“They were horrible stories and there’s no doubt that they were real,” France, an Oscar-nominated activist filmmaker, said. He had seen television news interviews from the Russian, largely Muslim republic: the subjects were dimmed in shadows, their voices digitally altered, but he found it hard to connect with them. The Simcoe Rec Centre pool was renamed the Annaleise Carr Aquatic Centre and a plaque honouring her lake-crossing feat is posted outside the facility.When the documentarian David France decided to chronicle the anti-gay and lesbian purges that had unleashed a wave of fear and violence in Chechnya, he needed more than just a camera. Both swimmers completed the swim when they were 14 years old, but Arsenault was 87 days younger at the time of her swim. In August 2014, Carr’s record of being the youngest person to cross Lake Ontario was broken by Trinity Arsenault of St. It’s a whole different kind of thing and different planning to go into that kind of swim.” “It’s a much smaller crew when you do the English Channel because you can’t bring as many people with you. It’s just something you start to think about for sure.”Īfter crossing Lake Ontario she considered swimming across the English Channel, but decided to stick with the Great Lakes.

“You start hearing about Marilyn Bell and all these other really amazing swimmers that have done it in the past.

The municipal pool in Simcoe was renamed the Annaleise Carr Aquatic Centre and a plaque about her record-breaking swim is located outside of the building.Īs an open water swimmer, she remembers being intrigued by Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The community support for the young swimmer was strong. People just kept volunteering to help me in any way possible.” They did a lot of the planning and just helping me get everything set up, and obviously my crew as well. My whole family really helped me out because I was so young at the time. “A lot of preparation went into that for sure. The kids there are amazing and I’m really glad that I got to be so close to that and got to see everything that happens there. “I am glad I did it for the reasons I did it. First and foremost, she is proud of the support generated for Camp Trillium, both in funds and awareness. Today, Carr sometimes looks back at the two lake crossings, sometimes battling five-foot waves, exhaustion and darkness, with mixed emotions. Carr began at Niagara-on-the-Lake and ended 27 hours later in Toronto.Ībout four kilometres from shore in 2012, she ran into Lake Ontario currents that kept her from “going anywhere” but was encouraged after seeing the lights of the shore and hearing the crowd waiting for her arrival at Marilyn Bell Park. The Lake Ontario swim was about 52 kilometres, along the same route taken by long distance swimmer Marilyn Bell in 1954. Article contentĪnnaleise Carr, 24, with her fiance Castor Baker and two children, is focused on family these days. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

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