Lake Ontario or Lake Erie?
Annaleise Carr swam across both, but which was harder, Lake Ontario in 2012 or Lake Erie in 2014?
“I got asked that question a lot right after I did Lake Erie and it’s really hard to compare the two just because they are so totally different lakes,” said Carr, who 10 years ago on Aug. 19, at the age of 14, became the youngest person to swim to cross Lake Ontario, breaking a record set in 1954.
Two years later the Walsh, Ont. swimmer completed a crossing of Lake Erie, both times raising substantial funds for Camp Trillium, a camp for children with cancer near Waterford – more than $460,000 in total. Her original fundraising goal in 2012 had been $30,000.
“Lake Ontario, it’s deeper, it’s colder. The waves are bigger but not as choppy. Lake Erie, it’s a different kind of hard because the lake might be warmer but the waves are choppier. It’s a different kind of mindset you have to get into to get through those waves compared to Lake Ontario’s bigger, colder waves.”
The Lake Ontario swim was about 52 kilometers, along the same route taken by long distance swimmer Marilyn Bell in 1954. Carr began at Niagara-on-the-Lake and ended 27 hours later
inToronto.
About four kilometers from shore in 2012, she ran into Lake Ontario currents that kept her from “going anywhere” but was encouraged after seeing the lights of the shore and hearing the crowd waiting for her arrival at Marilyn Bell Park.
Today, Carr sometimes looks back at the two lake crossings, sometimes battling five-foot waves, exhaustion and darkness, with mixed emotions. First and foremost, she is proud of the support generated for Camp Trillium, both in funds and awareness.
“I am glad I did it for the reasons I did it. Camp Trillium is such an amazing place. The kids there are amazing and I’m really glad that I got to be so close to that and got to see everything that happens there. It’s just an incredible place.”
“She’s a hero to Camp Trillium and its campers and their families,” said Fiona Fisher of Camp Trillium in 2012.
Less often, Carr sometimes wonders “what was I thinking?”
“I was going into Grade 9 and I was doing all this training and I didn’t really get to be a kid at the time because I was just so busy doing all the speaking engagements. It definitely took a toll on me (in Grade 9). I didn’t really get to do all the experiences that my peers were doing… but I wouldn’t have changed anything either. I definitely do not regret it at all.”
She admits the details of her two lake crossings, being in the water hours at a time, are a bit of a blur these days.
“Honestly, both of those swims are like a blur to me at this point. Sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday and other times it feels like it was forever ago,” said Carr, who today lives in Tillsonburg and works at RBC in Port Dover.
Now 24 years old, Carr has a fiancé, Castor Baker, and two children, ages seven weeks and 20 months, and she considers herself retired from distance swimming.
“I don’t swim too much anymore. Maybe in the future I’ll consider doing something again but right now my main focus and priority is my kids and family.”
Coaching, however, might be an option in the future.
“I definitely want my kids to swim and be on swim teams, so I would love to coach one day. If they want to do other sports, that’s fine too. And if anybody reached out to me to help them cross any lakes, I would definitely be more than happy to do anything like that.”
She does remember and still appreciates the support she received from family and community volunteers. Carr had a team of at least 20-plus people backing her up.
“A lot of preparation went into that for sure. My whole family really helped me out because I was so young at the time. They did a lot of the planning and just helping me get everything set up, and obviously my crew as well. People just kept volunteering to help me in any way possible.”
The community support for the young swimmer was strong. The municipal pool in Simcoe was renamed the Annaleise Carr Aquatic Center and a plaque about her record-breaking swim is located outside of the building.
As an open water swimmer, she remembers being intrigued by Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.
“You start hearing about Marilyn Bell and all these other really amazing swimmers that have done it in the past. It’s just something you start to think about for sure.”
After crossing Lake Ontario she considered swimming across the English Channel, but decided to stick with the Great Lakes.
“It’s a much smaller crew when you do the English Channel because you can’t bring as many people with you. It’s a whole different kind of thing and different planning to go into that kind of swim.”
In August 2014, Carr’s record of being the youngest person to cross Lake Ontario was broken by Trinity Arsenault of St. Catharines. Both swimmers completed the swim when they were 14 years old, but Arsenault was 87 days younger at the time of her swim.
– with files from Postmedia
