West Village Waders Cruise Down the Hudson Today

If you're enjoying the gorgeous weather along the Hudson today and are wondering why the bodies you're spotting are not just floating today, it's the annual Great Hudson River Swim. Brave swimmers are making their way on a 1.3 mile shot down the Hudson that starts out at Christopher Street and finishes up at Battery Park City. Some New Yorkers naturally have their doubts—one asked the News, "It's New York City, how clean can it be?" But the News reports that it's "cleaner than you think" and anyway, what's a little Dysentery between friends? The real concerns for swimmers are actually not sanitary ones, but the potentially rough current and cool temperature of the water. NYC Swim's official site says you can expect the Hudson to be around 55 to 60 degrees. A previous participant told the paper, "It's colder than the Caribbean, but you're not going to be in that long." The city's site also warns of "chop, shipping traffic and random jetsam and flotsam in the waterways," which might explain why our arms seemed to glitter after a mid-90s dip up by the George Washington Bridge.

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By Billy Parker in News on May 23, 2009 2:55 PM

Comments [rss]

r1b2

Sounds like fun. See you there next year, Jules.

Mr Mel

The Hudson probably isn't that bad anymore. There was a time when you could dip an exposed photographic film strip in the river and it would develop.

NannyState

...or a submerged car would come up with a new primer coat...

jules1000

this is one of those things that are on my list to do before i die: swim in the Hudson

maybe next year....

nice job

i remember seeing a group of guys wade into the water beneath the williamsburg bridge a couple years ago. when they came out, some of them were covered in black specks of...something.