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Making Waves: Toronto's First Gender-Diverse Open Water Swim Program Splashes into South Riverdale
The Green Line team hit up Cherry Beach to learn how the Toronto Queer Swim Club is making open water swimming accessible to all genders.
Tai Hollingbery, head coach of the Toronto Queer Swim Club stands at the shore of Cherry Beach.
: Amanda Seraphina/The Green Line.
Amanda Seraphina James Rajakumar
Indian immigrant with a post-grad in journalism from Centennial College. Now living in Grange Park, meeting new people, and hearing different stories. Has four names, so it’s a pick-your-player situation.
September 6, 2024
Swimming in the open water can be so freeing — but not everyone feels that way.
That’s why one group in South Riverdale is working to make swimming accessible for all genders in Toronto by launching the city’s first-ever gender-diverse swim program in open waters.
Cherry Beach has made big waves of transformation over the years, from a notorious spot for crime in the ‘50s to a safe local hangout by the early 2000s. Today, it hosts the Toronto Queer Swim Club, a group that wants to welcome gender-diverse folks into Toronto’s open waters.
Torontonians enjoy a day at Cherry Beach in July 1933.
: City of Toronto Archives.
“There's a lot of spaces for straight cis people just kind of across society, and then when you think [and] when you look at sports in particular, there's a lot of history of queer folks not feeling comfortable, whether it's in sporting groups [or] in change rooms. So, having more and more spaces that kind of create that space where folks can come and feel comfortable enough to come in [is important]," says Tai Hollingbery, head coach and program manager of the swim club.
Hollingbery wanted to fill this gap for beginners, as well as more advanced swimmers trying to get back into the sport after facing challenges when they were younger.
The club’s open water swim program started in July 2024 at Cherry Beach, where swimmers of all levels meet every Sunday morning. Beginners learn to swim in open water for the first time, while more advanced swimmers train to compete.
The Toronto Queer Swim Club meet at Cherry Beach every Sunday for its open water swim program.
: Amanda Seraphina/The Green Line.
Lev Goldberg is training to be the first transgender athlete to swim across Lake Ontario.
“Swimming can be a really difficult environment in some cases for queer and trans people specifically, you know, and being in a bathing suit, dealing with changing rooms, navigating that process. I know for myself, gender dysphoria was one thing that kept me away from the pool for a good chunk of my life from when I was around 10 to when I was about 27,” Goldberg explains.
“It took me that long to get back to it. And one thing that made it feel safer and more welcoming was being able to have that space with other queer people, other trans people.”
Lev Goldberg stands on the Cherry Beach shore after swimming in the open water.
: Amanda Seraphina/The Green Line.
Downtown Swim Club partners with Toronto Queer Swim Club for its open water program. The 37-year-old club connects skilled swimmers with less experienced ones who identify as queer.
"Very often, the competition and the environment in some clubs can be intimidating, and I think there's still a lot of heterosexism in sports. I think a lot of gay and lesbian and queer swimmers feel more comfortable swimming with each other and swimming with coaches who understand them, and it emboldens them to pursue the sport, feel comfortable at it and get good at something,” explains John Harvey, director of the Downtown Swim Club.
“It also gives them social options afterward and during that wouldn't be there in another type of club."
A lack of universal change rooms at open-water locations and feeling like an outsider in the swimming community are just two of the reasons that prevent queer Torontonians from swimming in open water.
The City of Toronto has 32 universal change rooms at swimming pools across the city, but there are only three gender-neutral change rooms — none of them at open water locations.
Members of the Toronto Queer Swim Club and Downtown Swim Club step into the water at Cherry Beach to go for a swim.
: Amanda Seraphina/The Green Line.
Since April, the club has received over 80 inquiries about swim opportunities for queer and gender-diverse people. They had 11 swimmers come to Cherry Beach and swim in Lake Ontario for the first time ever this summer.
“It's just a really great opportunity to be able to be there for some people's first open water swim ever, and to see people learning and experiencing that you can swim in Lake Ontario is just really, really special,” Goldberg adds. “Especially with that kind of safety and support of a queer and trans community around them, it's been really fantastic."
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