CRWA in the News

Stink or swim: Charles River race set for Saturday; Quincy woman to compete if water is ruled safe 

By Andrew Lightman

The Patriot Ledger, Friday, July 20, 2007

BOSTON - A decade ago, it would have made her eyes sting and her skin itch. A swim in the Charles River probably would have led to a tetanus shot, too.

Yet when Roberta Allison and 99 others hop into the river on Saturday, for the first authorized swim race in more than five decades, she won’t be worried.

‘‘I kind of thought it would be fun to be part of history,’’ said Allison, 55, an associate professor at Newbury College who lives in the Houghs Neck section of Quincy.

The first Charles River swim was scheduled last summer, but high bacteria counts in the water forced organizers to cancel.

Saturday’s race will also hinge on a contamination check. Excessive rain today could force another cancellation.

But if the water is ruled safe enough to swim in, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation will issue a one-time permit to race organizers today.

It would be the first authorized swim race in the Charles since the mid-1950s, when contamination forced the state to close its river beaches, said Frans Lawaetz, president of the Charles River Swim Club.

‘‘It’s been almost two generations,’’ Lawaetz said. ‘‘It’s hopefully a precursor to more public river swimming.’’

The race is possible because the river now meets safe swim standards, except following heavy rains, said Ben Martens, of the Charles River Conservancy.

The water quality is a vast improvement from 1995, when the Environmental Protection Agency gave it a D grade. The latest check, in 2006, earned the river a B+ grade.

Still, it remains illegal to swim in the Charles River. That’s because the state has not designated a safe place for people to dive in. With its special permit from the state, swimmers on Saturday will enter from a ladder near the Hatch Shell.

The race route goes between the Harvard and Longfellow bridges, a deep area of the river so swimmers will not disturb the highly toxic metals and chemicals that have come to rest on the river bottom.

An avid open-water swimmer, Allison expects to finish the 1-mile course in less than 30 minutes.

She isn’t daunted by the river’s tainted past. Last weekend, she swam off Carson Beach in South Boston, another area with a less than stellar reputation for cleanliness.

‘‘People think you’re crazy to swim in Boston Harbor,’’ Allison said. ‘‘But I can’t imagine they would risk any kind of health issue for 100 swimmers.’’

Martens said his organization aims to create permanent swimming areas along the Charles, ‘‘where people can go after a hard day at work and go swimming.’’

Whether that comes with a beach, through spot dredging, or a floating bath house remains to be seen.

But that goal, if Saturday’s race comes to fruition, now appears attainable, Martens said.

‘‘I think if you asked people about this 10 years ago... they would laugh at you,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s no longer out of the question.’’

Andrew Lightman may be reached at alightman@ledger.com .

Copyright 2007 The Patriot Ledger