Recent water-quality results offer a local backdrop to Port Chester swimmer Drew Nemetz’s fundraiser. A September report found A grades in all three Long Island Sound basin segments; the Western Narrows improved from an F to a D, its first improvement since Save the Sound began issuing report cards in 2008, Connecticut Public reported. The five open-water segments all improved or held steady from the previous year, according to Patch.
Nemetz’s English Channel swim supported Save the Sound, the regional environmental nonprofit based in Larchmont, New York, and New Haven, Connecticut. He raised more than $20,000 for the organization, according to Save the Sound. Connecticut has spent about $1.2 billion over two decades addressing combined sewer overflows, while the Sound continues to face pressures including climate change, coastal development, and occasional overflows, Connecticut Public reported.
The crossing itself took 14 hours and 16 minutes. Nemetz, 44, entered the water near Samphire Hoe on England’s southeast coast and reached Cap Blanc-Nez in France on Saturday, completing a route of roughly 21 miles, according to the Yonkers Times. The report says difficult conditions and aggressive jellyfish were among the challenges.
A support crew accompanied Nemetz aboard the boat Masterpiece. The Yonkers Times reported that crew members supplied food and water, tracked his strokes and monitored his safety; Peter Linderoth, Save the Sound’s director of healthy waters and lands, was among them. The Channel Swimming Association count cited by Yonkers Times lists Nemetz as the 92nd swimmer to complete a solo crossing in 2026, with fewer than 2,200 successful solo crossings recorded since 1875.
Before the crossing, Nemetz trained in Long Island Sound off Oakland Beach in Rye and, during some weeks, swam as much as 50,000 yards. He had also completed the 20 Bridges Swim Around Manhattan in eight hours and 24 minutes, according to Save the Sound’s feature on his preparation.
Nemetz runs Alpen Pantry in Old Greenwich with his wife, Frannie Willsey, according to Save the Sound’s account of the completed swim. He and Linderoth were scheduled to discuss the crossing and Long Island Sound water quality in a Nov. 4 webinar from 6 to 7 p.m. Nemetz has said he plans to return to the Sound to prepare for another major swim.
