MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – A Colchester man who wants to swim the length of Lake Champlain to promote cleaner water got his start Wednesday in Whitehall, N.Y.

Christopher Swain, 36, started his 125-mile journey at the southern tip of the lake. He expects to finish the voyage in Quebec around Sept. 24.

Swain described the water as “chilly,” but despite the temperature was still able to swim about four miles.

Last month Swain finished an eight-week swim down the Hudson River.

He said he saw blue herons and “a little sewage foam” on the first leg of his journey.