I just got back from the pre race briefing,and the race director said the water quality in the Hudson is good,and it looks like the swim will be happening!!
Having been on the cancelled end of several Manhattan Hudson swims in the last 12 months with similar (perhaps even less severe) rain storms, I’d say the RD is completely full of it…and just putting out a good spin.
That being said, the Hudson can clean up pretty quickly so if the weather is good Saturday, which it is forecast to be, it probably will be a swim.
How does rain affect water quality?
Water quality is ALWAYS affected by rain because it washes stuff off roads/ground/etc. into the water. It is especially bad in NYC because of all the highways nearby and also, I believe, there is a water treament facility on the WS that can occassionally overrun if the rain is seriously heavy.
How does rain affect water quality?
In a lot of older cities like NYC the sewer water and the storm drain water run through the same underground pipes. When there is a very large rainfall, in order not to flood the sewage treatment plants they have to open a bipass gate letting it all run out together into the river. NYC has a very large sewage treatment facility just south of the GWB on the Hudson. If they had to open the gate, guess what you’d be swimming in. However, crap is not the problem with the Hudson, PCB contamination is. Former NJ governor and former EPA head Christie Whitman fought very hard to get the Hudson cleaned up before resigning, once saying that the Hudson should be the nations largest Superfund sight.
I presented most of the race meetings today in NYC. We have documented water quaility tests from today and everyday this week. We also tested the water each week for the last six weeks. We will test again tomorrow. Each of these tests has come back with levels that are approved for swimming.
We would not be putting 2,012 athletes into the water on Sunday if we did NOT have documented tests that say the water ifsclean enough for swimming. The NYC parks department, the City of NY and the state of NY would not allow us to put people in the water if these tests came back saying the water was not clean enough for swimming.
I’ll be presenting the race meetings again tomorrow afternoon and announcing the swim on Sunday. Z
PS - Saw one of the Triathlete Magazine Swim Suit models at a race meeting - can not remember her name, but she is racing on Sunday!
“I presented most of the race meetings today in NYC. We have documented water quaility tests from today and everyday this week.”
compared to:
Manhattan Island Marathon Swim Recap
MIF was forced to cancel the official Manhattan Island Marathon Swim the day before the race, due to unsafe water quality.
The MIM was to be swum on Saturday and the Manhattan Island Foundation (which runs 12 swims in the Hudson a year, mostly on the same stretch of the river) tested on the Friday like your guys did, Z…I guess that is the difference between a Ford sponsored “test” and a test by a non-profit 
I heard from several competitors that they had stomach problems – has anyone heard that too?
No, just black shit all over the face.
That wasn’t “black shit” - it was sturgeon smegma.