This event has already taken place.
UPDATE AUGUST 18, 2014
SUCCESS! On August 16, 2014 Rachel successfully swam from Schooner Cove to Sechelt making her the second woman to ever swim across the Georgia Strait!
She completed the swim in a time of 11:55.47 with a huge smile on her face.
UPDATE AUGUST 7, 2014
On August 3rd, 2014 Rachel and her crew set out to Neck Point to begin the swim but unfortunately the weather did not agree with them and Rachel was unable to attempt the crossing. After a tough weekend out on the water Rachel and her team are working together to plan a new date for the swim across the Georgia Strait.
On both August 3rd and August 4th the team faced wind advisories of 20 knots which made conditions unsafe for both Rachel and the crew. The team made the decision together that an attempt this weekend was not in the books.
That being said, this adventure is not over. We are just at the end of one chapter and at the start of the next. The crew will be “on-call” from August 11-22 waiting for conditions to be in their favour. Once Rachel gets the green light from boat captain John Dafoe the team will head over to the island with a days notice ready to start the crossing the following morning.
This past weekend has been tough but Rachel and her team are not defeated.
Thank-you for your continued support and encouraging words. We will be sure to keep you updated on the new departure date for the swim. Here's to clean, swimmable water!
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Summer is a time for all of us to celebrate our swimmable waters and remember how precious (and fragile) our waterways are.
On August 3rd, 2014 our Program Manager Rachel Schoeler is attempting to swim across the Georgia Strait to do just that.
The swim is 35km, starting at Neck Point (near Nanaimo on Vancouver Island) to Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast. This distance is three kilometres longer than swimming the English Channel!
Since 1966 many people have attempted to complete this swim, and a few have succeeded, among them MP Fin Donnelly. Rachel’s success will make her the second woman in history to complete the solo crossing— and the first woman to do so in over forty years! (The last was in 1972, by a nurse named Fran Cannon.)
Click here to join Rachel's adventure by sponsoring 100 metres of her swim for $50!
Besides going down in the history books, Rachel’s swim will act as a fundraiser for the Fraser Riverkeeper’s Shore Patrol Swimmable Water Project—which takes place throughout the summer to educate beach-goers on water quality issues— and our other clean-water programs.
Share a role in Rachel's amazing challenge!
Sponsor 100m of her swim for $50 by clicking here
... and join us in Nanaimo or Sechelt to be part of this historic event.
For details on where to see Rachel off or welcome her to the mainland, email Rachel here.
More on Rachel and the Big Swim
Rachel is an avid open-water swimmer and she spends hundreds of hours out in oceans and lakes throughout the year. She enjoys the calmness and challenge of open water swimming— appreciating every moment on the waterways knowing the threats they face.
Open-water swimming is what brought her to stay in Vancouver and to join Fraser Riverkeeper. Swimmable water is her passion— for her swimmable waters build community, curiosity and care. With this swim across the Georgia Strait she hopes to inspire others to explore, fall in love with and protect their waterways.
There are many components to this swim and it is not done alone. Rachel has convened a team of talented people to help her throughout her ongoing training and the swim itself. Together with her swim coach, training partners and support from spotters she is working to build the strength and endurance to complete 35km in a single swim.
She will be joined by two boat captains and crew that will help ensure a safe and enjoyable crossing for all.
Special thanks to John Paul Mitchell Systems, Oasis Juice, Overwaitea Food Group, Harbour Air and Speedo Canada for helping to make this all possible.
