From the Oakville Beaver Newspaper:
Rob Kent could appreciate the irony.
The 47-year-old had tested himself all over the world, from attempting to swim across the English Channel (he was pulled out of the water after 12 hours, unconscious and hypothermic) to successfully completing a seven-day marathon across the Sahara Desert. But Kent had yet to take on the challenge that loomed just a few minutes from his Oakville home.
Kent finally struck that item off his bucket list last weekend, entering the lake Sunday near Port Dalhousie and exiting it nearly 21 hours later at downtown Oakville’s Lighthouse Pier, becoming the 51st person in history to successfully swim across Lake Ontario.
“It was one of those things that just had to work,” Kent, who works as a currency trader for a Toronto bank, said when asked to explain why he waited so long in his life to attempt a crossing of Lake Ontario.
“The thing with any of these big adventures is that you get wrapped up in them, but you still have to carry on with your real life, your wife, your kids, your job. It has to be something that works time-wise and commitment-wise and financially-wise.”
Not that Kent had been oblivious to Lake Ontario all that time. Quite the contrary, in fact.
Six years ago, the former high-level competitive swimmer (Kent competed in the Olympic trials in 1988) turned to Lake Ontario as a place to train for his attempt to cross the English Channel. After realizing how much he enjoyed swimming in the lake, Kent began the Lake Ontario Swim Team (LOST) that started as a handful of triathletes.
Today, the club is more than 200 strong, featuring swimmers of all ages and abilities who meet each Saturday morning to swim along Oakville’s scenic shoreline. LOST also holds an annual 3.8-kilometre race (the swim distance in the Ironman competitions) and the Masters Swimming Canada 10K national championship.
Kent is just one of seven LOST members who have attempted or will attempt to cross Lake Ontario this month. Oakville resident Madhu Nagaraja successfully crossed earlier this month while Francois Hamel had to be pulled out of the water due to shoulder injuries. Michele Benoit, Amanda Kelessi, Annaleise Carr and Colleen Shields will try their crossings later this month.
Swimming across Lake Ontario didn’t all of a sudden get easier. Kent said the high number of attempts this year is simply due to increased interest in swimming in the lake, thanks to the LOST club.
“The thing I’m probably most proud of is how we’ve essentially brought back the golden days of swimming in Lake Ontario. It’s just cool that we’ve created a place and a group and have enough momentum to keep the whole thing going,” Kent said.
“I started LOST, but it only grew because people wanted it. Now that LOST is as big as it is, people want to come here and want to do this.”