Lewis Pugh started swimming (and walking where necessary near the source) down the Hudson River on August 13th. His start was covered by many publications and media, including CNN and the BBC (see here).
The UN Patron of the Oceans’ goal is to finish 507 km later in New York City as another one of his environmental swims where he is calling attention to the critical role rivers play to maintain marine health. Pugh says, “If we want healthy oceans we also need healthy rivers — it’s that simple.
Pugh is timing his swim to end during the UN General Assembly Week, Climate Week NYC 2023, and the UN Secretary General’s Climate Ambition Summit.
Prior to the swim, Pugh met with Christopher Swain, another like-minded open water swimming activist who did a number of stage swims in Columbia River (2,000 km in 2003) and the Hudson River (507 km in 2004) that also called attention to the environment and the importance of protecting the nation’s rivers.
Swain’s swim were the subject of two documentary films:
- Swain’s 506.9 km stage swim down the Hudson River was chronicled in Swim for the River.
- Swain’s 2,000.4 km source to sea stage swim down the Columbia River was the subject of a documentary called Source to Sea: The Columbia River Swim.
On July 1st 2003, Swain became the first person to swim the entire length of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. The purpose of the Columbia River Swim was to raise awareness of the dislocated peoples and disrupted ecosystems of the Columbia River Basin. The film received the Environmental Activism and Social Justice Award at the EarthVision Film Festival, and the Most Inspiring Adventure Film Award at the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival.
On July 28th 2004, Swain completed a stage swim down the Hudson River to put forward a new vision for the Hudson River: to be drinkable to Troy, New York, and swimmable all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, every single day of the year.
Lewis Pugh’s Anticipated Schedule
- August 26th – Schuylerville
- August 31st – Troy
- September 1st – Albany
- September 3rd – Hudson Valley
- September 4th-5th – Kingston
- September 6th – Poughkeepsie
- September 7th – Newburgh
- September 8th – West Point
- September 9th – Peekskill
- September 11th – George Washington Bridge
- September 13th – Battery Park
For more information and photos, visit www.lewispugh.com and his Instagram page.
© 2023 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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