Does anyone know if the proper permits have been secured for the swim yet? If not, any idea when? I know that even with permits that there is a chance that the swim could be cancelled but if there are no permits issued than the swim probability is zero.
Also, why does the website say on some pages “tentative date: September 29”? I hope that this is just a case of a bad web site.
Bump
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http://www.examiner.com/a-824623~Triathletes_get_OK_to_swim_river.html
Triathletes get OK to swim river
Courtney Mabeus, The Examiner
2007-07-12 15:21
Current rank: # 13 of 6,612
WASHINGTON, The Examiner - Mayor Adrian Fenty wants to swim the Potomac, and this week he got the D.C. Council’s approval. Council Member Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, introduced the emergency bill Tuesday at Fenty’s behest. It allows a one-day exemption to a District law banning swimming in the river so The Nation’s Triathlon can go forward.
Fenty, a marathon runner, is one of about 500 people registered for the race, scheduled for Sept. 29, Cheh said. The race involves swim, bike and run segments.
A similar event was scheduled last year, but the swim portion was nixed when the health department determined the Potomac was too dirty. That race would have been the District’s first triathlon.
Cheh said the city’s environment department will be responsible for testing this year. It will be done up to the day of the race, she said.
The legislation was introduced as an emergency because the council will recess between Sunday and mid-September and there would not be enough time for Fenty to seek the one-day exemption, Cheh said.
Though the bill passed unanimously, some council members scoffed at the notion that the notoriously polluted river could be considered clean enough to swim.
“It never entered my mind that anyone would swim in the Potomac,” said Council Member Jim Graham, D-Ward 1.
A similar event was scheduled last year, but the swim portion was nixed when the health department determined the Potomac was too dirty. That race would have been the District’s first triathlon.
Funny how, last year, when the swim was cancelled, there was a lot of talk about inability to obtain the necessary “permits”, but no metion of the above.
Mayor Adrian Fenty ROCKS! I love this guy, how refreshing!
Dave in VA
Good thing that Fenty has become a triathlete of late (doing Diamond in the Rough, Columbia, and Eagleman this year, at the very least!) and is now the mayor.
However, as a Maryland lifer, I cannot fathom that anyone would be able to swim that far south in the Potomac. That being said, I’ve swam in Boston harbor and in Pittsburgh, which were two very dirty swims themselves. Maybe Fenty will pull it off. But I won’t sign up for this race ever–last year it was too expensive, and of course, the swim was cancelled. Hopefully I’ll be wrong this year!
I’m out - the only advantage I can see is that one is probably much more buoyant when swimming on a mass of turds!