Move over, Michael Phelps: Quebec man swims 3,200 km down Yukon River

A 54-year-old adventurer from Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., says he is the first person to swim the Yukon River from Whitehorse through Alaska to the Bering Sea.

Setting out from Whitehorse on May 25, it took Denis Morin 75 days to complete the 3,200-kilometre journey. A river board helped him navigate through whitewater and he towed a couple of inflatable bags with his camping gear, food and medical supplies. 

"I'm most proud of finishing without any injuries," he said. "It was a magnificent adventure."

Long distance swimming with a river board, like Morin's trip, is unusual but not unheard of. Morin said his trip down the Yukon River is the third-longest distance ever completed after the Amazon in South America and the Mekong in Southeast Asia

The Yukon River is frigid even in the summer, and Morin wore a wetsuit to deal with the conditions.

"It was really cold," he said. "I was on the Lake Laberge and I got a snowstorm and hailstorm."

Morin retired from a career in information technology three months ago. "To help transition into my new life of travelling, I chose to do the Yukon with my river board because I knew it would help me shift my pace of life. That was my motivation at the beginning." 

Morin said that initially people doubted he would get very far with his unconventional trip down the river. "People were laughing quite a bit."

However, after reaching Alaska — a major milestone for Morin — he noticed reactions changing. 

"People were surprised for sure, and some of them came to me by boat because they were thinking I was in trouble.

"They said, 'Did you lose your canoe or your kayak?'" 

Alaskans began cheering him on as he continued, Morin said, and a crowd was waiting for him at his trip's end. 

Lots of canoeists paddle the Yukon River from Whitehorse to Emmonak, Alaska, but resident Shane Core said he's never heard of someone swimming it.

"This is a first," he said. "Brave individual, heck of a swim."

He had a call from a friend upriver a few days before Morin arrived, telling him to keep an eye out for a swimmer in the river.

"I thought it was kind of crazy. What an adventure he had."

Now that Morin has completed his trip, he's surprised at the reaction he's getting. 

"For me, it's not a big trip like people think. It was day after day, it was my life in the river. I didn't make 3.200 kilometres in one day. It took many days." 

He said he's already missing life on the river, but looks forward to more adventures in the future. 

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