British endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh completed a 500-kilometer journey along New York’s Hudson River, highlighting its decades-long successful restoration as a beacon for other waterways, reports RTE.
“Fifty years ago, this was one of the most polluted rivers in the whole world,” said Pugh, 53, who a decade ago was named the first U.N. patron of the oceans, reports RTE.
“We need to have clean, healthy rivers,” he told reporters after making the solo trip from the headwaters of Hudson Mountain to New York City.
He said that in New York’s industrial past, the river sometimes changed color from day to day depending on dyes and other pollutants that were dumped or discharged.
But after decades of working to clean up the pollution, Pugh managed to swim safely down the river, a month-long feat that he said he hopes will inspire others.
“They’re going to be inspired by what happened here and say to themselves: ‘If they can do that in the Hudson, surely we can do it in our river and our river can also be saved’,” he said, reports RTE.
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