Is urban swimming a threat to swimming freedom?

There’s a growing movement to make our cities more swimmable – but what will it cost us?

In June, our editor, Ella attended the Swimmable Cities Summit in Rotterdam. There’s a growing movement to make waterways safe and accessible in urban areas.

Overall, this must be a good thing – and you can read Ella’s full article in the July/August edition of Outdoor Swimmer magazine.

• Read on Outdoor Swimmer Extra (Outdoor Swimmer Extra subscription required)
• Read on Pocket Mags (free access with an Outdoor Swimmer print subscription)

But I have some concerns.

Take Paris, for example. Three sites have been created for open water swimming. This is fantastic to showcase the progress made in cleaning up the Seine but it’s hardly wild swimming. It’s time-restricted, lifeguarded and only open until the end of August.

Meanwhile, in London, swimming in the Thames downstream of Putney Bridge is not allowed at all. The Port of London Authority prohibits it due to safety concerns, despite growing interest in urban swimming.

What do we want?

This raises an important question: should we be pushing for something like Paris has (controlled, supervised access), or do we want the freedom to swim as and when we like, as we can already do upstream of Putney Bridge?

For example, the other day, I joined a group of swimmers at Richmond and swooshed down to Kew Bridge on a falling tide. It was fun, fast, wild and free. For experienced, sober swimmers, it was also low risk – but I admit that entering a fast-flowing river without a plan would be dangerous, especially for inexperienced swimmers.

So, do the steps Paris has taken pave the way for a broader acceptance of unrestricted swimming in the future? Or do they send a message that the only way to allow people into the water is to pen them into restricted, supervised areas?

This is not an unwarranted worry. An ambulance worker in Wiltshire recently launched a petition calling for a ban on unsupervised deep river swimming, citing safety concerns after several drownings.

I hope that the creation of safe urban swimming spots encourages more people into the water, increases the pressure to clean up our rivers, and creates momentum for a wider acceptance of unrestricted swimming. But I fear that the development of controlled urban swimming areas will lead to calls to restrict the type of wild and free swimming that many of us enjoy.

Which way do you think it will – or should – go? As ever, feel free to reply and let us know.