La Tuque is a small city located in north-central Québec, Canada on the Saint-Maurice River, between Trois-Rivières and Chambord. Its spring-fed lake, Lac Louis, was site of the 24 Heures La Tuque, a 24-hour 2-person professional marathon swimming relay held in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

The event was the brainchild of Mayor Gaston Fortin of Ville La Tuque.  The swim was inspired by the 1963 96.5 km race across Lake Michigan when Egyptian Abdul Latif Abou-Heif beat American Ted Erikson.  Mayor Fortin was challenged by Canadian professional marathon swimmer Réjean Lacoursière to create a professional marathon swim in Lac Louis in 1965. Beginning in 1965 with $3,000, Lacoursière competed with other professional swimmers that first year. The last event was held in 1981.

Some of the greatest marathon swimmers of that era competed in the race including John Kinsella, Paul Asumth, Sandra Bucha, Bill Heiss, Gilles Potvin, James Kegley, Nabil El Shazly, and Abdul Latif Abou Heif.

Le Marathon de 24 Heures de La Tuque invited up to 20 teams that ran from 3 pm on Saturday to 3 pm on Sunday. The race was staged in an egg-shaped course that paralleled the shore so crowds of thousands cheered on the athletes day and night.

At the 1974 24 Heures La Tuque, International Marathon Swimming Hall of Famers Kinsella and Bucha teamed up. Bucha ended up swimming 100 laps to Kinsella’s 94 to set the record of 194 laps or almost 104 km total. Bucha’s father and trainer Colonel Paul Bucha reported, “[Sandra] feels better now at 2 am than she did six hours ago.” By 5 am as the morning light was coming up, 14 hours after the start, Bucha explained why she felt good, “You look at the sky and get energy.” She and Kinsella won again in 1975 [see results below].

1980 24 Heures La Tuque

In 1980, Paul Asmuth and James Kegley finished first and second in the professional Atlantic City Around-the-Island Swim and were invited to Lac Louis as the team to beat.

In a typical display of stamina typical of those pioneering days, the race organizers paid for an Egyptian swimmer to swim by himself for 24 hours. Asmuth fondly remembers his stout competitor, “…the cold did not affect him. He had those old style scuba goggles on and he would smile and wave under water each time James and I passed him; it was a very funny sight. It was something to look forward to during the monotony of the night when the spectators went home around 2 a.m.  James and I each swam a mile at a time. The day was cool and raining and water low 60°s. The night was very cold and there was a bunk house to go into to try and warm up in the twenty minutes between shifts.”

Because the race was organized as a commercial venture by the local chamber of commerce, there was a festival next to the lake and many spectators throughout the race except between 2 and 6 am. Labatt Brewery was the main sponsor and, as Asmuth recalls much beer was consumed.

As Asmuth and Kegley pushed themselves to exhaustion, there was not much competition so they focused on breaking the record of Olympian John Kinsella and his Indiana University teammate Bill Heiss. Kinsella and Heiss had previously swum 203 laps. By the 24th hour, Asmuth and Kegley had swim 207 laps of Lac Louie or about 69 miles total (34.5 miles or 55 km each).

Asmuth recalled, “James ended up swimming one lap further than me because I needed a little extra rest during the night and he was a great friend for that.”

Throughout the race, Asmuth and Kegley never let up and relied on each other to motivate each other. “We wrote notes to each other to communicate how we felt and there was a lot of humor as I recall,” said Kegley, also an inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame and All-American from Indiana University. “I think we questioned our sanity at some points, particularly at around 3 or 4 am when the bands had stopped, the people had passed out or gone home and the only sign of life were the few officials and other swimmers.”

But, the men were serious about breaking the Kinsella–Heiss record and never let up during the lonely hours of the late night and early morning. “We had to tag each others hands before plunging in off the floating platform and since we were going for a record, we didn’t stop to chat,” said Kegley. “The hard part was just beginning to get warmed up and then hopping back in. It was surreal watching the sun come up and seeing people around 7 or 8 am drift in, all the while painfully aware we had been swimming all day and night. I seem to recall someone brought in donuts in the wee hours.”

In-and-out, in-and-out of 15°C water for 24 hours. The race is no longer held, but remains legendary among the pioneering professional marathon swimmers.

1965 24 Heures La Tuque Results

1. Herman Willemse and Rejean LaCoursiere 171 laps
2. Abdul Latif Abou Heif and Nabil ElShazly 161 laps
3. Dennis Matuch and Ted Erikson 142 laps
4. Francois Asselin and Gilles Potvin 117 laps
5. Helge Jensen and Maurice Fortier 112 laps
6. Bob Weir (retired) and John Lumgair 108 laps

1966 24 Heures La Tuque Results

1. Herman Willemse and Rejean LaCoursiere 170 laps
2. George Park and Thomas Bucy 167 laps
3. Judith de Nijs (first woman to complete) and Cliff Lumsden 164 laps
4. Padro Galmes and Billy Barton 144 laps
5. Conrad Corbell and Jean Couture 139 laps
6. Dennis Matuch and Ted Erikson 134 laps
7. Gilles Potvin and Roger Piche 117 laps
8. Yvan Daniel and Pierre Bourdon 112 laps
Retired: Giulio Travaglio and others

1967 24 Heures La Tuque Results

1. Horacio Iglesias (86 laps) and Rejean LaCoursiere (83 laps) 169 laps
2. Billy Barton and Harry Wickens 156 laps
3. Conrad Corbell and Klim Savin 153 laps
4. George Park and Real Lavoie 152 laps
5. Ted Erikson and Dennis Matuch 146 laps
6. Pedro Galmez and Roberto Reta 143 laps
7. Margaret Park (76 laps) and Whittle Martell 137 laps
8. Gilles Potvin and Ben Bouchard 123 laps
9. Pierre Bourdon and Ben Demontreuill 110 laps

1968 24 Heures La Tuque Results

1. Horacio Iglesias (86 laps) and Judith de Nijs (80 laps) 166 laps
2. Rejean LaCoursiere and Tom Bucy 163 laps
3. Billy Barton and Harry Wickens 161 laps
4. Abou Heif and Dennis Matuch 161 laps
5. George Park and Real Lavoie 149 laps
6. Pedro Galmez and Roberto Reta 138 laps
7. A. Nomen Sherbini and M. A. Salam Hassaan 132 laps
8. Gilles Potvin and Ben Bouchard 131 laps
9. Benson Huggard and Stephen Ramsden 124 laps
10. Tom Hetzel and Hasan Abdeen 101 laps

1969 24 Heures La Tuque Results

1. Horacio Iglesias and Abdul Latif Abou Heif 165 laps
2. Mahamed Gamie and Johan Schans 162 laps
3. Dennis Matuch and Roberto Reta 145 laps
4. Steve Ramsden and Jorge Lopez 140 laps
5. Conrad Corbell and Yvon Montpetit 135 laps
6. Pedro Galmez and Fausto Ramirez 133 laps
7. Harry Martinen and Fred Bowler 133 laps
8. Farouk Sulliman and Risto Bimbilovski 123 laps
9. Tom Hetzel and Hassan Abdeen 111 laps
10. Michel Poirier and Stella Taylor (female 51 laps) 105 laps
Retired: Gilles Potvin, Rejean LaCoursiere and others

1970 24 Heures La Tuque Results

1. Horacio Iglesias and Johan Schans 179 laps
2. Rejean LaCoursiere and Jan van Scheijndel 165 laps
3. Abou El Enien and Marawan F. Shidid 160 laps
4. Dennis Matuch and Mohamed H. Gamie 157 laps
5. Jon Erikson and MIchjael A. Praesler 156 laps
6. Geoffrey Lake and Yvon Montpetit 151 laps
7. Billy Barton and Bob Duenkel 144 laps
8. Abou Heif and Carlos Aguire 137 laps
9. William Lafferety and Des Renford 127 laps
10. Farouk Sulliman and Hassen Abdeen 120 laps
11. Michel Poirier and Stella Taylor (female 58 laps) 114 laps
12. Tom Hetzel and Benson Huggard 101 laps
Retired: Gilles Potvin and others

1971 24 Heures La Tuque Results

1. Horacio Iglesias and Johan Schans unknown number of laps
> still being researched, but Naste Jončeski also competed

1972 24 Heures La Tuque Results

1. Johan Schans (Holland, 90 laps) and Horacio Iglesias (Argentina, 89 laps)
2. Jon Erikson (USA, 90 laps) and Raul Villagomez (Argentina, 82 laps)
3. Marwan Shedid (Egypt, 86 laps) and Jan Van Scheyndel (Holland, 84 laps)
4. Dennis Matuch (USA, 83 laps) and Diana Nyad (USA, 83 laps)
5. Carlos Aguirre (Argentina, 82 laps) and Marcello Guiscardo (Argentina, 81 laps)
6. Yvon Monpetit (Canada, 82 laps) and Yves Lavoie (Canada, 77 laps)
7. Mohammed Gamie (Egypt, 78 laps) and Tabii El Enen (Egypt, 77 laps)
8. Mahmoud Khamis (Syria, 82 laps) and Said Masri (Syria, 69 laps)
9. Angel Bernatene (Argentina, 75 laps) and Philip Gollop (England, 72 laps)
10. Sultan Kigab (Sudan, 72 laps) and Naste Jonceski (Yugoslavia, 66 laps)
11. Edward Bennett (Canada, 76 laps) and Hassan Abdeen (Canada, 60 laps)
12. Samia Mandour (Egypt, 68 laps) and Fausto Ramirez (Mexico, 63 laps)
13. Mervyn Sharp (England, 71 laps) and Thomas Hetzel (USA, 56 laps)
14. Michel Poirier (Canada, 66 laps) and Daniel Boyle (Canada, 59 laps)

1973 24 Heures La Tuque Results

Results being researched

1974 24 Heures La Tuque Results

1. Sandra Bucha (USA, 100 laps) and John Kinsella (USA, 94 laps): 194 laps
2. Johan Schans (Netherlands) and Claudio Plit (Argentina) – 2nd place

• Sahar Mansour (UAR) competed
• Diana Nyad went to the hospital. Her partner Marcello Guiscardo (Argentina) continued.
• This with the 10th year of the event. The previous lap record was 180.

1975 24 Heures La Tuque Results

1. Sandra Bucha + John Kinsella: 191 tours
2. Magdy Mandour + Marawan Ghazzawi: 181 tours
3. Maher Saleh + Marwan Saleh: 180 tours
4. Ossama Rashad + Amed Youssef: 177 tours
5. Jennifer Anderson + Richard Campion: 169 tours
6. James Stewart + Baher Hamid: 162 tours
7. Sahar Mansour + Diana Nyad: 161 tours
8. Jacques Fordham + Daniel Piché: 135 tours
9. Yvon Montpetit + Georges Blazy: 133 tours
10. Gilles Potvin + Raymond Cusson: 109 tours
Amateurs: Johanne Thomson + Jocelyn Dufort + Michael Dumond + Jean Boudreault: 180 tours

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