Marilyn Bell Memorial

A cairn on Dallas Road commemorates Marilyn Bell, the trailblazing Canadian swimmer who overcame icy waters and fierce seas in 1956 to become the first woman to swim the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

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Location

Victoria
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About

In August, 1956, 18-year-old Marilyn Bell, known as “Canada’s swimming sweetheart” set out to swim the icy Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Over her swimming career, she was also the first person to swim across Lake Ontario and she also swam the English Channel.
Her first attempt to swim the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Victoria ended just five and a half miles short of Port Angeles after nearly ten hours in 9-degree water.
Undeterred, Bell tried again two weeks later, this time swimming north from Port Angeles.
Battling wind and choppy seas, she reached shore near Finlayson Point as tens of thousands cheered.
She was honoured with a parade through Victoria and a reception in Beacon Hill Park.
A cairn along the Dallas Road Waterfront Trail, beneath Beacon Hill Park, looks out over the bay where she finished her swim.
Bell set five records, made history as the first woman to swim the Strait, and earned a lasting place in Canadian sport (source).