Swimmer Plunges Into Toxic Gowanus To Highlight Filth

GOWANUS, NY — Christopher Swain is waiting to see if he grows a second head.

The clean water advocate strapped on his puncture resistant dry suit and took his third dip in the toxic Gowanus Canal to call for the government to fully clean the waterway so swimmers can join him in the future.

Swain, who swam in the polluted waterway twice in 2015, jumped back into the water on Earth Day Sunday in an effort to get the federal government to expand the scope of the canal's cleanup efforts.

"The federal cleanup is only going to be a partial cleanup, it’s not going to leave the canal safe for swimming every day," said Swain. "My message with the swim this time is let's not call it done until it's done, let's not call it clean until it's clean. Let's keep going until it's a pristine waterway that's safe to swim in."

The 1.8-mile canal is regulated under the Clean Water Act, which passed in 1972 and mandated that all U.S. waterways would be swimmable by 1985, the Huffington Post reported. However, a 2012 study by the EPA found that about 35 percent of the country's water still isn't suitable to take a dip in.

Swain previously swam in the canal to push the federal government to quicken the pace of the cleanup effort of the Gowanus but decided to dive back in again Sunday to call for bringing the waters up to the standards set by the Clean Water Act.

"You're supposed to have the right to do it, you’re supposed to be able to do it right now," said Swain. "Here we are building iPhones and space shuttles and somehow can't figure out how not to flush the toilet in the waterway."

For his latest swim, Swain started at the Hamilton Avenue bridge and swam upstream until the boat dock at the 365 Bond development. He paddled through sewage, oil and crashed into debris while a team in kayaks followed him.

To stay safe, he wore a puncture-proof dry suit to cover most of his body, put barrier gel on his face and poured diluted bleach on himself once he got out.

The sludgy water got into his mouth three times during his dip, so he gargled hydrogen peroxide afterward to kill the germs. He still got sick that night, which didn't happen during his first two dips, he said.

While people thought just taking one swim through the water was crazy, Swain hasn't ruled out going in a fourth time in the future.

"I feel like this waterway was stolen from us and I’m stealing it back," he said. "Until so many people are swimming in a clean Gowanus Canal that it’s not news, I’ll keep pushing."

Image used with permission: Swim With Swain/Instagram