Dozens of swimmers braved frigid temperatures and persistent rain Saturday to make waves ahead of the one-year anniversary of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich’s arrest.
Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker visited Brighton, Brooklyn on March 29 during a research trip to Russia as part of a multilateral effort to raise awareness about Gershkovitch’s detention on spying charges. About 25 participants jumped into the cold waters off the beach. 2023.
Wade Lambert, news editor at the Wall Street Journal, said he attended the event along with other reporters, editors and members of the Coney Island and Brighton Beach open water swim clubs.
“I think it was 44 degrees,” Lambert told the Post.
“It’s so cold right now and we’re tired of this rain, but it was worth it. We just want to raise awareness to express our demand for his release.” .”
Lambert said Tucker led the paper’s delegation in Brooklyn, while other reporters swam at 10 other beaches around the world, including Brighton Beach in the United Kingdom.
Alistair McDonald, a Wall Street Journal reporter working in London, attended British Swimming with about 40 other people.
Similar incidents have also occurred in New Zealand and Australia.
“It was cold, very cold,” McDonald told the Post.
“Oddly enough, just before we were about to enter, the clouds parted and we all jumped in. So the sun was shining today for this Evan Gershkovich event.”
Mr Lambert said Mr Gershkovic, 32, had family ties to Brighton Beach and sometimes swam there when visiting his grandmother.
He joined the Wall Street Journal in 2022 after working in Russia for Agence France-Presse and the Moscow Times.
Gershkovych was detained in Yekaterinburg while on a reporting mission.
Both he and the Wall Street Journal deny allegations that he spied for the United States.
The State Department announced that he had been unlawfully detained.
The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp., which is also the parent company of the Post.
U.S. Ambassador Lynn Tracy visited Gershkovic in prison Thursday, officials said.
“Evan remains strong and resilient, but it is a tragedy that he is awaiting trial for a crime he did not commit,” the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said in a statement. wrote on social media.
