Solo Swims of Ontario Inc.Solo Swims of Ontario Inc.
Canadian Dan Foster completed the 42nd crossing of Lake Ontario, with a time of 19 hours 12 minutes on 15th August 1998, at age 33. Starting from Niagara-on-the-Lake in the early morning at 12:37 am, he finished at the Leslie Street Spit in Toronto at 7:49 pm. At the time of the swim, Dan was working as an Audio-Visual Technician with Imperial Oil and living in Mississauga, Ontario.
Dan competed for seven years as an age-group swimmer and, at the time of his Lake Ontario swim, had competed for the Etobicoke Masters Swim Club for five years. In 1997, he completed the Key West open-water Swim, placing 12th (10th man) with a time of 4:36:40 in a field of 70 swimmers who completed the course.
Dan's successful Lake Ontario swim came after a cancellation on the previous weekend due to rough conditions; however, his swim on August 15th encountered westerly winds of about 15 knots shortly after the start, with the waves increasing to 2 metres before dying down to almost nothing around 8:00 am. The water remained constant at about 70°F throughout the swim, except for a warm start at 74°F in the Niagara River. The winds and waves in the early stages of the swim took their toll on Dan, who was greatly fatigued at the completion of the ordeal.
Colleen Shields was the Swim Master who monitored this swim, along with John Scott who was a trainee Swim Master at that stage.
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Created: 8th June 2002
Last Updated: 19th March 2003
