Five swimmers will traverse the Strait of Georgia Saturday to raise awareness of the dangers confronting the channel.
The distance between Sechelt and Nanaimo is 35 kilometres, comparable to the breadth of the English Channel, and should take 10 to 12 hours for the four relay swimmers and one solo swimmer to complete.
“I swim in the ocean almost every day, and I hope there will never come a time when I won’t be able to do that anymore (because of pollution),” said swimmer Rod Craig.
He plans to cross solo and without a wetsuit, and has added 23 pounds of fat to his frame as insulation.
“They say (this crossing) is 90 per cent physical and 10 per cent mental,” Craig added.
The swimmers hope to highlight the decreased Pacific salmon run and the impact of human activity on the Georgia Strait ecosystem.
