Here, Ovaltine is a nutritious tonic, containing enough vitamins and minerals to get Georges Michel, a saucy-looking fellow, across the English Channel. (Provided he isn’t lulled into a warm, soothing sleep, of course.)
The Wrigley Marathon swimming contest was an annual event, held at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto in the late 1920’s. Michel (who was, not surprisingly, a Frenchman) raced in the 1927 swim, which offered a $50,000 purse. Lake Ontario’s water temperature for this race, held on August 31, was an invigorating 44 degrees Fahrenheit.
According to the Dover Museum web site, Michel failed in his first six attempts to cross the English Channel. He failed three times in 1922, twice in 1923 (once attempting the crossing from the French side, for variety) and once in August, 1926, before finally succeeding on September 9-10, 1926. His time of 11 hours and 5 minutes set a record that was not broken until 1950.