Trans swimmer Lev Goldberg nears historic Great Lakes crossing while fundraising for LGBTQ youth

Lev Goldberg, a 27-year-old marathon swimmer from Toronto, finished a 55-kilometre swim across Lake Huron, departing at 6 a.m. from Port-Sanilac, Michigan, and touching down at Port Franks, Ontario, just after 11 a.m. the next day. The crossing, which took just over 29 hours, is the second of his intended five-lake series, after completing Lake Ontario last September, and brings him nearer to the goal of being the first openly transgender person to swim all five Great Lakes.

Goldberg is using the swims to raise $15,000 for the LGBT Youthline, an organization that provides anonymous assistance to 2SLGBTQ+ youth in Ontario, with part of the proceeds covering his expenses. He returned to the sport after undergoing top surgery and hormone therapy to address body dysmorphia, joining the Lake Ontario Swim Team (L.O.S.T.) three years ago. Coach Rob Kent, founder of L.O.S.T., highlighted the difficulty of Goldberg’s chosen route, which traverses the lake’s deeper, colder, and more turbulent open water, unlike the calmer shoreline paths most swimmers take. Looking ahead, Goldberg plans to tackle Lake Erie, swimming from Pennsylvania to Ontario, while also voicing concern over recent anti-transgender measures in the United States.