Solo Swims of Ontario Inc.Solo Swims of Ontario Inc.
On 8th August 2004, Peter Gibbs (56) became the 36th person and the second
oldest person to swim across Lake Ontario in 18 hours 40 minutes. His course
was Niagara-on-the-Lake to Leslie Street Spit, Toronto.
Born in 1947 (October 27) in the Parish of St. James, Barbados. Third child (2nd son) in a family of 5 boys and one girl. He learnt to swim in the sea sometime between the age of 5 and 7 while playing daily at the beach.
Peter is seen in the photograph with his pacers (Left-to-right): Victoria Alleyne, Josh Ward, Dianne Amundrud, Peter Gibbs, Alexis Jordan.
His early years revolved very much around the sea and beach activities. Aquatic activities were always of his lifestyle although other sports, notably soccer, were equally a part between the ages of 14 - 35 when he represented school, local 1st division clubs, and university.
He swam in annual school sports from ages 9 to 18, and swam in the first organized age-group championships in Barbados in 1964 (15-17 years group)
He represented Barbados at Water Polo from 1964 - 1998, Central American & Caribbean Games (1966, 1970, and 1998), Pan American Games (1971), numerous other local and regional championships. He was captain of the water polo team of the University of Guelph (Canada) in 1972.
He got back into swimming when Masters swimming surfaced in Barbados in the 1980s.
At the time of his Lake Ontario swim, Peter was still active in Masters Swimming and Triathlon. He represented Barbados in the triathlon in the Masters World Triathlon Championships, USA (1992), Canada (1998), Mexico (2002), and numerous other local and regional championships.
Peter represented Barbados in Masters swimming in World, USA, and Canadian Masters Swimming Championships from 1985.... and in 2005 is still active.
He has competed in many distance swimming events at the international and regional level, and still enjoys the tri-sports of swimming, cycling and running. To 2005 he had completed 4 run marathons but took off 2004 from cycling and running to train for his swim across Lake Ontario.....completing the 49 km, from Niagara on the Lake to Leslie Street Spit in 18 hours 40 minutes on Aug.7-8, 2004.
Peter is a Senior Lecturer in Physics & Electronics at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus in St. Michael, Barbados.
The marine buoy data (Station 45139, West Lake Ontario) reported the following information during Peter's swim:
You can read Peter's report on his swim in his own words.
Personal report and data provided by Peter Gibbs
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Created: 8th January 2005
Last Updated: 8th January 2005