Solo Swims of Ontario Inc.

Hall of Fame

Loren King

- True Solos -

Lake Ontario 2016

At age 48, on August 1-2, 2016, Loren King crossed Lake Ontario from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Marilyn Bell Park (MBP) in a time of 18:35:08.

The swim started at 8:38:10 pm with excellent weather conditions, with the air temperature in the 30s deg.C and water temperatures around 22-deg.C.

Loren used a mixture of zinc oxide cream and Vaseline to protect against sunburn and to control chafing. He maintained a stroke-rate of 63-72 per minute throughout the swim and finished strongly with no problem climbing the ladder at MBP, as can be seen in the linked video.

He also completed the swim without the aid of any Pacers !.

Video of Swim

A wonderful video of the swim is available on Facebook. It is 6.5 minutes in length and the final 1 minute of credits emphasize just how many people Loren worked with to complete his swim. The video provides a good indication of the restricted entrance through the break-wall in the approach to MBP. The background music for the video is perfect and is taken from Ontario's group Great Lake Swimmers and their name formed the title track of their first album in 2003. With its chorus "It's such a long swim. It's such a long swim, It's such a long swim", the song has a haunting sound that is so reflective of a long night-and-day in crossing the lake. The lyrics can be accessed in full online. Tony Dekker and his group appeared in person and sang at the Oakville finish of Anita Morrow's ill-fated attempt to cross the lake in 2005.


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Lake Ontario 2016

Crew & Equipment

  • Swim Master: Shaun Chisholm.
  • Coach: Madhu Nagaraja.
  • 42' Diesel Cruiser "Veteran's Dream", charter vessel. Pilot Guy Smith.
  • 21' RIB "Sea Monk"; Owner and Pilot Thomas Dobokay.
  • 14' Mercury Inflatable.
  • Photographer: Geoff Farrow.
  • Project Manager & Land Organization: Mauro Campanelli.
  • Navigation: Alex McMillin.
  • Nutrition: Lynn De Lathouwer Rodgers, Mark Bintley, Christine Hui.
  • Physician: Juan Gabriel Acosta, MD.




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English Channel, 2019

After an aborted swim in 2018, Loren got everything right in 2019 and completed an England-France swim on August 12 in a time of 12 hours 2 minutes. Leaving Abbot's Cliff and landing at La Sirene just east of Cap Gris Nez.

His pilots were Marilyn Critchley and Simon Ellis on "High Hopes" with Graham Proctor as the official Observer from the CS&PF.

The Merman image was created by Jodi DiLascio to honour Loren's Channel crossing.

Loren has his own comprehensive, ilustrated, report on the swim and interested readers will find it well worth reading.
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Great Lakes Trust

A PhD graduate from MIT and an Associate Professor in Political Science at Wilfred Laurier University, Ontario, Loren has strong academic qualifications and takes great pride in applying his talents to projects to improve the welfare of Ontario's Great Lakes through a body established as the "Great Lakes Trust" with its objectives to:

  • Advance scientific understanding or public awareness of issues affecting the Great Lakes.
  • Work to improve the quality of the Lakes and their shoreline ecosystems.
  • Promote more equitable and sustainable public access to the shores and waters of the Lakes.

A 4-minute interview with Loren on the Watermark project provides even further insights to what motivates him.

Also an interview with Swim Drink Fish Canada is well worth a read.
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Created: 30th April 2020
Last Updated: 11th August 2020