Live Breaking News & Updates on Toronto Beaches Open Water Swim Group

In 2016, Beach residents Jessica Campbell and Mitsy Layton started the Facebook group Toronto Beaches Open Water Swim Group, where people can arrange to swim together in the eastern Beaches. When Covid shut down city pools, the group swelled to over 640 members over the past year. We spoke with the two founders about the meditative power of open-water swimming.

As told to Isabel B. Slone
Jessica: I live at the eastern end of the boardwalk in the Beaches, and I’ve been open-water swimming at the foot of Silver Birch Avenue for the last 15 years. In the summer I usually make it out there two or three times a week. There is absolutely no comparison between swimming in a big, beautiful lake and doing laps back and forth in a dark, chlorinated pool. There’s something so meditative about being out in the middle of the lake. There’s just you and your breath. There are no distractions. It clears your head. I love going on early morning swims and watching the sun come u ....

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