Wild swimming
Wild swimming surged in popularity in recent years and has some fantastic health and wellbeing benefits. We want our rivers to be fit to swim in, but that isn’t always the case. Swim safe and stay informed!
It’s no surprise that wild, open water or river swimming has surged in popularity during recent years. After all, it has been linked to a number of health benefits—both physical and mental.
- Cold water can decrease your heart rate and reduce blood pressure
- One study suggested that cold water could produce an anti-depressive effect
- Cold water can decrease levels of the stress hormone cortisol while boosting levels of dopamine and serotonin, two hormones linked to a positive mental state
- Wild swimming allows you to connect with nature and clear your mind
- Physical exercise in any form has fantastic health benefits – both physical and mental
- Getting out of the house can help you to make new friends, building up a vitally important support network
Finding a swim spot
Finding your first swimming spot can feel daunting; there are so many rivers out there, but how do you know which ones are best?
- If you'd like to learn more about wild swimming, you can find a detailed guide here, and both Outdoor Swimmer and NOWCA have lots of information available on their websites. NOWCA also have an app that helps swimmers to identify swim sites in their area.
- Check if there are likely to be sewage spills upstream of where you want to swim. The Rivers Trust sewage map shows how many spills happened at monitored locations in England and Wales last year and gives you the best indication of whether you’re in an area exposed to raw sewage overspills.
- Are you trespassing? Always take care to make sure you aren't trespassing on private land.
- Ask around the area – it’s possible that local people will know of good swimming spots. You could try putting a post up on your town’s Facebook page (if it has one)!
- Make the most of Facebook groups. The Outdoor Swimming Society has its own Facebook group  where you could ask for suggestions, there’s Slow Swimming, Swim England and many cities have their own wild swimming groups, too!
The Rivers Trust supports the call for more designated bathing sites not only because of the human benefits they provide, but also because they can strengthen action to restore our natural spaces. Designation can drive water company investment to tackle poorly performing storm overflows, as well as local nature restoration action, such as woodland and wetland creation, to clean up pollution. While we recognise that designation is not a silver bullet to make rivers safe and healthy, we believe it can raise awareness of the state of rivers among local communities and act as a trigger for improved action, monitoring, and investment, from local stakeholders.
What next?
- Before anything else, give our River Safety Routine a thorough read
- Find out what equipment you’ll need (spoiler alert: it’s much simpler than you think!)
- Check out our book recommendations
