Swim with Us!

Founded by the Human Access Project in 2012, the River Huggers Swim Team is a recreational protest swim group aimed to bring attention to the extreme deficit of water-edge access in downtown Portland. We swim together as a pod both for visibility and to create public awareness that it is safe (and encouraged) to swim in the Willamette River.

The River Huggers swim June through September. The 2026 season will begin Monday, June 1st. We offer morning swims Monday through Saturday as well as afternoon swims on Tuesdays and Thursdays. See the full schedule here. All swims start at the Fire Station 21 Dock on the Eastside Esplanade - 05 SE Madison St., Portland, OR.

All intermediate swimmers are welcome meaning you should be able to swim 1 mile in a pool in 45 minutes without stopping. If you are new to the Huggers, you must complete the pre-qualification questionnaire here in order to sign up for your first swim.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Follow us on Facebook at Human Access Project River Huggers swim team or in River Hugger Instagram.   We usually post our pre-swim picture for each day. There may be last minute changes due to weather or water conditions - check out either of these platforms for last minute updates and other Hugger-relevant info.