British endurance athlete finishes 315-mile Hudson swim for river health

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Endurance athlete Lewis Pugh has completed a 315-mile swim down the Hudson River in New York to show the world that rivers can be cleaned up enough for people to swim in, fish in and drink from. The 53-year-old said he got “seriously sick” after swimming the length of the River Thames, adding: “I dream of the day when a vice chancellor of a British university can swim down his or her river, which goes through their campus, with their students because that’s what it should be like. “All rivers should be swimmable, drinkable and fishable.” He described many sections of the river as “very peaceful and beautiful”, seeing bald eagles, ospreys, vultures, beavers and a startled black bear, adding: “You don’t get that at the North Pole.” Mr Pugh has also swum the Red Sea, raising awareness of the danger to coral reefs, and did his first long-distance swim when he was just 10, between Robben Island and Cape Town, South Africa. “But I really do believe that this river gives hope to people around the world – in India, in China, in Britain, in South Africa, that one day, their river can also be saved.”