A single mom set foot on Toronto's lakeshore on Tuesday morning, 22 hours after swimming across Lake Ontario from the shores of Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Christine Arsenault climbed out of the water just after 10:30 a.m. after swimming 52 kilometres across the lake to raise money for the Welland International Flat Water Centre, a recreational centre for competitive water sports.
"She's wanted to do this for over 20 years. This is a dream come true for her," said Arsenault's mother Deborah.
Arsenault was exhausted but was happy to accomplish her goal.
"We got it done. It was a rough night. Let me tell you I never ever want to do the night swim again," she said.
Arsenault said the waters were rough for the first 8000 metres or so, then absolutely perfect until the last leg of the race.
"Early this morning like at around 5 or 6 a.m. we started getting rougher water and then it just continued to get worse as we got closer to Toronto," she said.
Exhausted, Arsenault said the first thing she wanted to do when she arrived on shore was stand up.
"I pulled my first all-nighter in 20 years," she said.
With files from CTV Toronto's Natalie Johnson.
