Watch: Swimmer explores new Bateman Island channel. ‘Pretty damn cool’
Ned Hastings, a Tri-Cities native extreme open water swimmer, took his taste for adventure to Bateman Island by swimming along Bateman Island where the causeway once stood for 85 years.
“I’m gonna be the first person to swim through the causeway, the Yakima Delta into the Columbia River,” he exclaims on one of a series of videos he’s shared on his Bateman Island Causeway swim and other open water adventures on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
His handle is @OWSwimmerX, for open water swimmer extreme. His video is shared here with permission.
Last week, he braved 42-degree water and a now-removed containment boom during his 16-minute swim from the small launch above the former causeway to the marina below.
“Look at the water flowing. It’s pushing me through here. Pretty damn cool,” he declares.
The U.S. Army corps of Engineers, the Confederated Tribes of the Yakama Nation and other groups have completed removing the earthen structure that provided pedestrian and emergency access to Bateman.
Its removal is part of a larger initiative to improve fish habitat at the spot where the Yakima River meets the Columbia in Richland.