Here's the swimwear for one of the most polluted waterways in America: a yellow-and-black dry suit, flippers, thick, black gloves, a green swimming cap with the hashtag #hope scrawled on it in black marker, goggles and ear plugs—plus a whole lot of water-repelling gel on your neck and face. That's what Christopher Swain wrapped himself in before he plunged into the putrid Gowanus Canal on April 22, 2015. The 47-year-old is something of a professional swimmer of dirty waters, and he took to the Gowanus on Earth Day to highlight the need to clean it up. "I don't ever worry about being in the water," he says, calling swimming in the suit sort of like swimming in a bubble. "I'm not worried about getting gonorrhea."
