The LOST Plaque: RECOGNIZE, INSPIRE & PROMOTE
The HISTORY OF LOST SWIMMING
In 2006, Oakville resident, Rob Kent decided he wanted to swim the English Channel.
He had been an international level competitive swimmer but had no experience in open water swimming. It made sense to him that he should train for the English Channel right here in Lake Ontario, except that at that point in time no one swam in Lake Ontario. None at all. It was considered too polluted and too cold. And just crazy. But he started training here anyway and found it was not polluted and that was largely based on outdated information. The part about the lake being cold was true though. Just like the English Channel.
On September 5, 2006 Rob swam 30k of the 34k across the English Channel in 12 hours and 5 minutes before being pulled out in very rough conditions that were under “small craft warning”. Despite the tough swim and disappointing results, Rob had enjoyed the training here in Lake Ontario. So, the next summer he continued to swim here every Saturday morning. A handful of his triathlete friends soon joined him.
A drip became a torrent. And over the next 15 years, word got out that people were actually swimming in Lake Ontario. The group grew from a half a dozen or so swimmers to over 250 members and over 100 swimmers coming out every Saturday morning in the summer. This informal group became the “Lake Ontario Swim Team” or L.O.S.T. Swimming.
Due to the website and blog that Rob wrote about the swims, it also started to get noticed around the world. Swimmers from all over the world started dropping for a swim when they were in Toronto and they still do to this day.
In 2008 the first 3.8k LOST Race was held from the foot of Maple Grove Drive to this spot. It started with a mere 8 swimmers, 4 of which were Rob and his family, 10 years later there were over 200 swimmers.
Out of LOST grew other open water organizations too. Rob and his son Dylan founded the “Global Swim Series”. A global competition of open water races around the world, designed to promote open water swimming, and a healthy, active, and adventurous lifestyle. Within a couple of years, it was the largest swim series in the world with hundreds of races, in dozens of countries, and with 100,000+ participants.
In 2019 Rob was also asked to become the General Manager of Canada’s first professional swim team, and he asked Dylan to join him in that venture too. The Toronto Titans of the International Swimming League became one of 10 teams in the world, made up of all the best Olympic and World Champion swimmers, many of them Canadian Olympic swimmers.
And all of this swimming started right here on LOST Beach.
The main goal then, as it is today, is to promote swimming by making it fun and inclusive, as a healthy, active, and adventurous lifestyle.
We LOSTies love swimming and want everyone to join us, right here at LOST Beach… or around the world!
Happy swimming.
How to get your name on the LOST Plaque?!
1. LOST Champions – swim fast! LOST Champions are the winners of the LOST Race in the 4 divisions: Male wetsuit, Female wetsuit, Male non-wetsuit, Female non-wetsuit.
2. LOST Legends – swim long! LOST Legends are LOSTies who have swum across Lake Ontario.
3. LOST Icons – swim long and somewhere else! LOST Icons are dedicated LOSTies who, in the estimation of the Board, have represented the LOST spirit in completing an iconic swim beyond our shores.
Other Important Details
- LOST Champion names also go on the LOST Race Trophy. Winners of the LOST Mile go on the LOST Mile trophy, but not on plaque.
2. In order to get your name on either as an Icon or Legend you must notify the LOST Board BEFORE the swim to ensure it meets all the criterion.
3. For LOST Legend qualifications, most Lake O crossings are eligible, but must be confirmed BEFORE the swim.
4. For LOST Icon qualifications, as well as having a swim that meets the distance/difficulty criterion (generally around 20k, depending on the swim), “you must be a LOSTie”. This doesn't mean that just because you paid your summer membership you are a true LOSTie. You must demonstrably show that you are a part of the LOST community by contributing in a regular and meaningful way. ie) be on the Board, help organize the LOST Race, help regularly with LOST swims, long-standing contributing member, etc. This is also why the swim must be approved by the Board BEFORE the swim.
5. The Board has deliberately made the LOST Icon category somewhat subjective, since distance isn't strictly the only measure of difficulty in open water swimming. Distance, temperature, typical water conditions, exoticness, etc are all considered. However, the person's ability is not considered, only the merits of the swim. The swim has to be eligible for all people, meaning that just because it is hard for one person to do a swim, it would not qualify unless it was of “plaque-worthy” difficulty for all swimmers. This is also why the swim must be approved by the Board BEFORE the swim.
6. There is no “back-dating”. You may have swum the English Channel 20 times, but unless you were a LOSTie when you did it, they don't make it on the LOST Plaque.
7. In order to conserve space on the Plaque, if someone does multiple swims of the same body of water, the same individual plaque may indicate that there were multiple accomplishments on that one plaque.