Canada Day at the NCC's new swimming dock: first time in the capital's water

This was my first Canada Day in Ottawa. I moved here last August from the Toronto area, bringing with me a distaste for swimming in waters near downtown — a general understanding that Lake Ontario is kind of gross.

But I decided to embrace Ottawa's love for swimming in places I previously wouldn't have considered by trying out the new NCC dock at the East Wharf on Canada Day, right near Major's Hill Park.

I arrived at the dock at about 11 a.m., relieved to see a body of water I could jump into after a blazing hot 30 Celsius bike ride. The dock wasn't busy — about 20 people alternating between sunbathing and jumping in. I decided a cannonball was the safest bet; next to me, University of Ottawa student Tara Gosling was doing handstands into the water.

About five cannonballs later, I realized I hadn't even taken in the view. Paddling in place, I noticed a water taxi filled with cheering, red-and-white-clad people floating by. Parliament Hill glowed in the heat, just to the right of the Rideau Canal's locks.

Then I realized the locks were open, and foamy canal water was rushing into the river. Emerancia Nkambu, who was selling lemonade and ice cream at the wharf's refreshment stand, had warned me about this when I arrived. "The water just smells," she laughed, opening the fridge for a waft of cold air. For five minutes or so, there was indeed a faint stink, and a few people waited it out on land until the locks closed again — and the cannonballs resumed.

Gosling, who swims regularly at Ottawa's various docks, has been at East Wharf for the past three mornings. She said this is the first time she's seen the locks open. "If you come at the right time, it's not too busy. The water's been pretty warm recently," she told me.

Nkambu knew the day would be different by noon. She arrived at work early to have more time to set up. "I'm just trying to put more drinks in the fridge, refill the ice cream, and get more snacks. I'm just waiting for people, because I know it's going to be crazy," she said.

By noon, as outside began to feel like a sauna, bike racks were full, lawn chairs littered the surrounding grass, and Canadian flags, visors and T-shirts lined the wooden seating area. There were about 50 people in total on the dock and in the water. A group of kayakers paddled by with tiny Canadian flags sticking up from their baseball caps, their heads turned toward the wharf — which now included a flock of Canada geese floating along just outside the designated swimming area.

On any other day, the geese would have been too close for comfort, but baking in the sun, staring out at Parliament and the river, I was too serene to care.

Though it's my first Canada Day in the capital, it's more importantly my first Canada Day by myself. Usually, I'd spend it on a patio with my friends from home or at a park with my niece and grandmother. So I found myself watching a dad playfully throw his — and a stranger's — kids into the water, watching couples and friend groups claim their own square of the dock. By early afternoon, an unexpected storm blew through, bringing rain and thunder that suspended the party for a while. But for those hours in the sun, the East Wharf felt like the right place to be.