Ultra-marathon swimmer completes 50km swim of Ottawa River to raise funds for Riverkeeper

Sarah Dobbin waves to the camera as she swims in the Ottawa River on Aug. 21, 2025. Dobbin completed a 50-kilometre swim to raise funds for the Ottawa Riverkeeper. (CTV News Ottawa)

An ultra-marathon swimmer completed a lengthy swim of the Ottawa River, all in the name of keeping the waterway clean for everyone.

Sarah Dobbin says she’s been swimming in waterways in the Ottawa area her whole life, and on Thursday, embarked on a 50-kilometre swim from Ottawa to Wendover to raise money for the Ottawa Riverkeeper.

She told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal on Friday that it went as well as she could have imagined.

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“When you’re doing a marathon swim, especially an ultra-marathon swim, you go through a whole range of emotions and physical sensations. There were moments where I was questioning what I was doing and then other moments where I was just reveling at the amazing world around me,” she said.

The journey took nearly 16 hours, starting at around 6:30 a.m. right behind Parliament Hill, and ending at around 10:30 p.m. in Wendover, Ont.

“There were so many people there to welcome me; friends, and people who I had never met before. There were a lot of people from Wendover, where I landed, who came out and they had made me a sign. Everyone was cheering and I got to meet all sorts of wonderful people,” Dobbin said.

Dobbin is not a stranger to long swims, having just completed a 25-kilometre race in Vermont about a month ago. This was her longest swim yet, and it was something she’d been contemplating for awhile.

“I’ve been thinking about doing a really long marathon swim for a long time and I’m interested in things like the English Channel, of course, which is very iconic, but I thought, ‘Is there something that I could do here? We have all these amazing bodies of water around, including the Ottawa River.’ It was just a natural fit, having grown up in the area, that I swim that body of water,” she said. “I’m so interested in keeping our waterways clean and swimmable and drinkable and fishable for everyone that it just made sense for me to do the fundraising for Ottawa Riverkeeper.”

Doubled fundraising goal

She started with a $5,000 goal and had raised more than $11,000 by Friday afternoon.

To complete the swim, Dobbin had a team of people who made sure she was safe and following marathon rules, which includes regular breaks to eat and drink.

“I feed every 30 to 35 minutes, a combination of liquid feed as well as some solids, like energy gels,” she said.

While she said she enjoyed most of the journey, there were some difficult moments.

“There were definitely times where I was questioning what I was doing and, admittedly, I was hoping that possibly the boat would break down so I could end the swim early, but really there were so many other wonderful times during the swim,” she said.

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“There weren’t many waves except for maybe about five or six kilometres between Green’s Creek and Petrie Island where it got a little bit choppy. The waves were about two feet tall.”

Friday was all about recovery.

“I am just relaxing and snacking today. That’s about it. I’ll be out of the pool for a couple of days and just napping and recuperating,” Dobbin said.

Donations to Dobbin’s Kichi Zibi 50 campaign can be made until Aug. 31.