On Saturday, I woke up at 5:25am (after a considerable bit of accidental "Snooze"ing) to race into Boston with Ben and volunteer at the Charles River Swimming Club Annual One Mile Swim in the Charles.
Yes, I do mean the Charles River.
First, I helped mark their arms and hands with waterproof, permanent markers, so we could identify swimmers to the lifeguards on the dock and in nearby kayaks and boats if they were having trouble. Then, a few of us donned life jackets and jumped into kayaks to ensure the safe passage of swimmers around the buoys.
Between watching for straggling swimmers and unaware boats, I took in how beautiful the river is in the morning. It's peaceful, since most of the city is still sleeping or enjoying a cup of coffee in their pajamas at 8am on a Saturday morning. The water sparkles, small waves causing the sunlight to twinkle and dance on the ripples made by small gusts of wind and one hundred eager, rubber capped swimmers. The city views are unique and somehow manage to be simultaneously homey and magnificent with the Charles in the foreground.
Both before and after the race, I heard people on either side of the "To Swim or Not to Swim?" debate. Exhilarated swimmers said it was beautiful; experienced boaters were skeptical.
The point isn't whether or not you'd swim in it - it's that this is our small piece of the environment which has been rather mistreated throughout history. Lots of different sorts of waste were purposely dumped into the river in the past, and it's slowly improved in recent years.
Swimming in the Charles, whether or not you personally would do it, represents a few things - trust in the chemical standards that our government agencies have set for classification of water as boatable, swimmable, drinkable and so on; a personal investment in continuously improving our local environments and public spaces; and of course, a love for that not so dirty water.
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