Scot Rees battled strong currents but completed 30.5-km swim in just under 11 hours
Author of the article:
Sam Riches
Published Jul 26, 2023 • Last updated Jul 26, 2023 • 2 minute read
![Blind man completes swim across B.C.'s Georgia Strait for a good cause (1) Blind man completes swim across B.C.'s Georgia Strait for a good cause (1)](https://i0.wp.com/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/nationalpost/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/scotrees-Cropped-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=288&h=216&sig=9-JPJXeWWl4Nv0n6g1lUsw)
It took Scot Rees just under 11 hours to swim 30.5 kilometres across B.C.’s Georgia Strait, and he raised more than $140,000 for charity while doing it.
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Rees, 39, has a condition called retinitis pigmentosa, a rare eye disease that affects the retina and can lead to vision loss. Legally blind, Rees completed the swim to raise money for people in need of guide dogs.
He was forced to postpone the attempt by a day due to strong wind and wave forecasts but completed the swim earlier this week. He departed from Davis Bay in Sechelt, B.C., before arriving at Pipers Lagoon near Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.
On social media, he wrote that he got off to a strong start before battling strong currents at the 16 to 22-kilometre mark and endured “sore shoulders, fatigue and a very salty mouth for the last half.”
He said his own guide dog, Kaleb, a 34-kilogram yellow lab, also provided inspiration for the attempt.
Rees was raising awareness for Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind, a national registered charity founded in 1984, “to give back in my own small way to a charity that has made a very positive impact in my life.”
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The Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea and varies in width from 20 to 58 kilometres across its 240-kilometre length. The stretch of sea is home to seals, porpoises, orcas, sea lions and other wildlife.
While he can still see some light, Rees writes that he has lost all functional sight over the last 15 years, necessitating “a significant transition in my mindset, career, and personal pursuits.”
Rees told CBC that Kaleb “restored a lot of my independent mobility that I had lost.”
Rees wasn’t alone in his attempt, as four-time Paralympic swimmer Donovan Tildesley, who is also blind, swam alongside him for the first hour before following along by boat. Rees was also joined by his friend Joost Van Woerden, who paddled alongside in a kayak, and was aided by a waterproof headset in his swimming cap that allowed him to hear directions.
On a fundraising page for the event, Rees writes that he competed regularly in short-distance swim racing as a child before moving to longer open-water endurance swims, like the Vancouver Bay Challenge, a 9.6-kilometre swim across English Bay.
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Rees writes that Kaleb, his guide dog since 2021, has brought him “life-changing benefits,” allowing him to navigate Vancouver’s busy streets, commute to work, go for lunch and head to the pool to train.
“(Kaleb) is an integral part of my family, bringing joy to me, my wife, Alexandra, our two young children, and everyone he meets,” he writes.
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