Talk about an active retiree. Nearly 60 years after Marilyn Bell’s historic swim across Lake Ontario, the 74-year-old still coaches the sport along with her regular exercise in the swimming pool.

An article in the Toronto Star yesterday profiles Marilyn Bell Di Lascio, who now lives in a retirement community in upstate New York, but finds every opportunity to enjoy the water, despite a degenerative back condition that makes it painful to swim.

Back in 1954, the then-16-year-old surprised everyone by coming from nowhere to be the first person to swim across the lake. An American was the odds-on favourite to set the record, with backing from the CNE, but Bell achieved the milestone. Both started around the same time, but Florence Chadwick dropped out partway across, and after a 21-hour swim, Bell climbed out of the water at Sunnyside Beach.