Filmmaker Finn O’Hara and poet Tanis Rideout are celebrating our waters with a collaboration of poetry, urban swimming, and the vision of rethinking the way we look at water in our cities, with their video Swim, Drink, Fish – My City.

“Too often we forget the deep connection between our communities and our lakes,” said Mark Mattson, president and waterkeeper at Swim Drink Fish. “Every Great Lake City is linked to its fresh water for drinking, health, and enjoyment. The best way to strengthen that link and protect the power of our place is to keep our waters safe for recreational water. Through videos like Finn and Tanis’ and initiatives like Swim Guide, we’re connecting people to water and keeping them informed about recreational water quality.”

The release of the video comes on the first anniversary of the unveiling of the Gord Edgar Downie Pier, Canada’s first natural open-water swimming pier. The Gord Edgar Downie Pier has changed the City of Kingston’s waterfront. Thousands of residents and visitors have flocked to the water since the renovation of Breakwater Park, changing the way cities view their waterfronts and the way people connect to water.

In June 2017, Kingston City Council voted unanimously to name the renovated PUC Dock after Lake Ontario Waterkeeper/SDF Canada board member and Kingston native Gord Downie, in honour of his work to connect people to water. The Gord Edgar Downie Pier is Canada’s first urban natural swimming pier. The W. Garfield Weston Foundation, City of Kingston, Provincial, and Federal governments all came together to fund the Gord Edgar Downie Pier.

View the video here: Swim, Drink, Fish- My City video

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