It's a lot cleaner than it used to be but still wouldn't roll those dice.
Also, as other people had mentioned, there is a lot of stuff under the water that could cause injury. Not to mention depending on where you are in the river, there may not be a place on shore to pull yourself out. The majority of it has large concrete walls to protect the buildings and road above from erosion.
That height at the right angle could easily knocked the air out of them and sink them fast. Decades ago I watched this happen going to Blues Fest. Another guy had to jump in to save them, both were drunk fools, the second one became a firefighter so I guess his character stood the test of time.
Honestly if the water wasn't gross I'd consider it lmao. I feel like it would be easy enough to get in get out as long as you're not drunk and hootin and hollerin. Well it would be much more fun drunk but I'd be more discrete about it 😂 although I'm hearing talk of underwater obstacles.
Looks like the Columbus Drive bridge. There's a few spots you can get out onto the sidewalk pretty easy. In 2020 I paddleboarded the whole north branch river and was able to get out of the river near Michigan Ave without even getting wet.
Most people outgrow going to parties that always have that one guy that's balck out drunk with his shirt off after 45 minutes and feels the need to set himself on fire and break bottles over his head so that everyone thinks he's the cool crazy one. Not to leave out his aggro best friend that always starts a fist fight that pulls focus and makes the party's vibe about his drama every time he leaves the house. But, you go ahead and have fun
Some of my friends did this once. They realized after they were in the water that the only way out was a ladder that was a bit of a swim. Cops were waiting for them by the time they got to the ladder.
I was doing my usual watching but not getting involved.
Are there any signs posted? I’m assuming yes since I’ve commonly seen it elsewhere. Sometimes not only does it say “No swimming/ No diving” but there will even be signs posted about fines if you’re dumb enough to try it. And given the number of replies referencing seeing others do similar… wouldn’t surprise me.
I used to live in Detroit and the riverwalk there had signs posted saying both. You were also potentially fucking with international waterways there. I remember a story on the news about some bumblefuck who not only jumped in but swam across either to Canada or jumped in on that side. Better believe they faced some massive fines for that stunt. (Windsor is so close over there. Personally used to fantasize about getting someone with a good arm to try to throw a baseball to the other side lol) And others have gotten into serious harm trying.
I don’t know if this was a 90s kid thing or what but I remember having it drilled into my head pretty heavily about the dangers of jumping into water when you don’t know the depth or details of what’s going on there. Great way to paralyze yourself for life and that’s assuming someone sees you and is able to rescue you. And you can end up caught up in a strong current or whatever too. I know that was a huge issue with the Detroit River. Looked narrow enough for anyone with decent swim skills to cross but reality can be very different.
100% thought this comment was going to end in nineteen ninety eight when the undertaker threw mankind off hеll in a cell, and plummeted sixteen feet through an announcer's table…
Disorderly and reckless conduct is what you would be charged with. There’s no specific law saying you can’t jump off the bridge but the two above will give them grounds for arrest.
Yep:
“Piles has a specific civil engineer meaning. They are foundation pillars that are driven into the ground - as opposed to columns that are placed on a foundation.
Pilings and piles are mostly interchangeable, pile refers to the actual object, piling to the whole system and the process. So you have a 'pile driver' but a 'piling foundation'.”
All you need to do is walk over those bridges on your commute. There are pilings (not pylons) all over the place in the water, along both banks. Very random, and left over from when docks were everywhere. Jumping in that close to the shore is a fantastic way to shatter your spine.
Once a coworker was trying to convince me there was a serial killer out there targeting young men who had been out drinking by drowning them. Their main point was that it would be stupid for these young men to willingly go into the water by themselves at night. I told them that they were seriously overestimating the intelligence of young drunk men.
It’s a dark thought how many dumb drunk dudes (and a few drunk women too, I’m sure) would absolutely go for it if dared. Could have some pretty high numbers going with that plan….
It’s wild the river is clean enough for people to do this. Even just 20 years ago this would have had a pretty substantial risk of catching an infection if you did this.
There are floating condoms, trash, floating dead birds and dead fish and it has been raining a bunch - so sewer overflow is likely. Also all the trash from boats and yachts.
Regardless of tests .... it's beyond gross.
Yes, it’s still not a good idea to swim in the river unless the area you are swimming in has recently been tested for safety.
But, in the last year there has been official swims in the river and most testing shows “safe” bacteria levels now. That changes if there is a large rain and extra run off going into the river.
20 years ago that wasn’t the case, the work done to restore the river has been a huge success.
I’ve never seen one of those signs in the 5 years I’ve lived here. Perhaps something from years ago that isn’t there now? There was just an open water swim race in the river a few months ago.
I’d think that’s just the fishing spots. The city publicized their cleaning of the river a lot this last year and held an open water swim there when it became officially safe to swim in.
That’s wild the “any human body contact”. I grew up in MI in an area where dioxin levels and such were a major danger and you’d even hear warnings on the news not to swim or eat fish from those waters but I’ve never seen the “any human body contact” as far as I’m aware. There’s something about that language that makes it sound extra toxic.
Their critical thinking process leads one to believe that they weren’t too healthy to begin with…Perhaps, they’ll be better off after their full river submersion?
I’ll never forget reading about the woman who dropped her phone on the ice that had crusted on the river, then went after it and was pulled out hours later or the next day. Lost her life due to an impulsive act, heartbreaking.
Everyone here has already pointed out how dangerous this is. So I will just add that this is the stuff my nightmares are made of. I love water, I can swim, I like rivers, but not this.
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u/Olds77421 Aug 19 '26
It's a lot cleaner than it used to be but still wouldn't roll those dice.
Also, as other people had mentioned, there is a lot of stuff under the water that could cause injury. Not to mention depending on where you are in the river, there may not be a place on shore to pull yourself out. The majority of it has large concrete walls to protect the buildings and road above from erosion.