Dear fellow swimmers
We’ve just received the office copies of the April 2026 edition of Outdoor Swimmer. Members should start receiving their copies from this weekend, and the digital edition is already live.
Urban swimming
The focus this month is urban open water swimming, which may sound far removed from the rural beauty or dramatic coastlines which we often associate with what we do. Yet most people live in towns and cities. It’s surely a better for the environment if more people can swim close to where they live rather than travel for miles. Moreover, creating safe
urban swimming spots can be transformational – in a positive way – for the areas that surround them.
Another positive aspect with urban swimming is that it can create outdoor swimming opportunities for people in communities that have been historically excluded.
There are so many places to swim in cities
I wanted to share a few urban swimming tips
in the newsletter this week, but I quickly realised the waterscape is so diverse that a few generic safety tips could never cover it. For example, just in London we have:
- A tidal river (it is permitted – and fun – to swim in the Thames upstream of Putney Bridge)
- A non-tidal river (if you count upstream of Teddington Lock as still being part of London)
- Gravel pit lakes
- Man-made lakes
- Reservoirs
- Historic swimming
ponds
- Docks
And probably others that I don’t know about. Once you start looking, you realise that we’re blessed with swimming opportunities.
Swimming in urban environments may seem safer than, say, the open ocean because nature is tamed, managed and engineered. But water everywhere is hazardous – and urban environments can expose people to different risks to those they encounter elsewhere. And we need to be
aware that developing urban outdoor swimming areas will (and should) attract people with limited swimming experience. This creates opportunities to increase swimming skills, but there are, of course, associated risks. Urban swimming areas need to be developed sensitively to accommodate a wide range of swimming abilities.
So, please do make the most of urban swimming opportunities, but treat them with the respect and caution with which you approach any open
water. Understand the unique hazards of each environment and prepare accordingly.
And, of course, enjoy this month’s edition of Outdoor Swimmer!
