A Canadian swimmer is getting ready for one of the biggest challenges of his life. Lev Goldberg is preparing to swim across Lake Huron in support of LGBTQ+ youth.
Goldberg is the first openly transgender person to complete an official marathon swim across Lake Ontario and is now attempting to become the first openly trans swimmer to cross all five Great Lakes.
He says he was inspired by other Great Lakes swimmers and wants to show that transgender people can achieve amazing things.
Goldberg has spent the last several months training for the swim. Some weeks included up to 16 hours of swimming, with practice swims lasting as long as 10 hours. He expects the Lake Huron crossing to cover about 55 kilometres and could take around 30 hours.
The swim follows official marathon swimming rules.
He hopes to begin sometime between August 1st and August 7th, depending on weather conditions. The exact start date will be announced on his social media.
Goldberg is using the swim to raise money for LGBTQ+ YouthLine, an Ontario organization that provides peer support for young people.
People who would like to support the fundraiser or follow his progress can visit his Instagram page, @lev.swims.legs, where updates and a live tracker will be posted before the swim begins.
