Annaleise Carr completes final leg of Lake Erie swim
A month after she was stopped by wind and high waves, 16-year-old Annaleise Carr completed the final leg of her 75-kilometre swim across Lake Erie on Monday.
In late July, Carr attempted to swim from Erie, Pa., to Port Dover, Ont. Instead she fell about 30 kilometres short of that goal as high waves forced her to stop swimming at Long Point, Ont.
To complete that leg of her swim, Carr was dropped by boat at Long Point in pitch black conditions just before midnight Sunday.
She arrived at Port Dover just before 12 noon on Monday. Hundreds gathered on the beach to greet her and cheer her on.
"She wanted to prove that she could finish this and she was good to her word," Carr's father Jeff told CBC News on Monday.
Unlike July's swim, Carr was not hindered by high waves this time.
"As far as water conditions, she couldn't ask for anything better," said spokesman Aaron Gautreau. "Waves less than a foot, it's warm outside. The water is much, much calmer than her last swim."
Carr is swimming to raise money for Camp Trillium, a camp for children with cancer.
So far, she's raised more than $190,000 this summer.
Two years ago, the native of Walsh, Ont., swam across Lake Ontario at the age of 14, becoming the youngest person known to have accomplished the feat.
"The whole message of this swim is never give up, to come through with your dreams," said Gautreau.
