Marilyn Grace Bell Di Lascio (born October 19, 1937) is a Canadian retired long distance swimmer. She was the first person to swim across Lake Ontario and later swam the English Channel and Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Personal life
Bell was born in Toronto, Ontario to parents Sydney and Grace Bell. The family moved to North Bay, Ontario, then Halifax, Nova Scotia before returning to Toronto in 1946. After her swimming career, Marilyn married Joe Di Lascio and moved to New Jersey, United States. They raised four children, Lisa, Michael, Jodi, and Janet who were unaware of their mother's fame. Bell earned a BA, became an American citizen and was a teacher for over twenty years. Joe Di Lascio died in September 2007. Bell later moved to New Paltz, New York.
Due to a back injury and scoliosis, Bell gave up swimming in the early 2000s and used a motorized chair to get around. She was able to return to swimming in 2016 at her retirement home when swimming instructor Terry Laughlin helped her change her swimming style from a "classic 50s style" to one that did not put as much strain on her spine.
Swimming career
Bell first took up swimming lessons in 1946 at Oakwood Pool, joining the Dolphinette Club coached by Alex Duff. In 1947, Bell entered her first long-distance race: a one-mile swim at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in Lake Ontario. It was at that first race that Bell first met her future coach Gus Ryder, who was coach of the Lakeshore Swimming Club. Bell soon joined the Lakeshore Club and started practising at the indoor pool of Humberside Collegiate in Toronto.
In July 1954, Bell swam in the Centennial Marathon at Atlantic City, New Jersey. Bell finished first among the women's competitors, seventh-overall, winning . Fellow Lakeshore Swimming Club members Tom Park and Cliff Lumsden finished first and second. The course was 26 miles around Absecon Island in the Atlantic Ocean.
1954 Lake Ontario swim
On September 8, 1954, at 11:07 pm, Bell started her swim across Lake Ontario from Youngstown, New York, at virtually the same time as world-famous United States long-distance swimmer Florence Chadwick. The CNE had offered Chadwick to swim the lake as a publicity effort for the annual exhibition. The offer to Chadwick had disappointed Canadian swimmers, Bell included, who had expected the CNE to hold a marathon race. Because of the criticism, the CNE decided to allow other swimmers, at first as part of a relay race, but Bell decided to try the whole swim herself. According to Bell, she "did it for Canada." Bell took on the challenge without pay with the encouragement of Alexandrine Gibb, a Toronto Daily Star reporter. A third swimmer, Torontonian Winnie Roach, who had swum the English Channel, also decided to swim the lake.
After several hours, Chadwick was forced to give up with stomach pains and vomiting at 6 am. Roach quit at about three-quarters distance, due to cramps. Bell swam for 20 hours and 59 minutes before she finally reached a breakwater near the Boulevard Club, west of the CNE grounds. The planned route straight across the lake was , but she actually had to swim much further because of strong winds and the lack of modern navigation equipment. Waves that day were almost high, water temperature was 21 °C (70 °F) and lamprey eels were attacking her legs and arms.
Bell kept up her strength with Pablum, corn syrup, and lemon juice with water, along with heroic encouragement from her boat crew, including fellow swimmer Joan Cooke and her coach, Gus Ryder. Radio stations broadcast hourly reports of her progress and rival newspapers published "extra" editions throughout the day. At the start, Bell was accompanied by two boats, but a flotilla of boats gathered around her by mid-day. When she finally arrived at about 8:15 p.m., a crowd estimated at over 250,000 was gathered to see her arrive. CNE officials had hoped that Bell would arrive at the CNE waterfront, where a grandstand had been set up, but Ryder guided her to Sunnyside where the amusement park was brightly lit and she could navigate to, and the waves were smaller.
Bell was the first person ever to swim the distance. The CNE decided to give Bell the $10,000 prize, and she was later given numerous gifts, including a car, television, clothing, and furniture. Bell appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. In an article, Bell later thanked the Toronto community for the support, especially Alexandrine Gibb, the Toronto Star reporter. Bell later recounted that she did not hear the crowds cheering when she arrived at the waterfront. Bell heard the cheering for the first time when she heard a recording made by a radio station a few days later.