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Marilyn Bell was born on October 19th 1937. She would soon become a Canadian Legend for her swimming abilities.
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Marilyn was born in Toronto to parents Sydney and Grace Bell. They moved to North Bay in Ontario, then to Halifax in Nova Scotia and then returned to Toronto in 1946.
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Marilyn started swimming in 1946 at Oakland Pool with her coach Alex Duff. She swam for the Doliphinette Club.
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Marilyn Bell entered her first long distance race in 1947. It was a one mile race for at the Canadian National Exhibition. There she was noticed by the coach, Gus Ryder. He was a coach for the Lakeshore Swimming Club. Bell later joined that club.
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in 1954, Marilyn Bell was named the Canadian Newsmaker of the Year by the Canadian Press
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In 1954, Marilyn Bell was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's athlete of the year.
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In 1954, Marilyn Bell was awarded the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as the Canadian Female athlete of the year.
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Marilyn started her swim completing against a swimmer from the United States, Florence Chadwick. The Canadian National Exhibition offered Chadwick 10,000$ to make the event public. Marilyn was also offered the money as well, but she did not accept it. Into the race, Florence Chadwick was forced to give up due to stomach pains and vomitting. Marilyn continued on and completed the swim in 20 hours and 15 minutes. Making her the first person to swim across Lake Ontario.
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Marilyn Bell was the youngest person to swim the English Channel.
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After Marilyn Bell retired from swimming she married Joe Di Lascio and had four children, Lisa, Micheal, Jodi and Janet.
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In 1958, Marilyn was introduced to the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.
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Marilyn Bell was introduced to the Canadian Swimming Hall of Fame in 1933.
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Marilyn Bell had a plaque made for her near Lake Onatrio.
