Marathon swimmer Vicki Keith must have taught her husband everything he knows about swimming.
Keith swam her way into the Guiness Book of World Records in the 1980's. She did a double crossing of Lake Ontario and later swam across all five Great Lakes.
Now, she's coaching her husband, John Munro, as he prepares to swim across lakes Erie and Ontario this summer.
"He's nuts. I have nothing to do with it. This is something he wants to do. Anyone who wants to do that is nuts
(given) the efforts that you have to put into it, " Keith joked.
She taught swimming at Toronto's Variety Village, a centre for disabled children, before she and her husband moved to Amherst Island a couple of years ago.
Now she's teaching a group of 20 disabled children from the Kingston area. They've been using the swimming pool at the Kingston Family Y on Wright Crescent.
Munro, 52, hopes his marathon swims will raise $77,600 for the Y - $2,000 for every nautical mile he plans to swim.
"My target date is July 5, " Munro said of his swim across Lake Erie.
Currently, he's training at the Y.
I do about 26,000 yards a week, or over 14 miles," he said.
At Lake Erie, he'll go from Sturgeon Point, N.Y., to Crystal Beach, Ont., a distance of 10.8 nautical miles or 20 Kilometres.
For his swim to be sanctioned by the Solo Swim Association, he'll first have to prove he can do at least one-third of the distance of his swim.
Munro will try to prove that to the association on July 1, when he swims from the Village of Bath to Amherst Island.
If his Erie swim is successful, he hopes to tackle Lake Ontario in early August.
The plan is to go from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Toronto, a distance of 28 nautical miles or 52 kilometres.
Munro worked for the Metro Toronto Police for 30 years, mostly as a detective, before his retirement.
Anyone who want's to donate to his swims can call the Kingston Family Y at 546-2647.
