What the River Told Me: Reflections on Love, Oneness, and the Living World 

Join open water swimmer and human rights advocate Christopher Swain as he shares behind-the-scenes glimpses, stories, and insights from his history-making swims down some of North America’s most contaminated waterways.

Leader(s)

Christopher Swain combines his passion for swimming with a passion for championing human rights and clean water. He has swum over 3,000 miles in more than two dozen North American waterways to increase awareness of universal human rights and on behalf of clean water.

Christopher was the first person in history to swim the entire lengths of the Columbia, Charles, Hudson, Mohawk, Mystic, and East Rivers, as well as Lake Champlain, the Gowanus Canal, Newtown Creek, Long Island Sound, Narragansett Bay, and large sections of the Atlantic coast of the United States.

During his swims, Swain has survived collisions with boats, 12-foot waves, lightning storms, class IV+ rapids, waterfalls, logjams, toxic blue-green algae, blood-sucking Lamprey Eels, oil spills, raw sewage discharges, shark habitat, and water laced with arsenic, cyanide, dioxin, radioactive waste, PCBs, and neuro-toxic pesticides.

Based in New York City, Christopher is the proud father of two teenage daughters.

Travel directions to Pendle Hill. Click to view the flyer.