Hundreds of Swimmers Take to the Thames This Weekend
Swim London is an open-water event over 5 and 10 kilometres
Swimmers at a previous event make it past Hammersmith Bridge. Picture: Swim London
September 4, 2026
Hundreds of swimmers will take to the Thames this weekend for Swim London, a landmark open-water event designed to show what a future of safe, managed swimming in the capital’s river could look like.
On Sunday 6 September, participants will tackle either a 10km course from Brentford to Putney or a 5km course from Barnes to Putney, swimming downstream with the tide through one of the most recognisable stretches of the tidal Thames.
Although Swim London is a major sporting event, its purpose goes beyond racing. The organisers describe it as a demonstration of how Londoners could one day reconnect with the Thames in a way that is safe, professionally managed and environmentally responsible. The idea draws on a long tradition of river swimming: almost 150 years ago, the Thames hosted the Lords and Commons Swimming Cup, a long-distance race supported by members of both Houses of Parliament. Swim London aims to revive that heritage for a modern era.
The event is being run within a tightly controlled environment, with extensive safety infrastructure, water-quality monitoring and coordination with the organisations responsible for managing the tidal Thames. Swimmers will be supported by safety boats and trained water-safety personnel, with compulsory tow floats, controlled wave starts and dedicated exit and recovery facilities at Putney Embankment. Water quality is being monitored in the days leading up to the event, with independent advisers reviewing conditions before swimmers enter the river.
Swim London is the creation of Toby Robinson, a former Team GB Olympic marathon swimmer who competed in the 10km race in the River Seine at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Robinson said the event is about showing Londoners what a different future could look like. “London has one of the world’s great rivers running straight through it, but for most Londoners the Thames is something they look at rather than something they interact with,” he said. “Paris showed what is possible. I raced in the Seine at the Olympic Games and saw first-hand what can happen when a city makes a serious commitment to reconnecting people with its river.”
Robinson emphasised that Swim London is not an invitation for people to swim in the Thames outside controlled conditions. “We’re not encouraging people to simply jump into the Thames,” he said. “This is a professionally managed event with water-quality monitoring, extensive safety provision and a controlled section of river. If we can bring hundreds of people together and allow them to experience the Thames safely, hopefully it helps people imagine what a genuinely swimmable London could become.”
The event forms part of a wider movement calling for cleaner urban waterways and greater opportunities for people to reconnect with rivers. The Paris 2024 Olympic Games provided one of the most high-profile recent examples, with marathon swimming and triathlon events held in the Seine. For Robinson, Swim London is a chance to bring that ambition home.
Participants will finish at Putney Embankment, where swimmers, supporters and event staff will gather at the end of the course. Robinson said the idea grew from his own experiences of open-water swimming around the world. “The idea that we have this extraordinary stretch of water running through our own capital, but almost no opportunity to swim in it, is what ultimately led to Swim London,” he said. “People were racing here almost 150 years ago. We’re taking inspiration from that history while showing what it could look like in a modern, professionally managed environment. This first event is about proving what is possible.”
Further details are available at swim.london.
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