Hudson River swimmer completes 315-mile trek, conquering fatigue, choppy water, rocks and pollution
NEW YORK — The Hudson River snakes through forests and rushes over boulders in the Adirondack Mountains before settling into a wide, slow flow closer to New York City. It stretches 315 miles (507 kilometers) from source to end.
Lewis Pugh finished swimming all of it on Wednesday morning.
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The 53-year-old endurance swimmer emerged from the water off the lower tip of Manhattan after a month-long journey, clad in a Speedo, cap and goggles. He smiled and raised his fist in triumph as he climbed out. Supporters who had gathered despite light rain at Battery Park cheered.
“It’s incredibly tough to swim for 30 days,” Pugh told reporters at a news conference. “And yes, it does take an enormous toll on you. But I can honestly say I feel rejuvenated.”
Pugh has powered through fatigue and sore shoulders for weeks. He has dodged tugboats and bobbing plastic garbage. And he insisted that any discomfort was worth it to highlight the Hudson and the importance of clean rivers.
“Seeing the Statue of Liberty on the horizon and seeing that beautiful torch, it just made me think that every single thing which we hold dear to us depends on us being able to drink clean water and breathe fresh air and take care of our planet so that is habitable,” he said. “Rivers are the arteries of our planet.”
The Plymouth, England resident has taken other high-profile swims, including one 76 miles (123 kilometers) long across the Red Sea and a 328-mile (528-kilometer) swim the length of the English Channel.
Swimming the length of Hudson has been done before, by Christopher Swain in 2004. While Swain wore a wetsuit, Pugh swam in a Speedo, generally trying to cover 10 miles (16 kilometers) a day.
For a recent leg south of Albany recently, he snapped his cap and goggles over his head before jumping feet first from the inflatable boat accompanying him. He made sure to first take a swig from a bottle of Pepto-Bismol, a nod to the less-than-pristine water. He also rinsed with an antiseptic mouthwash, washed up with surgical soap and wore ear plugs.
Support team members followed in the boat and a kayak.
The latter half of Pugh’s swim was on the Hudson estuary, the section of river affected by the tides that stretches from New York Harbor to above Albany.
