Veteran lake swimmer, Colleen Shields, 60, dove into Lake Ontario early Wednesday to challenge her own record-- again.
The Georgetown resident already holds the title for oldest female to cross the lake with a record of 15 hours and 10 minutes.
Shields set out from Queen’s Royal Park, Niagara-on-the-Lake at 1:00 a.m. on Sept. 5. She hopes to end the 50.5-kilometre journey at Toronto’s Marilyn Bell Park in 18 to 20 hours.
Shields has already successfully completed the swim twice in 1990 and 2006. She was forced to abandon any attempts since then due to weather, citing strong currents and choppy waves.
In 2009, 57-year-old Shields completed 18 hours of her journey before being forced to seek medical assistance within a few kilometres of Marilyn Bell Park after westward winds battered her left shoulder.
The record for youngest person to cross Lake Ontario was recently broken by Annaleise Carr, 14, who made the swim in less than 27 hours on Aug. 19.
