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Lev Goldberg (he/him) became the first openly transgender person to swim across Lake Ontario or any Great Lake on September 3, 2025, finishing his crossing in 24 hours 25 minutes and 15 seconds. He is currently working towards becoming the first openly transgender person to swim across all 5 Great Lakes, and is training to swim 55km across Lake Huron in August 2026, raising funds for LGBT Youthline.
Although gender dysphoria led him to stop swimming at age 9, he found his way back to the water at age 27 after a eighteen-year hiatus and quickly began to dream of marathon swimming. Less than three years later, he swam across Lake Ontario raising $7,000 for LGBT Youthline, a peer support service for 2SLGBTQ+ youth in Ontario.
Lev was born in Philadelphia and moved to Toronto to attend university thirteen years ago, where he now works as a therapist supporting 2SLGBTQ+ youth. He is also an avid runner and has completed more than twenty running races including two full marathons.
You can learn more about Lev and his swims at levswimslakes.ca, @lev.swims.lakes on instagram, and @the.leviathn on Tiktok.
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Music credit:
Epic Inspiration by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5447-epic-inspiration-
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Swimming sounds courtesy of swimmer Todd Lantry.
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