Swimmer Marilyn Bell recalls historic Lake Ontario crossing

The mayor of Toronto, his wife and coach Gus Ryder show Marilyn Bell their support on her last Lake Ontario swim at the age of 18.

To keep her motivated, her friend Joan Cooke — another swimmer — skipped work and took a water taxi out to meet the escort boat. Near the end, she jumped in the water to keep Bell motivated and swam next to her.

It was about 8 p.m. the following evening, Sept. 9, 1954, when she made it to the shore in Toronto — nearly 21 hours later. Bell was in a daze.

“By the time I finished, I didn’t actually know I was finished. I didn’t know I had completed the swim. I actually fought people who were trying to touch me and pull me out. I kept fighting and swimming away,” she said. “I don’t remember touching the break wall.”

People on the water had gathered in boats, which confused Bell, who was addled by exhaustion. She remembered thinking she dreamed about ghostly figures floating on the water at the end of the race.

“I remember seeing faces. They were like dismembered bodies; heads and shoulders. I didn’t see the full bodies, because it was dark.” Only later did she figure out they were real people on boats.

Everywhere on shore, a huge cheer erupted. Throughout the day — as it became clear Bell was the only one left in the water — bitter rivalries ended and people rallied around the one swimmer with a chance. The radio and papers covered her every move. People knew she was struggling in the swim’s final hour. When she got to land, everyone knew her name.

“They’d been broadcasting all day long,” she said. “Nobody expected me to be the one left, but they were so invested in what I was trying to do it that suddenly it was like they were all on the same team.”

After the race

Fame was immediate for Marilyn Bell, who became an emblem of national pride in Canada during an era where it seemed like the U.S. always won. “I was like I was everyone’s kid,” she explained.

After the win, she toured schools giving motivational speeches to kids and ran the publicity circuit. She flew around Canada and the States appearing on TV shows or radio. She got a ticker-tape parade. During that time, she appeared as a guest on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

“Compared to the aftermath, the swim was easy,” she explained.

Bell had been attending a small Catholic convent school before she made the swim. Touring to talk about her accomplishment — and avoiding the glare of the press — meant that life would never be the same.

“It was hard on me,” she said. “For several weeks after the swim, I couldn’t go back to school. I was devastated.”

Her family also lived in a hotel after she became the first person to swim Lake Ontario, since reporters had her childhood home totally staked out.

Despite their contract with Florence Chadwick, who didn’t finish, CNE awarded the $10,000 prize money to Bell. She continued to swim, but now everyone in Canada and abroad had their eyes trained on her performances.

At age 17 she swam the English Channel. And at age 18, she attempted to swim the Strait of Juan de Fuca — between Washington State and Victoria, British Columbia. Her first attempt in 1956 ended in failure.

“There was no expectation that I was going to fail,” she remembered. “When I tried it, no woman had successfully done it.”

During her first attempt, there was perfect weather. Still she only made it three-fourths of the way. “The water didn’t beat me. I beat myself,” she said.

On Aug. 26, 1956, during bad weather, she made another attempt — at first intending it as a practice swim. After 10 hours and 38 minutes, she made it to the other side.

“That was, for me, my crowning achievement,” she said. “I went back and did it, because I had to try.”

After Juan de Fuca, she officially retired from professional swimming. She’d stayed in touch with that lifeguard from Atlantic City, one Joe Di Lascio and they were in love. They knew they were going to get married soon.

She didn’t look back. She didn’t rethink her decision. “I was in love. I wanted to get married. I wanted to have a family.”

Her husband’s family lived in New Jersey and she decided to move to the States. Her wedding day also was an event in Canada. The media covered it from afar, but it was a small, intimate ceremony with about 60 people.

“The day we were married was the day I left Canada,” she said.

A public legacy, a private life

In America, Bell Di Lascio became a teacher, in part, because of the influence of her coach Gus Ryder. Before retiring, she taught for 20 years, teaching preschool, second and third grades — along with some special education classes.

Back in Toronto, and Canada in general, they continue to celebrate Marilyn Bell as a hero. The park where she landed was renamed the Marilyn Bell Park. She’s had two books written about her, two movies made about her life — one a documentary, another a TV mini-series — countless accolades and a ferry boat named in her honor.

Although living in the U.S. has meant some anonymity, fans still find her whenever a new edition of a Canadian textbook mentions her name — or when someone writes about her old feats in a sports journal. After the 1990s, Internet articles also kept her name fresh in people’s minds.

“It’s amazing how people would find me,” she said. “It’s never dried up.”

Bell Di Lascio added: “I still get, surprisingly, a lot of contacts from school kids.”

Later this year, on Sept. 8-9, it will be the 60th anniversary of her famous Lake Ontario crossing. In the past, anniversaries of the swim have led to huge celebrations. Di Lascio didn’t know if Toronto has something cooked up for 2014, however.

What she accomplished on the lake still has reverberations. According to The Globe and Mail, only 56 other swimmers have crossed the lake since Marilyn’s first success. Most of them have been women, including the youngest of them — a 14-year-old girl in 2012.

It didn’t really occur to her back then, but Marilyn Bell Di Lascio also sparked and pushed forward the feminist movement in her country.

“It was an awakening, and parents picked up on that. The media picked up on that too,” she said. “The most interesting thing is that I didn’t pick up on that until years later.

“My husband had always said to me when the feminist movement was really getting going, he said, ‘I know you don’t believe this. I know you don’t see yourself in that picture, but you were a catalyst.’”

She and her late husband ended up having four kids. Di Lascio lives in New Paltz now at the retirement community Woodland Pond to be closer to her kids and grandkids, who live in the area.

At the retirement home, people were surprised to learn who Bell Di Lascio was, but they’re taking it in stride. Whenever Woodland Pond gets a Canadian visitor, they’re usually pretty excited to learn that Bell is in the house.

Bell recently gave a talk entitled “Evening with a Champion” to other seniors about her swimming career.

Even after years of motivational speaking, teaching and touring the world, she still has some more wisdom to impart.

“It’s so important when we fail at something that we don’t give up on ourselves. Perhaps we’re trying to do something we don’t have the skills for, or the timing isn’t right,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean you don’t keep trying. You may have to reset your direction or change your goal.

“It’s so important, especially for young people, to know that it’s okay to fail. The worst thing to do is to be so afraid of failing that you don’t give it your best shot.”