help disabled children compete in sports in Kingston. Her older sister Jenna, who has cerebral palsy, swam across Lake Ontario two summers ago at age 15.