Solo Swims of Ontario Inc.Solo Swims of Ontario Inc.
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Images above reflect post-Channel honours for Brenda, while the images below relate to Brenda's gruelling crossing of Lake Ontario, along with an image from when she appeared on the Ed Sullivan show.
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On the 13th August 1956, 28-year-old Brenda Fisher became the third person to swim Lake Ontario. Her time of 18 hours 51 minutes broke Marilyn Bell's record time by 2 hours 4 minutes. She started at 10:45 pm from Niagara-on-the-Lake on Sunday 12th August and finished at the eastern tip of Cherry Beach, Toronto, near the Dr Richard L Hearn coal-fired electrical-generating plant (phased out of operation in July 1983).
The Globe & Mail reported this was the 41st attempt on Lake Ontario in the previous two years, and that Brenda swam rain, darkness and intense sun with a freestyle rate of 52 strokes per minute. They also reported that she fed on snacks of tepid tea, well loaded with sugar, and biscuits and sugar cubes. Typical of Lake Ontario in the summer months, Brenda finished a few minutes before a torrential thunderstorm engulfed the Toronto lake-front.
70-year-old Herbert McNally was Brenda's coach and, as she waded ashore, the Globe & Mail reported that he remarked in his north-east England dialect "Ee, it's great. 'Tis 'n all".
Brenda was the daughter of a trawler Skipper from Grimsby, Lincolnshire in England. An attempt in the previous year, 1955, to swim Lake Ontario was unsuccessful.
An accomplished marathon swimmer, Brenda set a Women's Record for the English Channel in 1951 when she won the Daily Mail race in crossing from France to England in 12 hours 42 minutes - 73 minutes faster than the 13:55 record time set back earlier that year by the Welsh swimmer Jenny James. The win gave her the Festival of Britain cup as the fastest lady and the Eva Peron trophy for being the first British lady to finish. The left photograph shows her at the completion of that swim and is taken from Sam Rockett's book "It's cold in the Channel". She completed a second crossing of the Channel in 1954 in 14 hours 36 minutes. Brenda was married to English soccer player Patick Johnston who played for Grimsby Town. The other photos were provided by Brenda to the Channel Swimming Association in 2010 and reflect the reception she received when she returned home to Grimsby after her Channel success. Subsequently, Brenda was named as Britain's leading sportswoman of 1952.
In 1956, Brenda was also reported as the fastest woman to have completed the 29-mile Nile River swim, beating New Zealander Margaret Sweeney. The news video in the article Blonde Beginning describes the challenge as 35 miles with the men's and women's races starting separately.
Previously, at age 20, she was 1948 champion of the Morecambe Bay swim (a 10 mile cross-bay sea swim in north-west England), a title which her sister, Jessie, had won in the previous year. Her brother, Buster, was also a swimmer who had swum the Humber River; he was killed in the Second World War. Brenda was reported to have said that her change from sprint swimming to open-water races was as a tribute to her brother after his death.
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An accomplished marathon swimmer, Brenda set a women's record for the English Channel in 1951 when
she won the Daily Mail race in crossing from France to England in 12 hours 42 minutes - 73 minutes faster
than the 13:55 record time set back earlier that year by the Welsh swimmer Jenny James. The win gave her
the Festival of Britain cup as the fastest lady and the Eva Peron trophy for being the first British lady to
finish. The left photograph shows her at the completion of that swim and is taken from Sam Rockett's book
"It's cold in the Channel". She completed a second crossing of the Channel in 1954 in 14 hours 36 minutes.
Brenda was married to English soccer player Patick Johnston who played for Grimsby Town. The other
photos were provided by Brenda to the Channel Swimming Association in 2010 and reflect the reception she
received when she returned home to Grimsby after her Channel success. Subsequently, Brenda was named
as Britain's leading sportswoman of 1952.
In December 2017, Brenda was a recipient of the British Empire Medal in the Queen's New Year's list and which she received after travelling to London with Lucy Wood who wrote the biography on Brenda "Blonde In Deep Water". In 2017, before Brenda received the BEM, David Cartwright wrote a Wonderful article "Blonde
Beginning" on Brenda that summarized her swimming and dancing career. It incorporates some of the best
and clear photos of Brenda, along with video links to news-media coverage of her Channel and Nile River
swims. Brenda provides fascinating comments during the video sessions and interview. |
Born 9th June 1927 and died 2nd August 2022 at age 95
Brenda lived at 154 Scartho Road, Grimsby for her whole life.
Just two weeks after Brenda's passing, BBC 4 aired a wonderful tribute on their Last Word programme.
The recording includes interviews with Brenda, her biographer Lucy Wood, and fellow Channel swimmer Peter Winchester who she had trained.
Some family information provided by Graham Smith, BLDSA
and other material from Brenda's biographer Lucy Wood.
Many thanks to Margaret Smith (BLDSA) for putting me in touch with the BBC 4 link.
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Created: 8th May 2001
Last Updated: 7th November 2022