Swimming in the Potomac

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It's not like it's an automatic death sentence. Sheesh.

It is far more dangerous to drive a car than to swim in the Potomac.

That’s not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My teens like to swim at Scott's Run, although not strictly legal.

I hope they’re just wading and messing around by the waterfall and not going out into the river proper!

Yes, they are just wading around. They don't go out into the river proper. But it's a nice place to hang out and cool off after a hike.

Isn’t Scott’s Run really polluted? It’s mostly run off from Tyson’s.

[Anonymous]

No way.

This story haunts me:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/08/21/drowning-death-911-response/

[Anonymous]

You're putting rescue workers at risk when you take risks like that yourself. People should be fined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're putting rescue workers at risk when you take risks like that yourself. People should be fined.

But not have to pay it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My teens like to swim at Scott's Run, although not strictly legal.

I hope they’re just wading and messing around by the waterfall and not going out into the river proper!

Yes, they are just wading around. They don't go out into the river proper. But it's a nice place to hang out and cool off after a hike.

Isn’t Scott’s Run really polluted? It’s mostly run off from Tyson’s.

Yeah but like, what can we do. It’s an urban environment. People need nature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My teens like to swim at Scott's Run, although not strictly legal.

I hope they’re just wading and messing around by the waterfall and not going out into the river proper!

Yes, they are just wading around. They don't go out into the river proper. But it's a nice place to hang out and cool off after a hike.

Isn’t Scott’s Run really polluted? It’s mostly run off from Tyson’s.

Yeah but like, what can we do. It’s an urban environment. People need nature.

PS I’m very against people swimming in the river anywhere near there! But by the waterfall is very shallow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My teens like to swim at Scott's Run, although not strictly legal.

I hope they’re just wading and messing around by the waterfall and not going out into the river proper!

Yes, they are just wading around. They don't go out into the river proper. But it's a nice place to hang out and cool off after a hike.

Scott’s Run is blessed and cursed by beautiful sections of stream that invite people to wade or swim, but wading and swimming in the stream is illegal, unsafe and irresponsible.

Swimmers at Scott’s Run are in danger if waters rise. Waders are exposed to water that could be polluted, and waders kick up stones that provide shelter and housing for tiny animals. Yet the perception of Scott’s Run as a safe swimming hole persists, fueled by social media posts of people on rocks around the creek and near its low waterfall.

Fairfax County Park Authority regulation 1.21 states that swimming, bathing, and wading are prohibited in parkland bodies of water. The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department website says nearly three out of four times that the department responds to a river emergency something has happened along the shoreline, not in or near a boat. There have been rescues of people trapped by high water in Scott’s Run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Potomac river swimmer here and the PP who posted the links to people drowning in the Potomac is just the kind of anxious type-A BS the DMV is over run with.

Do I need to list all the news stories about people who have drowned in the ocean? Or in swimming pools? It's many, many more.

Swimming in water is always a little dangerous. Just like you don't go in the ocean if there's a riptide, you don't swim near Great Falls, or where the currents are strong.

I mean this is common sense. People have been swimming in rivers for thousands of years.

I don’t think you know what you are talking about. I grew up here in the DMV and would feel far safer swimming out into a known ocean rip current than I would feel going out into the Potomac between the tidal portion past Little Orleans. All it takes is a single tree that is newly submerged right where you have been 1000 times before and next thing you know your foot gets snagged on a mass of branches and fishing line and debris and the current will just push your head under water.

[Anonymous]

I live along the river and as soon as spring and summer hit, it is very frequent water rescues especially on weekends.

[Anonymous]

I swear the DMV has the nerdiest residents of any major metropolitan area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The river near DC is notoriously treacherous. There are drownings every year from people who underestimate it. I wouldn’t swim anywhere in the river without a life jacket.

I think this is both true and an exaggeration. the river is quite treacherous after heavy rains, but is totally swimmable at other times. I have swum in it many times (near cabin John) but I only go in when and where there is very little current.

Lots of people swim in the river, we just kind of keep it hush hush.



https://www.chesapeakebay.net/news/blog/riverkeepers-seek-to-lift-a-50-year-old-ban-on-swimming-in-d-c-waterways
https://www.npr.org/local/305/2022/03/23/1088192692/time-to-lift-the-ban-on-swimming-in-the-potomac-and-anacostia-rivers-advocates-say

This is hubris. Sure, this person will almost certainly be fine. That doesn’t make it a smart thing to do.

I don't think it's hubris. I think it's sad that we have become such an anxious risk-adverse people. A century ago people swam in the Potomac all the time. My mother grew up swimming in the Mississippi River! Now that's dangerous!

Meh. I don't want to drown so if that makes me anxious or risk adverse so be it

[Anonymous]

I think there was a rower who caught some kind of mouse urine disease from the water. I can't find the story though.

[Anonymous]

DC has one of the last combined sewer systems. If you swim in the Potomac I'd stay upstream of the city:

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/heres-where-in-dc-you-should-treat-floodwaters-like-theyre-sewage-because-they-probably-are/65-c6c69dc2-baf7-44d6-8af3-81bf60053bc0

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Potomac river swimmer here and the PP who posted the links to people drowning in the Potomac is just the kind of anxious type-A BS the DMV is over run with.

Do I need to list all the news stories about people who have drowned in the ocean? Or in swimming pools? It's many, many more.

Swimming in water is always a little dangerous. Just like you don't go in the ocean if there's a riptide, you don't swim near Great Falls, or where the currents are strong.

I mean this is common sense. People have been swimming in rivers for thousands of years.

People have also been drowning in rivers for thousands of years.

You just be fun at parties.

Do there are facts that are true but you don't bring up at parties.