On a sweltering summer day, there are few things sweeter than slipping into one of London’s ponds, lidos, docks or reservoirs – assuming you can brave the queue, or even get a ticket. But now Londoners have a new official place to swim where the crowds won’t be a problem: in the River Thames.
Starting today (Friday May 15), Londoners have our first officially designated place for swimming in the River Thames, located in south west London. On the south bank between Kingston and Teddington Lock is a stretch of calm river that now enjoys additional protections as a designated bathing water, making swimming safer.
This official status requires the Environmental Agency to perform regular water testing during the May to September bathing season, and gives the regulator additional powers to put pressure on polluters. This means swimmers can enter the water with more confidence that it will be clean, instead of relying on the rule of thumb of avoiding the river for 48 hours after heavy rainfall, when it’s more likely to become polluted. The designation will also be a strong signal to Thames Water to address sewage overflows affecting the site.
The news follows two years of local efforts to secure bathing water status, led by local residents Rebecca Mole, Simon Griffiths, and Teddington Bluetits founder Marlene Lawrence. The application to government agency Defra had to show that this south west London site is not just suitable for swimming, but already well-used. The stretch regularly sees more than 100 people swimming on warm days, with some braver souls keeping it up all year round.
The number of people swimming in rivers, lakes and seas has more than doubled in the past decade, according to Swim England. The public consultation conducted for the River Thames site received a record number of endorsements, with 90 per cent of responders in favour.
The River Thames in London is one of 13 new locations spanning from Devon and Kent to Merseyside and Yorkshire that have just been granted bathing water status, bringing the total number of official bathing locations in England up to 464.
“Rivers and beaches are at the heart of so many communities – where people come together, families make memories, and swimmers of all ages feel the benefits of being outdoors safely,” water minister Emma Hardy said in a statement. While river swimming remains illegal in central London, Mayor Sadiq Khan has pledged to make the Thames swimmable by 2034. Khan said in a statement: “It is great to see plans for the first ever designated bathing spot in the River Thames in London, and progress being made in creating more sites for open water swimming.”
The official London Thames swim spot is behind YMCA Hawker.
