Dear fellow swimmers
SAS Thames Swim Film: Beauty, danger & the fight for clean water
Imagine swimming through beautiful countryside, following the path of a gentle, meandering river. The meditative rhythm of your
strokes and breathing calms your body and soul. You can't think of anything else you'd rather be doing.
And then you notice an unpleasant taste to the water, which jars you out of your reverie. Your heart rate jumps. The river is no longer as idyllic as it seemed.
This, in part, is the story of the Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) Thames Swim. They released the short film of their 3-day Thames relay challenge earlier this week. I
got to see it at their launch event in Windsor. You can read our review here.
The film paints a grim picture of the Thames and ends with Amber Keegan, one of the swimmers, in hospital. (She's since made a full recovery and was at the launch event).
Yet the Thames has many beautiful and safe swimming spots.
Campaigners' dilemma
It reminded me again of the dilemma we face in trying to improve the quality of our waterways.
On one side, we need to send a strong message to government, regulators and polluters that current levels of pollution are
unacceptable.
On the other, we want to focus on the positives and encourage swimming. There are times and places - even in the Thames - when water quality is excellent. We want thousands of people using our rivers, lakes and seas and enjoying the benefits you get from interaction with blue spaces.
But there is a danger we put water users off by the messaging we send to politicians.
The greater the demand for access to rivers, the more pressure polluters are under to clean up their act. If we stop swimming, there's less motivation to demand clean water.
What to do?
Swimmers now have access to much more data than we did just a few years ago. In England, we can see where CSOs are and when they discharging. We have citizen scientists around the country monitoring their local swimming spots and sharing the data. We have new testing methods
that can give us an indication of water quality within a few minutes.
So, don't just be a swimmer. Be an informed swimmer. Understand what affects your swim spot and time your swims for when the risks are lowest. Watch the film and join the movement for cleaner rivers.
And keep up the pressure on your political representatives and the polluters.
As swimmers, working together, we can help make our rivers safer for everyone.
Our December issue is here
Our final issue of 2025 is a celebration of the places and people that shape our swimming lives, and packed full of advice
to support your swimming adventures.
If you're a subscriber, you should receive your copy this weekend or early next week. If you're not a subscriber, get your copy here:
