Swimming to Protect the Mighty Ottawa River

4 kilometers, 2 provinces, 1 river. This year’s Riverkeeper 4K open water swim had 58 swimmers and over 40 volunteers traveling together across the Ottawa River from Quebec to Ontario, raising $7,000 for water protection.

Written by Joe Ryan

Back in January, Ottawa Riverkeeper’s Development Director Ruth McKlusky optimistically predicted that this year’s Riverkeeper 4K interprovincial swim would be sunny with calm waters.

At dawn on Saturday August 15th, the Ottawa river had fog hanging over it and the air was warm. By 8 a.m. 58 swimmers plunged into the water and escort paddlers launched their vessels in beside them. The fog had lifted enough for the group to see their destination: Ottawa’s Lac Deschenes Sailing Club on the river’s shore. As Ruth predicted the water was still, allowing swimmers to push themselves to do their very best.

A line of red and white fabric triangles with maple leaves printed on them hung about 6 meters from the Ontario shoreline, marking the end of the Riverkeeper 4K swim. Three red lights blinked along the line guiding the brave swimmers from one province to another. The lights served as a reminder of their objective to highlight the need for collaboration and action on both sides of the Ottawa River, because like these swimmers who understand it best: water quality knows no borders.

Andrea Anzai, one of the youngest athletes in the swim, improved her time from last year by over four minutes. In fact, swimmers this year performed better than last year overall. The first and second place swimmers in the non-wetsuit division, Nicolas Masse Savard (0:54:22) and Roger Ermuth (0:56:59) both beat last year’s first place time. The top two athletes in the wetsuit division were Ingrid Hagberg (0:58:32) and Janice Palmer (1:02:11).

Shelley Ann Morris, a visually-impaired athlete, and her guide George Hajecek inspired everyone at the event, both finishing with a time of 2:14:33. A smiling crowd gathered around the shore to greet Shelley and George, cheering and clapping when they arrived triumphantly. Click here to see the official times from all the swimmers who participated this year.

[slickr-flickr items=”12″ type=”slideshow” autoplay captions=”off” descriptions=”on”  flickr_link=”on” flickr_link_title=”on” delay=”3″ flicker-link=”on” search=”sets” set=”72157657387670331″ items=”42″ flickr_link_target=”_blank”] See more photos from the event in our Flickr Album. Photos by Martin Lipman.

The community spirit felt at Riverkeeper 4K was inspirational and race director Tom Anzai was proud of the event’s inclusive nature. “Seeing people come together to encourage, challenge and cheer each other on makes the race a uniquely positive experience,” said Tom.

Donations from our generous sponsors:  Anzai, Bushtukah, International Academy of Massage, Jackpine, Loblaws Superstore, Lush, Ottawa City Rafting, Rainbow Foods,  Rideau Rowing and Paddling, Swim Ottawa, and Whole Foods Market meant that 100 per cent of the pledges collected could go directly to supporting our popular Riverwatch Program and purchasing water quality test kits.

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