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July 22 2009 » Skeena Swim » Calgary Herald

Woman begins Skeena River swim to raise awareness

It was tough to find water deep enough to dive into – but that didn’t stop Ali Howard from landing a perfect cannonball Tuesday to start her epic 28-day swim down the Skeena River.

The 33-year-old from Hazelton hopes to be the first person to swim the river’s entire length, in an attempt to raise awareness about potential threats to the watershed of B.C.‘s second-longest river.

“Ali finally found a pool that was deep enough for a cannonball,” Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition executive director Shannon McPhail told The Province.

“It was only about four feet deep but she had beautiful form.”

Wearing a helmet, knee and shin guards and a drysuit to protect her from the rocky shallows of the Skeena’s Sacred Headwaters, Howard, a resort chef and accomplished water polo player, is due to arrive in Prince Rupert on August 15 following her 610-kilometre Spirit of the Skeena Swim 2009.

Howard will face a route full of whirlpools, log-jams, whitewater rapids up to Class Four in size, and two waterfalls that she’ll have to portage around.

She said she’s been training for a couple of months in the the Suskwa and Bulkley rivers, tributaries of the Skeena, which is home to the province’s second largest salmon fishery. “My swim is inspired by the salmon,” Howard said in a news release.

“They’re a powerful metaphor of connectedness and an important part of our way of life. “Everything that happens in our watershed affects the salmon.”

Two of the key concerns at the Sacred Headwaters, a key salmon spawning habitat which also supplies the Nass and Stikine rivers, are proposed coalbed methane drilling and a pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to Kitimat, said the SWCC.

“We have an opportunity here to do things differently – to have vibrant communities and a healthy watershed,” Howard said.

“I’m hoping my swim will help permanently safeguard the watershed from developments that threaten its ecosystem.”

Howard will be accompanied by an eight-person support team. She said safety is a key factor. You can follow her swim at www.skeenawatershed.com/swim.

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