OSS Swim Champ’s epic Eel River odyssey

07th June, 2019

OSS Swim Champ Dean Hall is in the early stages of an incredible 75-mile swim along the Eel River in California. Over a two-week period and supported by his 26 year old daughter, Bre, he will swim eight miles a day from Benbow to where the mighty river meets the Pacific Ocean.

Dean is raising money and awareness for Friends of the Eel River (F.O.E.R), whose work aims to bring the worlds attention to the pollution of waterways and poor environmental practices in the USA.

Dean is no stranger to river adventures – he was the first person to swim the River Shannon from Leitrim to Limerick. He says a highlight of this one will be swimming under canopy of Giant Redwoods. “I have always loved the ancient Redwood forests,” says Dean. ” They are one of our world’s greatest treasures. It is magical to walk under these giants. Only recently did I learn you can swim through them.”

Dean, a two-time cancer survivor, is dedicated to spending the rest of his life pioneering a new field he calls “adventure environmentalism”.  He hopes to encourage more swimmers out of chlorine and into wild waterways. As he says: “It is only natural to fall in love with a river you swim and, like Jacques Cousteau used to say, ‘You protect what you love.’”

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