Lev Goldberg recently became the first openly transgender person to swim across Lake Ontario.
An alum of the University of Toronto's, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, Goldberg completed the 51-kilometre journey from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., to Marilyn Bell Park in Toronto in 24 hours and 25 minutes.
Writer Dale Duncan caught up with Goldberg after his epic swim to find out more about the feat.
When did you first get the idea to swim across Lake Ontario to raise awareness of transgender visibility?
I swam for two years on the swim team as a child and stopped when I was nine. I now realize a factor in that was gender dysphoria and discomfort in my body. I came back to swimming around age 27 - about two years after I had top surgery. It was just for fun, to try something new. I had already been running long distances and knew that very long efforts at sustainable paces are possible.
I then discovered a big open-water swimming community and met people there who had crossed Lake Ontario. One is Kim Lumsdon who has swum across Lake Ontario twice and was training in 2023 to do it again and become the oldest woman to cross the lake. I found her so inspiring. I wondered if there were trans people doing this, but I couldn't find any trans marathon swimmers. I knew that if I did it, others like me would see themselves reflected.
I think the next trans person to swim across Lake Ontario is probably following this now and that really excites me and makes me so happy.
You are 29 now, which means it was just two years ago that you returned to swimming and thought 'I'm going to do a 24-hour swim across Lake Ontario.' That's impressive.
It's only sunk in how weird it is after the fact. I started swimming in January 2023 and became aware of open water swimming that February. That June, I did my first open-water training season and was in a 2.5-kilometre race that August. The next summer I found a coach through a queer and trans swim team and I built up to a 10-kilometre race. This year was really the big year when it felt like I was not ever finding the point where I was tired or it was too much. It just seemed very doable - like why couldn't I do it? Why not?
Who supported you in this journey?
First, my coach, Tai Hollingbery. They were the first person who asked me: Do you have any big swimming goals? And I was like, yes, I want to swim across Lake Ontario! That really began this journey.
I also definitely couldn't go through this without my family. My dad was here with me for two weeks, driving me places and helping me. My sister lives in North Carolina and came here for 10 days. She's managed my social media and helped me reach out to potential sponsors and partners. Numerous friends helped with fundraisers. I had a crew on board the boat that drove beside me during the swim. This included my pacers, who took turns swimming with me. There was also a land crew. It's such a big undertaking - it takes a village for sure. It required a lot of people to spend a lot of time and effort to be part of it, and I'm very, very grateful.
In addition to increasing trans visibility, you are raising funds for the LGBT YouthLine . What inspired you to choose this organization?
I was a peer support volunteer for them when I was first transitioning. It was such a valuable experience - not only because of the skills I gained, but also because of the other youth volunteers that I met. The organization provided a safe space where I could transition socially, where people would use my name and see me for who I was. LGBT YouthLine is valuable from all directions: for the peer support they are providing to youth who need it and for the youth who are giving that support and meeting each other and being part of a community. It was such an important part of my life. It is also just such a fantastic truly justice-oriented organization.
What advice do you have for coaches, teammates or sports administrators who want to be better allies? How can they better support trans youth and adults in sports?
You might not think there's a trans person in your athletic space or on your team, but you could be wrong about that. There could be someone there who knows they're trans and are not comfortable being out, or someone who has transitioned and doesn't feel comfortable sharing that with people. If you want to truly be trans inclusive in your in your space, you need to assume that there are trans people there - or that there should be or will be. Remember also that there are both binary trans people and nonbinary trans people. Not having any option outside male and female is a barrier and can be so harmful.
How does your role as a social worker overlap with your goal to raise trans visibility and resilience as a long-distance swimmer?
My work as a youth and family therapist at Central Toronto Youth Services really connects me with my purpose and what I'm doing. I work almost exclusively with trans youth in their Pride and Prejudice Program and see how hard it is for kids to be experiencing a world that is getting worse for them in many ways. I've witnessed people much younger than me go through a lot of suffering and yet show so much resilience.
What's next for you?
I've been so honored and grateful to those who stepped up to help me with my crossing. So, I'm going to get my boating license and I'm hoping to support at least one other person's crossing next year. Once you've done it, you just want to get other people across. I want to help make someone else's dreams possible.
I like cold water swims, so I'm also training for an ice mile, which is 1.6 kilometers in 5 C or less. I'll definitely do another marathon swim next year as well. Ultimately, I want to swim all five Great Lakes.
Is there anything about your experience that hasn't yet been shared?
A lot of people have called the crossing grueling. Grueling means punishing, but I had fun the whole time. I don't do things that are miserable.
The other word I don't like is "conquer." I don't think anyone conquers a Great Lake. It's an enormous, majestic powerful force of nature and it is was due to the grace of the lake that I was allowed to cross. Many people work as hard as me, swim better than me and the conditions do not allow them to cross. No one, in my opinion, conquers a force of nature - a body of water. It's not about that at all.
