Marilyn Bell

marilyn bell

Marilyn Bell is a famous Canadian long distance swimmer. She was born in Toronto on October 19, 1937. She swam in marathons at the age of fourteen and she was in the Olympics.

On September 8th, 1954 when Marilyn Bell was 16, there was a big race to see who could swim across Lake Ontario. Three people who signed up their names were Marilyn Bell, Winnie Roach and Florence Chadwick. All of them swam but only one made it, her name was Marilyn Bell. While she was swimming she had to go through high winds, eels and oil spills. She had to survive on corn syrup, water, and lemon juice. It took her 20 hours and 57 minutes to swim across the lake. When she got to the end of the race she was offered ten thousand dollars.

After Marilyn Bell swam Lake Ontario she swam the English Channel, then the Juan de Fuca Strait. When she finished swimming those lakes she decided to retire from swimming in marathons. Next she decided to teach children and adults with disabilities how to swim.

Since Marilyn Bell was so famous, people gave her ticker tape parades, which are parades where you take shredded pieces of paper and throw it out of your house or office window. The paper was supposed to be like confetti.

I chose Marilyn Bell because of her amazing accomplishments in swimming and also for picking a goal and sticking with it. She says, "It's OK if you fail at something, as long as you don't give up, as long as you say OK, I will try it again!"