At the age of nine, Loreen Passfield realized that marathon swimming was her calling after competing in the “Cross Couchiching,” a three-mile amateur swim race where she finished 18th out of 23.

In 1975, while swimming with the Lakeshore Swim Club, Loreen set a new record for the four-mile distance from Port Carling to Windermere, Ontario.

At the Lac St Jean World Championship, she finished 16th in a twenty-five-mile race, becoming the first Canadian and only the third woman to finish the course, earning her the meet’s Swimmer of the Year award.

For five years, between 1975 and 1979, Loreen was ranked in the top five by the World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation. She won two back-to-back number one rankings in 1975 and 1979. Loreen became president of the Federation in 1980.

In 1977, Loreen was included with only five others on the final ballot for the Lou Marsh Award, given to Canada’s Athlete of the Year.

She was also selected as Outstanding Newcomer to Marathon Swimming in 1975. That same year, she also received the Faustina Trophy as Lakeshore Athlete of the year.