North Saskatchewan Riverkeeper's Swim Guide

Looking for a great Alberta beach this long weekend? There’s an app for that!

Edmonton, AB – Summer is half over and we all need some sun, sand and swimming. Thanks to North Saskatchewan Riverkeeper, finding your perfect beach just got easier.

This week, Riverkeeper launches the Swim Guide in Alberta, a brand new – and completely free – smartphone app and website. Swim Guide helps you locate your closest, cleanest beach, get directions, report pollution, view photos, determine if the water is safe for swimming, and share the whole adventure with friends and family on your social networks.

“The Swim Guide is one-stop shopping for locating great places to connect with the water safely and enjoyably. It includes the up-to-date information you need for over 50 popular, publicly monitored beaches in Alberta,” says Glenn Isaac, Executive Director of the North Saskatchewan Riverkeeper.

Isaac will officially unveil Swim Guide on Friday, July 29th in front of a large group of engaged youth at the Global Youth Assembly.

The innovative app has its roots with a team at Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, who originally set out to determine if it was safe to swim in Lake Ontario. The Swim Guide project kept growing and, after launching in June 2011, now includes original descriptions and photographs of nearly 1,000 different beaches in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, New York State, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota.

“Swim Guide changes the way we use our beaches,” says Mark Mattson, President of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper. “In the past, you had to do a lot of research to find a beach close to you, or to check on the quality of the water, but Swim Guide makes beach-going easy. It really encourages you to enjoy the natural environment in your own backyard.”

The Swim Guide will continue to expand until it covers every major beach community in North America. Its creation was funded by the generous support of individual donors and the RBC Blue Water Project.

To learn more about the Swim Guide watch this video.

The free Swim Guide app is available now for iPhone®, iPad®, iPod touch® and Android devices at: www.theswimguide.org/download.php

Check out the Swim Guide on the web at: www.theswimguide.org.

For more information or interviews on the Swim Guide in Alberta, contact Glenn Isaac at 780 554 3848 or [email protected].

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and North Saskatchewan Riverkeeper are independent charities working to create communities where you can safely swim, drink and fish. They are members of Waterkeeper Alliance, a global movement of water protection organizations founded in 1999 by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.