Dive into the Inner Harbor at the ‘Harbor Splash’ in June

The water’s fine, hon, jump on in!

Waterfront Partnership will host a public “Harbor Splash” swimming event on Sunday, June 23, 2024, and registration opens on May 29 for all “Harbor Splash” newsletter subscribers who would like to take the dive!

A group of key partners and elected officials, including Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman, will start the event with a ceremonial jump at 9:20 a.m. from a floating dock at Bond Street Wharf in Fells Point.

The event is made possible by over a decade of work by the Healthy Harbor Initiative championing the goal of a “swimmable, fishable” Baltimore Harbor. Healthy Harbor has worked with numerous partners including nonprofits, educational institutions, the local government, business leaders, volunteers, and of course, the Trash Wheel Family to make the Inner Harbor clean enough to swim in.

“We know our work is far from over, but we must start swimming. It’s a commitment to keep working to ensure that our ecosystem thrives and that swimming in the harbor becomes a routine occurrence,” said Michael Hankin, president and CEO of Brown Advisory and chairman of Waterfront Partnership’s Healthy Harbor Initiative. “We had an ambitious goal and, with a lot of hard work and people believing we could do it; we are finally realizing our vision.”

The Healthy Harbor Initiative has released an annual report card to track progress towards their goal since 2010, and in 2023, the report showed water quality safe enough for swimming on most dry-weather days. Baltimore City has invested more than $1 billion to repair its sewer and wastewater infrastructure, resulting in a 97% decrease in sewage overflows in the harbor since 2018.

Important factors still need consideration before jumping in, like boat traffic, potentially polluted sediment, and wet weather. This is the case, however, with any large body of open water. Therefore, it is recommended that swimming in the Harbor only take place during scheduled events like the “Harbor Splash.”

“The work and partnership of everyone who came together to support the Healthy Harbor Initiative are remarkable and we cannot wait to celebrate as a group alongside the public on June 23,” said Laurie Schwartz, president of the Waterfront Partnership.

In addition to sewer infrastructure repairs and upgrades, in 2014 Waterfront Partnership installed Mr. Trash Wheel, which was a first-of-its-kind technology designed to remove trash from rivers. Mr. Trash Wheel just celebrated his 10^th birthday in March 2024.

Recently, legislators passed critical environmental legislation leading to extensive water monitoring, five million pounds of litter being removed from the water, and many single-use plastics being banned.

“After generations of neglecting our streams and Harbor, we expect a healthy amount of skepticism. But this is just the beginning. We want to see other events in the Harbor like triathlons, marathon swimming and stand-up paddleboard races. One day we may even have a beach,” said Adam Lindquist, vice president of the Waterfront Partnership.

Reached for comment after a long day of swallowing cigarette butts and plastic bottles, Mr. Trash Wheel told Baltimore Fishbowl, “Humans, it is not always easy to eat all of your floating garbage, but if it helps make an event like Harbor Splash possible then I’ll gladly keep doing it.”

The Harbor Splash event will accommodate 125 people ages 18 and older in five timed sessions to ensure safety and proper monitoring by Ultimate Watersports, the on-water event management company overseeing the event. To learn more about the Harbor Splash 2024, and get notified when registration opens, click this link.