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The comments were to be expected when I told friends and family I was off to try my local swim group in south-west London. \u201cThe Thames? Really?\u201d, \u201cYou\u2019re not putting your head under, are you?\u201d and \u201cIsn\u2019t it supposed to be riddled with all sorts of\u2026 diseases?\u201d <\/p>\n
I could hardly blame them for worrying. Our capital\u2019s beloved river might look glistening and romantic when you\u2019re walking over Tower Bridge or along its banks at sunset, but I\u2019ve seen too much of that foamy yellow pollution layer and read too many horror stories about Weil\u2019s disease to ever think about getting in. I\u2019ve rowed on it, paddleboarded on it<\/a>, dipped the odd toe in. But thought to actually go swimming in it? Never. <\/p>\n Yet here I am near Teddington Lock in just my swimming costume and neoprene boots and gloves, tow-float strapped around my waist, finally taking the plunge at 7.45am on a Wednesday morning in May. <\/p>\n And to my surprise it\u2019s all rather, well\u2026 pleasant, really \u2014 aside from the small piece of duck poo inside my shoe. The sun on my face and the bracing, velvety texture of the water. The gaggle of bobble-hatted breaststrokers giggling around me. The ducks and the school rowers gliding past. I could be in Cornwall or Wales or at least a little deeper into Surrey. <\/p>\n A passing dog-walker stops on the bank and gives us a wave. \u201cI keep seeing you guys pop up on my social media feed!\u201d he says. <\/p>\n The reason my swimming group seems to be enjoying a newfound dose of fame? The same reason I\u2019ve broken my own pledge not to get in the Thames after more than a decade of living in the capital: a change in its swimming safety status \u2014 at least for a small section of it. <\/p>\n Katie and a Teddington Bluetits swimmer after their swim<\/p>\n Katie Strick<\/p>\n Other sites include Pangbourne Meadow in Berkshire and the River Swale in North Yorkshire, but \u201cCosta del Ham\u201d, as locals have affectionately nicknamed it, is the first on the Thames in London \u2014 a landmark moment given its dirty, polluted reputation and the fact that the river was declared \u201cbiologically dead\u201d in the 1950s. <\/p>\n Is it safe to swim in the Thames at Ham?<\/p>\n So how clean is the water here really, nearly 80 years on \u2014 and will people actually brave a few strokes? The news certainly doesn\u2019t mean we should all spend the summer dive-bombing into our nearest section of the Thames. <\/p>\n The river quality remains variable in most stretches, and environmental groups warn that storm overflows and sewage discharges are still a persistent problem. <\/p>\n But on this particular, unassuming stretch of river between Ham and Kingston near Teddington Lock, it\u2019s a different story. There are perch and roach, the occasional pike, even the odd seal \u2014 and if you pick the right day the water looks clear enough to make you want to take the plunge (below the neck, anyway. I\u2019m still not sure about putting my head in). <\/p>\n This is partly down to the efforts of campaigners who\u2019ve been relentlessly calling on the Government and water companies to clear the country\u2019s waterways of sewage and farm run-off and help save the dying biodiversity. It\u2019s also partly down to location. <\/p>\n Locals have been swimming alongside the boats here for years<\/p>\n Here in Ham, you\u2019re far enough out of central London to escape the worst of the sewage overflows and urban run-off. Locals have been swimming alongside the boats here for years, apparently, and many more bathers are expected as news of its new status spreads. Marlene Lawrence, 63, founder of the Teddington branch of cold-water swimming group The Bluetits<\/a>, says she, too, was a sceptic like me. She lived and rowed in Richmond just upstream, and often swam in the Serpentine in Hyde Park. Then lockdown shut all the local swimming pools and a friend encouraged her to give the Thames a go. <\/p>\n \u201cThat was a bit of a eureka moment \u2014 the water lapping, the birds chattering, the sun on my face\u2026 And it was free! I knew it would change my life for the better,\u201d she tells me. She now swims there with her fellow Bluetits at least three times a week. <\/p>\n The 2,000-strong group \u2014 a mostly female gaggle of headteachers, creatives and retirees, plus the odd male ally \u2014 meets on Sundays at 8am and Fridays at 5.30pm (there\u2019s often tea, cake or fish and chips after), plus multiple mornings during the week depending on members\u2019 availability and need for a soothing dip. Kevin, one of the hardier members, swims for a full hour every morning, and new mum Alex recently swam there just hours before giving birth. <\/p>\n It\u2019s a mental health thing first and foremost, a couple of them tell me as we feel the invigorating shiver of the first few strokes. Anyone who\u2019s tried open-water swimming or an ice bath can speak to the natural high you feel afterwards. \u201cIf someone\u2019s having a bad day they\u2019ll just post on the group and say they need a dip \u2014 people will come,\u201d says one Bluetit. <\/p>\n Bluetits members celebrating the new status<\/p>\n Katie Strick<\/p>\n All of which is not to say anyone should simply rock up at Teddington Lock and jump in, hoping to be healed. Beginners are advised not to swim alone, and the same rules apply here as much as they do anywhere deemed safe enough for an open-water swim \u2014 always check the daily flow rate and live sewage map, only swim for a minute for every degree of water temperature, never swim after heavy rain, and wear a tow-float so boats can see you. <\/p>\n There is also the looming question of whether Thames Water will go ahead with its proposed plans to launch a water-recycling scheme in the area which, if approved, would see treated sewage pumped not far from this very bathing spot to tackle water shortages.<\/p>\n Thames Water says the Teddington Direct River Abstraction scheme “would not deteriorate water quality and would meet strict water quality standards set by the Environment Agency” but Lawrence says the scheme \u2014 which would extract up to 75 million litres of water daily and replace it with treated water from nearby Mogden Sewage Treatment Works \u2014 is feared by her fellow bathers. They\u2019ve been campaigning against it for six years now. \u201cI\u2019m hoping the weekly testing will gradually improve what water companies choose to do with the river \u2014 but I am fearful,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Joining the Teddington Bluetits Swimming Group<\/p>\n Until then, though, it\u2019s full stroke ahead. Lawrence says Bluetit member numbers have skyrocketed since the news earlier this month. She\u2019d normally have two or three requests to join the Facebook group<\/a> every day, but that number has been in the hundreds ever since the status change on May 15. <\/p>\n![\"Katie](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Katie-Strick-Thames-swimming.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Bluetits](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI298445295.jpg\")
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