Astoria ER doctor headlines swim across the Columbia River

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — The Astoria Regatta is one of the biggest draws each season on Oregon’s north coast.

But in just a few weeks, there will be a handful of very brave individuals who swim the 5.1-mile stretch of the Columbia River from Washington to Oregon.

One of those swimmers will be Dr. Paul Silka, who works in the trenches as an E.R. doctor at Astoria’s Columbia Memorial Hospital.

And all of it is to support a great cause.

“I’m an emergency physician, there’s no such thing as a famous emergency physician.  We all wanna stay below the radar,” Silka said.

But the man who feeds on adrenaline will be thrust right into the spotlight on Sunday, Aug. 11.

“We imagine most of the town won’t be up when we get in the water at 6 a.m.”

Silka, along with roughly 10-20 others, is planning to lead this challenging swim — one for which he’s been preparing.

“We will take advantage of an incoming tide.  Get in on the way in, then outgoing tide to get rest of tide to get to Maritime Museum.”

Back in the 1930s, this was an annual race as part of the Regatta, before it fizzled out by WWII.

But Silka had an idea.

“I thought, ‘What can we do to put focus on the build and have community involvement?’  I thought, ‘We can really take this up a notch.’  So to swim across the Columbia made sense”.

But rest assured, this isn’t for any novice swimmer.

This will be a significant challenge, where experience matters.

“I’ve got a bit of a checkered swimming past.  Age group, high school, collegiate.  But I never stuck with it… I never had the discipline”.

Safe to say, that all changes now.

“All of a sudden you grow up to be an adult.  Then you say, I should take this seriously”.

Columbia Memorial Hospital has worked feverishly to raise money for the Build CMH Project.

“We hope the event raises awareness.  Although we’ve done a pretty good job, I think this takes it to another level”.

While they are over halfway to their goal of $10 million, the money and donations raised from this swim will go directly to the hospital’s expansion.

“This community is in such need of the facility. So to be able to enhance not just the quantity of healthcare, but the quality of healthcare as well”.

If you’d like to pledge a donation to the Build CMH Project, or register for the swim, feel free to visit their website .

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.