Most people in Canada use the long weekend to go up north or catch up on their sleep. Robert McGlashan is taking a different route: 42 kilometres from St. Catharines to Oakville, to be exact. The Toronto lawyer, an environmental advocate, is swimming the distance on Saturday to raise donations for World Wildlife Fund Canada. He plans to arrive at the beach of Oakville’s Coronation Park this Saturday evening.
Lake Ontario can be a difficult body of water to navigate. McGlashan describes it as “very changeable and rough.” The swim will be cold and long. This is nothing he hasn’t faced before. McGlashan has been swimming long open-water stretches for years, crossing some of the world’s most iconic lakes and seas.
“I’ve done about five or six of them now: Sardinia to Corsica, Switzerland to France, Capri to Naples, Lake Titicaca, Strait of Magellan,” he said. “I swam across Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay in the winter, and recently this summer, Lake Erie.”
Existing in the natural world
Growing up in Toronto, McGlashan witnessed a change in the natural environments of southern Ontario.
“When I was younger, swimming in Lake Ontario was definitely not something that anyone would advise. Probably, the late 80s, early 90s, there was not a lot of interest for going in the water,” he said. “I love swimming in Oakville; I love the beach and Coronation Park.”
When he started covering these massive, intimidating distances, McGlashan began to recognize the fragility of marine ecosystems.
“Experiences during the swims showed me that our waters are a resource that is at the brink of collapse,” he said. “They need our attention; we definitely need people to become more devoted to them.”
Man-made climate change increases global temperatures, damages natural resources like lakes and leads to severe and unpredictable weather events. Canada and southern Ontario, in particular, are warming faster than other areas of the globe. The impacts of the warming climate have been evident across the country lately, with unprecedented heatwaves and wildfires from British Columbia to Ontario.
“These things highlight the need for people to realize their priorities,” said McGlashan.
Although he believes the biggest changes need to be made at the government level, McGlashan says that everyday people can affect by re-evaluating their relationship with nature.
“I think people everywhere when you go to a park, go to a beach, try to leave it a little bit better than you found it,” he said. “Making sure that you don’t leave a footprint.”
McGlashan’s swim takes place Saturday. You can follow along for specific details on his Instagram page. All are welcome to watch him arrive at Coronation Park, and you can make a donation on his website.