Solo, Yet Never Alone: Swimming the Great Lakes

The summer of 2014 marks 60 years since Marilyn Bells iconic swim across Lake Ontario. She has entered the Canadian collective consciousness. Most of us can recall a few other crossers over the years--Vicki Keith, Cindy Nicholas, Colleen Shields,MoreThe summer of 2014 marks 60 years since Marilyn Bells iconic swim across Lake Ontario. She has entered the Canadian collective consciousness. Most of us can recall a few other crossers over the years--Vicki Keith, Cindy Nicholas, Colleen Shields, Paula Stephanson, or maybe even Annaleise Carr, who in 2012, at 14 years old, was the youngest person to cross Lake Ontario. But in fact since Bells swim, 74 people have made 66 crossings of Lake Ontario, 19 of Erie, five of Huron and Georgian Bay, two of Michigan, and two of Superior. Most of us have no idea who these people are, or what drives them to undertake such an ordeal. Well, Solo, Yet Never Alone: Swimming the Great Lakes fills us in.Laura E. Young interviews over 40 swimmers, including extensive stories and new interviews with the iconic swimmers whose names we know, plus smaller reflections by the salt of the earth, the regular Canadians who also answered the challenge of swimming a Great Lake.