Contributed by Kate Radville, Race Director
Competitors at the start of the Eighth Annual Charles River One Mile Swim
On June 11th, 2016, the Charles River Swimming Club hosted its Eighth One Mile Swim in the Charles River Basin. The race, which took place on a single loop course between the Massachusetts Avenue and Longfellow bridges, was the largest in the club’s ten-year history.
This year's race drew a record number of swimmers to the river. The introduction of electronic, chip timing allowed for real-time results and an expanded field of 144 athletes. Conditions, including bright sun and flat water, were ideal for an open water competition. For the second year in a row, the top finisher was a woman. Alana Aubin (26) of Watertown, Massachusetts narrowly edged out Frank Wuest (56), of Boston, Massachusetts to earn her victory. Overall and age group winners earned gift certificates for a day of canoeing, kayaking, or stand up paddle boarding with Charles River Canoe and Kayak, one of the club’s generous sponsors, as well as "I Swam the Charles" pint glasses.
The Charles River Swimming Club is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2005 with the dual purpose of organizing competitive swimming events in the river and facilitating the return of public river swimming. After a long history of pollution, the Charles has benefited tremendously from the Clean Charles River Initiative, which began in 1995. It is now clean enough for swimming on most summer days, and the annual swim race is organized in part to raise awareness of this fact.
Overall winner Alana Aubin receives her prizes from race director Kate Radville
If you are interested in getting involved with the club as a volunteer or participating in upcoming events, please visit the club’s website at www.charlesriverswimmingclub.org. The club is run strictly by volunteers and would like to extend its gratitude to the swimmers and volunteers who made this year’s event such a huge success.