Olympian, Indiana native Blake Pieroni to swim Chicago River for ALS

CHICAGO (WLS) — The Chicago River Swim will host a whole lot of open water swimmers elevating funds to assist discover a remedy for ALS. One notable swimmer is Blake Pieroni, a Chesterton native and Indiana University alum who introduced residence 4 Olympic gold medals.

“I was fortunate enough to compete on 3 different Olympic teams, 2016, 2021 and 2024 – Rio, Tokyo and Paris, won 4 Olympic medals, 3 gold, 1 silver, and I guess my biggest claim to fame is that I was the first person to break 00:01:30 in the 200-yard freestyle,” says Pieroni

Having accomplished two different open water swims earlier than, this will likely be Pieroni’s first time swimming within the Chicago River.

“This is the second year that it’s happening but it’s my first time doing it, so kind of see what the event’s all about, how successful it is, how many people participate,” says Pieroni.

Swimming 3 times per week to arrange, the Olympian acknowledges variations that could be a problem alongside the best way.

“It’s hard because, at least for me, it’s hard because you have to like look up and position yourself to like make sure you’re on course. That’s not something you ever do in a pool. You lay lines, flip, turn, etcetera.” Pieroni continues, “I don’t think it should be too, too difficult. It’s not like it’s in the ocean, not like massive waves to worry about or sharks, so I think it’ll be alright.”

The fundraising efforts will likely be donated to researchers decided to discover a remedy for the motor neuron illness.

“I remember the Ice Bucket Challenge. That was a big deal, so I thought it was just a good cause. I love swimming, I thought it was cool that you can do it in the river. Love the city of Chicago… so I thought it would be a great cause.”

The Chicago River Swim is happening on September 20.

For extra info or to donate, go to: https://www.chicagoriverswim.org/

ABC7 Chicago will stream the swim dwell on Sunday, Sept. 20, from 6:30 to 10 a.m. Audiences can watch on ABC7Chicago.com, Disney+ below the Live tab by deciding on ABC7 Chicago and ABC7’s Connected TV apps on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku.