1,243-Mile Columbia River Swim Completed

Christopher Swain, who swam the length of the Columbia River to protest pollution, finished his yearlong journey Tuesday.

The 1,243-mile swim began at the river’s source in Canada and ended with Swain pushing through 8- to 10-foot swells at the river’s mouth in Astoria.

“I was overwhelmed,” Swain said Tuesday. “There was a moment when everything hit me.”

Swain conceived of the swim as a way to bring attention to the harm done to the river by dams, pollutants and other threats.

“I wanted to put the river in the public eye, and I did it,” he said.

Swain, of Portland, Ore., swam between 5 and 25 miles a day, depending on the water temperature and his health. He was flanked by a small motorized raft, run by volunteers. Every 20 minutes or so, he would swish out his mouth with hydrogen peroxide against infection from the polluted water.

He battled cold, wind, debris and infections he blames on the pollutants he swam through.

Swain said Tuesday he met with more than 13,000 people along the way, including many schoolchildren with whom he shared his story.

“This started out as a swim for a clean Columbia, but it ended up as something different,” he said. “What affected me most was the people. All these issues on the river can all be reduced to human terms.”

Swain now plans to spend more time with his daughter and wife, who is expecting their second child, but intends to continue his campaign for the river.

“I feel like I’ve accomplished 10% of my task,” he said. “The challenge is now to keep my promises and go back to the schools and communities I visited along the way.”