“Go Scotty!” shouted a voice from the shore of Pipers Lagoon in Nanaimo as Scott Rees finished a 30 km swim across the Georgia Strait on Sunday.

Though he could hear the cheers, Scott Rees couldn’t see who was yelling, as he had just completed the 11-hour open water marathon swim while completely blind.

Rees has a recessive genetic eye condition, called Retinitis Pigmentosa, which has caused a gradual loss of his vision over the past 15 years.

As he took his first wobbly steps out of the water he was greeted by his wife Alexandra MacCarthy, his son, and his faithful guide dog Kaleb who he was matched with in 2021 thanks to the Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind.

“I think he might have been a little bit miffed at me that I left him with my parents a couple of days ago because it was a short lived greeting, but I think he'll come around,” Rees said of the 75 lb yellow lab.

As of Monday, Rees’ Swim the Strait campaign has raised over $127,000 for the Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind.

As he stood on the beach enjoying a well deserved Guide Dog Session Ale from Tapworks Brewing Company, Rees said that “the hardest part is just getting yourself into the water and getting started.”

But about half way through the swim, his shoulders started burning.

“I was hoping that they wouldn't give out on me because I was feeling pretty sore for the second half of the swim. But luckily, it stabilized and it didn't get too much worse. So I was able to just push through the discomfort of it.”

Donovan Tildesley is a blind paralympic swimmer who is a five-time gold medalist and the current world record holder for the 1500 metre freestyle.

A mutual friend put them in touch and Rees asked if he would be interested in participating in a relay alongside him.

“I thought that sounds like a great idea,” said Tildesley. “I knew he was doing a heck of a long swim and to have support out there, maybe a fellow blind guy, made perfect sense.”

Scott’s older brother Tim, who is also blind, was on the shore at Pipers with his own guide dog Harlow. When Scott first told him about his idea to swim across the Georgia Strait, Tim didn’t hesitate to give his two cents.

“I pretty much told him it's a crazy idea and that there was a good chance he'd get eaten by an Orca,” he said.

And after his brother completed the swim on Sunday?

“I still think it's insane,” Tim said. “But I'm glad he didn't get eaten by an Orca.”

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