Swimming in city rivers is no longer a dare
Clean-up campaigns have opened urban water to swimmers. We tried five cities.
Paris reopened the Seine for public swimming last year. Copenhagen, Zurich, Berlin and Basel have done it for longer. We swam in all five.
Each city has its own rules: designated zones, lifeguards in summer, water-quality flags updated every morning. Check them before you go, and never swim alone in moving water.
Basel’s Rhine float, with your clothes in a waterproof bag, is the best hour we spent all summer.
What changed
For most of the last century, the rivers that run through Europe’s big cities were for looking at, not getting into. Sewer overflows, boat traffic and old industry made them unsafe. Over the last decade, cleaner treatment plants and tighter rules on runoff have changed that in a handful of places.
Swimmers have followed. Some cities now open marked bathing areas in summer, with lifeguards and daily water-quality readings posted at the entrance.
Five places we swam
We tried five: a wooden bathing deck in Copenhagen’s harbour, a river bath on Zurich’s Limmat, a summer pool beside the Seine in Paris, the Rhine in Basel, where people float downstream holding waterproof bags of their clothes, and a canal basin in Berlin.
All five felt ordinary in the best way. Office workers at lunch, teenagers jumping off the steps, older swimmers doing steady lengths before work.
Before you go in
Only swim at official sites, and check that day’s water reading, which can change quickly after heavy rain. Mind the current, which is always stronger than it looks from the bank, and never swim alone in open water.
