Advertised as the greatest sporting event in aquatic history, in 1927 the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) joined with the
William Wrigley Company of Canada to stage a 21-mile race for a total purse of $50,000, with $30,000 for the winner. George
Young had been the only finisher and winner the year before in the Wrigley-sponsored race across the Catalina Channel and,
consequently, was set by the local Canadian pundits as the favourite to win the 1927 CNE swim. The pundits, however, had not
reviewed the contestants sufficiently well to realize that Ernst Vierkoetter of Cologne, Germany, on 30 August 1926, had become the
fastest person to cross the English Channel - beating all others by almost two hours with his France-England time of 12:40. A record
that was to stand for another 20 years before it was broken !
At the time of that first CNE swim, Vierkoetter, the son of a German baker, was 26 years old. He had attended Cologne University for two years where he had been studying for the Ministry. He was an excellent linguist and spoke three languages fluently. Apart from his Channel success in the previous year, he had won many events in Europe. His coach, Erich Barensche, accompanied him to Toronto to prepare him for the CNE swim.
174 swimmers and national champions, representing 30 nationalities, had entered this 1927 open event which was due to start at 8:30 am. It was a beautiful, cloudless morning for the start, but that appearance belied the fact that the water temperature in the lake away from the breakwater ranged from 44° to 48°F (6.7° to 8.9°C). The course was in the form of a triangle. The contestants started from the eastern end of the CNE waterfront, directly in front of the Princes' Gates, and were to swim one mile west inside the protection of the breakwater. At this point, they would enter the lake through a gap in the breakwater and swim 3 miles to a buoy marking the apex of the triangle, and would then swim 3 miles back to the starting point, so completing 7 miles. The race involved three loops of this course - a total of 21 miles. The cold water took is toll on many of the swimmers in the early stages of the race. It forced the favourite, George Young, to retire after 5.5 miles. By mid afternoon, only three swimmers remained in the race - Vierkoetter, Georges Michel of France, and William Erickson from New York, USA. Vierkoetter won the race in 11:45, Michel took the $7,500 was second place in 16:45, and Erickson was third in 18:45 with a prize of $2,500.
Due to the black grease that he used during his swims, Ernst was dubbed the "Black Shark" and was reportedly the idol of the crowd after his CNE win.
In 1928, the CNE race was shortened to 15 miles; however, the water was reported as extremely cold and none of the 199 entrants finished the course. The prize money was distributed to those unsuccessful contestants making the best showing. George Michel of France was accorded the winner, having completed 12.125 miles in 11 hours 12 minutes 57 seconds. Ernst Vierkoetter was second having covered 12 miles at a much faster pace in 7:39:37. Louis Mathias of Long Island, NY, was third covering 8.375 miles in 7:05:00. Eleven other swimmers covered 5 miles or more, with William Erickson of New York taking fourth place with a distance of 7.5 miles in a time of 4:58:42. Interestingly, Ernst was listed as Germany for that 1928 race; however, the next year his name appeared on the programme with "Toronto" as his home - he, again, took second place in the race that was 15 miles with a time of 8:18:31:39.3, with Ed. Keating from New York taking first place in 8:18:13.1 - the times being recorded to 0.1 seconds that year. The following year, 1930, is the last time his name appears among the finishers when he took fifth place in 8:30:10.4, for the 15 mile race, behind the winner, Marvin Nelson of Fort Dodge, Iowa, who finished in 7:43:36.2.
Ernst Vierkoetter did not return to Germany. His earnings from the 1927 swim represented a substantial sum. He decided to take up residence in Toronto, and, among other things, he bought a home and educated his daughter to be a doctor. He opened a swimming instruction school, and, until the time of his death on December 13, 1967, acted as coach of the Baraca Club and as an official of the CNE Swims. His wife, Else, his daughter and four grandchildren still lived in Toronto in 1978.
He is shown in the photograph on the left at the 1952 CNE 10-mile marathon with the winner, Cliff
Lumsdon, and Forbes Norris. The photograph is taken from Ron McAllister's book "Swim to Glory".
Ernst Vierkoetter was inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (IMSHOF) in 1978.
The temperatures reported above for the 1927 race were taken from Bill Leveridge's book. Conrad Wennerberg, on the other hand, reports the 1927 swim as 51°-55°F and he indicates that it was the 1928 swim that was 44°-48°F. Wennerberg's figures would be more in keeping with Vierkoetter's performance in the two races.
Information in this report is extracted from two books - Conrad Wennerberg's Wind, Waves and Sunburn and Bill Leveridge's Fair Sport.
Additional material or photographs of Ernst Vierkoetter would be greatly appreciated. Please contact the Web Master.
Created: 6th June 2004
Last Updated: 18th June 2003
