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Has anyone swam the Mississippi River?

The first person on record to swim the entire Mississippi River was Martin Strel in 2002. Strel swam the entire River in 68 days. Martin Strel is a Slovenian professional swimmer who had made a name for himself as an athlete many years before attempting the swim.



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The first person on record to swim the entire Mississippi River was Martin Strel in 2002. Strel swam the entire River in 68 days. Martin Strel is a Slovenian professional swimmer who had made a name for himself as an athlete many years before attempting the swim.

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The average person can swim as fast as one to two miles per hour or at an average speed of 1.5 miles per hour. If a person were to swim the entire 24-hour day without stopping, they would cover 36 miles. It would take 65 days to swim the entire Mississippi River at this pace.

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The deepest point on the Mississippi River is located near Algiers Point in New Orleans and is 200 feet in depth.

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The Mississippi River is the primary river, and second-longest river, of the largest drainage basin in the United States. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it flows generally south for 2,340 miles to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico.



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At its widest is 11 miles across and at its narrowest is 20 to 30 feet across. 5. At its deepest is 200 ft and at its shallowest point is 3 feet deep.

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Martin Strel: He is a Slovenian endurance swimmer who swam the entire length of the Mississippi River in 2002. The swim took him 68 days to complete and he covered a distance of 2,360 miles (3,800 km). Ross Edgley: He is a British adventurer and athlete who swam the entire length of the Mississippi River in 2018.

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The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is working with a number of partners to get the water to fishable and swimmable conditions. (Thanks to the great work of public utilities, treated drinking water from the Mississippi is safe and delicious!)

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Many popular kinds of fish including bass, bream, crappie, freshwater drum, and small catfish (less that22 inches in length) are SAFE to eat. Farm-raised catfish are SAFE to eat.

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The Congo is the deepest river in the world. Its headwaters are in the north-east of Zambia, between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa (Malawi), 1760 metres above sea level; it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

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Key Points: At a depth of 216 feet (though some sources say it's 202 ft), the Hudson River is the deepest river in the United States. The Hudson River's headwaters are located in the Lake Tear of the Clouds in New York's Adirondack Park. It travels 315 miles from that point to Upper New York Bay.

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The Gulf of Mexico dead zone is an area of hypoxic (link to USGS definition) (less than 2 ppm dissolved oxygen) waters at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Its area varies in size, but can cover up to 6,000-7,000 square miles.

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The worst-ever dry period occurred in the late 1500s. However, the dry years of 2021 and 2022 exceeded the 1500's drought length. This means the last 22 years are the driest in 1,200 years.

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With a current fueled by melting ice from the north, large debris that have traveled from as far away as Minnesota and freezing cold temperatures, chances of survival are minimal for anyone who falls into the Mighty Mississippi without a life jacket.

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What Causes the Dead Zone? Heavy rains and melting snows washed massive amounts of nutrients—particularly nitrogen and phosphorus—from lawns, sewage treatment plants, farm land and other sources along the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico.

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