When I was a kid swimming out to Carey Island was a right of passage in the summer, all the kids on my road did it at one time or other, it was cold and scary out there in the current but none of us drowned, you learn realy quick that you can't fight the current if it wants to pack you downstream you just reivaluate your place of departure from the water. I'm guessing that being raised on a farm and being knee deep in cow poop at least once a week raised my tolerance to fecal matter. I'm sure that there was more pollution in the river back in the 50's anyhow, at that time every community along the river from New West to Prince George dumped their raw untreated sewage directly into the river and thought nothing of it and the pulp mills and other industrial complexes just dumped everything with no regulations whatsoever. If you are not a strong swimmer with experiance in swimming in the current I wouldn't recommend it to anyone and if you happen to see a bit of toilet paper or a sanitary napkin floating by you while you're out there, oh well, keep your chin up.