For the record

Just so you know, I will never swim in the Rhine River. I guess yesterday was the 25th Annual Rheinschwimmen here in Basel, and this year an estimated 1200 crazy people participated. I grew up swimming in lakes, which many people (my husband included) find disgusting, but they can't be as dirty as a river that flows through a city with several chemical/pharmaceutical plants. An article about the Rheinschwimmen in today's Baslerstab includes a quote from an "amused" American tourist who commented on the swimmers: "... are they crazy?" My thoughts exactly.