TenneSwim
Thursday, August 3   7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
A Presentation in the River Journey Auditorium  

Meet Dr. Andreas Fath, an endurance athlete and professor at Germany’s Furtwangen University, as he undertakes TenneSwim, a historic headwater-to-mouth swim of the entire 652-mile Tennessee River. As his strokes carry him an average of more than 20 miles a day, Dr. Fath will be conducting extensive water quality analysis of the river, testing everything from temperature and oxygen levels to traces of pharmaceuticals, heavy metals and microplastics.  

This project will provide an unprecedented water quality survey of North America’s most biologically diverse river. TenneSwim will demonstrate what ecological challenges the river faces and the steps necessary to safeguard its abundance of life. Fath’s discussion will cover both TenneSwim and his experiences during Rheines Wasser, a similar project in 2014 to swim and analyze the entirety of Germany’s Rhine River.