Registration is open for the 38th Annual Citizens Bank Save The Bay Swim. On Saturday, July 19, Save The Bay will welcome 500 swimmers and accompanying kayakers from across the country to traverse …
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Registration is open for the 38th Annual Citizens Bank Save The Bay Swim. On Saturday, July 19, Save The Bay will welcome 500 swimmers and accompanying kayakers from across the country to traverse 1.7 nautical miles in open water across the East Passage.
Starting at Naval Station Newport on Coaster’s Harbor Island, swimmers and kayakers will enter the water at 7 a.m. and travel across the East Passage to Jamestown’s Potter Cove. A post-Swim party and awards ceremony will be held on the lawn of the R.I. Turnpike & Bridge Authority in Jamestown.
Swimmers between the ages of 15 and 77 will work hard to raise this year’s fundraising goal of $350,000. Proceeds from the swim benefit all of Save The Bay’s programs to protect, restore, and educate about Narragansett Bay and its watershed. The Swim has featured participants from more than 25 states and Save The Bay hopes to expand the geographical reach to raise even more awareness this year.
Save The Bay was forced to alter the course for last year’s “Sequester Swim,” a name given to the event due to sequestration cuts to the military. Historically, the course started in Newport and ended at Potter Cove in Jamestown. Last year’s course was reconfigured in a triangle to start and finish at Potter Cove.
The first cross-bay swim, held in 1977, was started as a call to action to clean up Narragansett Bay. During the first few years of the Swim, it wasn’t uncommon to see swimmers emerge from the water with oil and tar balls on their skin and swimsuits. Today the annual Swim is a celebration of 38 years of progress and a reminder that much work remains to be done. The Swim is Save The Bay’s largest fundraising event and underwrites the organization’s environmental advocacy, restoration, and education programs.
The swim is sponsored by Citizens Bank and many other local businesses and organizations. To register and find information about The Swim, visit www.savebay.
org.
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