Swimming across Lake Ontario to raise $100,000 for WWF-Canada

Robert McGlashan, an elite open water swimmer, will soon be crossing Lake Ontario to raise $100,000 for WWF-Canada in his Swim for Change challenge.  

“The purpose of Swim for Change is to demonstrate that we must change our approach to environmental resources to save the planet and improve people’s lives — and WWF-Canada works to protect and improve environmental resources,” McGlashan says. 

“The world has been spiraling in decline and the pandemic signals the urgency that change is needed to prevent a complete collapse.”  

Long-distance swimmer Robert McGlashan
Long-distance swimmer Robert McGlashan © Robert McGlashan

An adventurer and nature lover, McGlashan has previously swum Bolivia’s Lake Titicaca, Chile’s Straights of Magellan, Italy’s Bay of Naples, and Lake Geneva, which took 25 hours to swim from Switzerland to France and nabbed him a World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year nomination. He’s also an experienced trial lawyer when on land.

McGlashan dedicates his spare time to growing the open water swimming community and environmental advocacy as a board member of an Ontario open water and marathon swimming organization dedicated to raising awareness and funds to protect the Great Lakes and keep them clean.  

His passion for activism is what led him to launch Swim for Change. 

“The world’s vegetation and freshwater are on the brink of irreversible decline,” McGlashan says. “This is a problem that affects everyone and I hope that Swim for Change will help draw attention to this urgency and encourage people to be more accountable and to support WWF-Canada.”

To keep up with McGlashan’s open water journey visit Swim for Change and donate to help him reach his goal of raising $100,000 to help us protect wildlife and habitats like the Great Lakes.