Solo Swims of Ontario Inc.Solo Swims of Ontario Inc.
William (Bill) J. Sadlo, Jr. |
On 23rd August 1957, William (Bill) Sadlo became the first American, and, at age 57 years and 116
days, the oldest person to cross Lake Ontario. His accomplishment as the oldest male conqueror of the
lake still stands in 2019 - i.e. 62 years later. The longevity of his record further emphasizes the
magnitude of his achievement back in 1957. He completed his swim from south to north in a time of 25
hours 10 minutes and attributed much of the success in his crossing to his Canadian swimming coach,
Pat Roach.
Prior to his Lake Ontario crossing, Bill had established a long and significant history of swimming, both as a sprinter and as a marathon swimmer. Born in the state of New York, Bill appears to have spent most of his life in that state. On his letterhead and in many of the swimming programmes, his name appeared as Bill Sadlo, Jr. From those documents, his name is associated with Jackson Heights LI, Corona NY, Whitestone NY, and Coney Island NY. In 2009, Bill was elected into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame. In a 1927 article in New York Times, Bill was noted as being a member of the International Professional Swimmers Association, along with Ernst Vierkoetter, Mille Gade Corson, Ethel Hertie and the President Bruce Grant. |
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On 23rd August 1957, William (Bill) Sadlo became the first American, and, at age 57
years and 116 days, the oldest person to cross Lake Ontario. His accomplishment as the
oldest conqueror of the lake still stands in 2009. The longevity of his record further
emphasizes the magnitude of his achievement back in 1957. He completed his swim from
Fort Niagara (New York state) in the south to Toronto in the north in a time of 25 hours
10 minutes and attributed much of the success in his crossing to his Canadian swimming
coach, Pat Roach.
Prior to his Lake Ontario crossing, Bill had established a long and significant history of swimming, both as a sprinter and as a marathon swimmer. Born in the state of New York, Bill appears to have spent most of his life in that state. On his letterhead and in many of the swimming programmes, his name appeared as Bill Sadlo, Jr. From those documents, his name is associated with Jackson Heights LI, Corona NY, Whitestone NY, and Coney Island NY. In a 2109 WOWSA newsletter, Bill was reported to have crossed Lake Erie at age 52 in a 31.7-mile race from Point Pelee Park to Sandusky, Ohio in 15 hours 30 minutes. Bill died in August 1959 at age 59; however, in the previous year, he placed third out of
10 competitors where only seven finished in the second annual, 13.5 mile, Lake
Hopatcong swim in New Jersey. Bill's time of 8 hours 11 minutes compared with Alfred
Geurke (Irvington, NJ) who finished in 7 hours 5 minutes. At the time of the Lake
Hopatcong swim, Bill was still working as a Swimming Instructor for the Whitestone
Board of Education. |
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| Statistics Taken from Wind, Waves and Sunburn and Bill's letterhead: Atlantic City, New Jersey, 22 mile (35.2 km) Professional Swim: Canadian National Exhibition Professional Swims, Toronto: Around Manhattan Island Battery to Coney Island, 1930 Battery to Statue of Liberty, 1930 Liberty Pool, NY Bill also listed the following titles: The stimulus for this web page was provided by Bill's proud granddaughter, Jeannine Sadlo, who also provided photographs, news clippings, and Bill's letterhead. |
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Created: 7th March 2004
Last Updated: 25th November 2019
