Austinites are remembering actor Robert Redford, who died in Utah on Tuesday morning at the age of 89. While the Hollywood legend grew up in southern California, he had deep ties to Central Texas.

Redford learned to swim at Barton Springs during childhood summers spent visiting his mother’s side of the family in Austin and San Marcos.

“I remember very clearly the first time I went in, about five years old,” Redford recalled while speaking to reporters outside of Barton Springs in the early 1990s. “I think I had a subliminal understanding of what cardiac arrest was. I certainly knew what cold was.”

At that time, Redford was campaigning in support of the Save Our Springs Alliance’s efforts to limit harmful development.

“One of the things he always said was, ‘You have to make it personal,’” said Bill Bunch, executive director of Save Our Springs Alliance, during an interview with KVUE on Tuesday.

Bunch led that ballot initiative, called the Save Our Springs Ordinance, which Austin voters approved in 1992.

“The flows and the quality remain threatened, but the waters remain incredibly beautiful and safe for swimming and for aquatic life in significant part because of his work,” Bunch said.

Redford was also an executive producer of the 2007 documentary The Unforeseen, which chronicled the battle over Barton Springs.

He stopped in Austin to promote its release.

“It’s a very special film for me,” he told reporters during that visit.

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Read the full story at KVUE.com.