Background I’m Harrison, I’m from Cornwall and in August I’ll be attempting the challenge of swimming the length of Windermere in the Windermere One Way Swim Challenge #wow. As an elite athlete and sport physiologist, I’ve always had a passion for the outdoors, heavily invested in climate and environmental action. Initially the project began as a drunken challenge set out by myself and friend Dave (who will also be swimming, into the distance most probably). But as I’ve increased my time training and spent more time in our seas, rivers, and lakes I have discovered the worrying truths that exist. Why the Clean Water Campaign? Clean water, that’s a given right? We expect it. We expect people to be dealing with this for us, but do enough of us understand the problems occurring? I certainly didn’t and still don’t fully. I’ve witnessed first-hand the worrying levels of sewage pollution, the dangerously high levels of blue-green algae in our lakes and the lack of biodiversity in our rivers. And that’s just me in my first few months entering the world of wild swimming. I quickly realised that if I’m going to be spending many hours in Windermere’s so called “clear” waters, (~8 hours I hope) then why am I not doing something about the problems Windermere is currently facing. This is where the clean water campaign began. I am targeting, along my journey as a swimmer, to raise awareness on the key issues, educate where I can and support the amazing work currently going on in the background to save our waters. I want to help the countless charities and organisations working tirelessly for us, for our water. Chosen charities. Now here starts the first challenge. Being from Cornwall I’m surrounded by the sea, beautiful beaches, tidal coves, the list goes on. I’m a frequent wild swimmer, making sure to get a dip in most weeks (throughout the winter especially). During these changes in season, I’ve noticed many changes in the water quality. Yes, we can attribute a lot of murky water to storms and big tides, but this isn’t the issue. The overflows, sewage spills, heavy agricultural run-off, these are a common occurrence especially during heavy rain periods. The problem is, what are we doing about it? Instead of holding our hands up and saying “Yes we have a problem here, we’re working to fix it” we’re blaming others, washing it away (excuse the pun). Is this because we don’t care? Generally speaking, no. But we’re acting like we don’t care, until it hits us in the face... literally.