See the film: SAS work with swimmers to deliver a message to parliament

But while highlighting what’s wrong, did they overlook the beauty of Thames swimming?

Surfers Against Sewage launched their Thames Swim film this week at an event in Windsor. The 15-minute film follows the journey of eight swimmers who attempted a continuous relay of the non-tidal Thames in September.

The purpose of the swim – and hence the film – was to raise awareness of the scale of sewage pollution in UK rivers, lakes and seas, with a focus on the Thames, Britain’s most iconic river.

The swim itself was an epic feat of sleep-deprived endurance interspersed with moments of beauty and horror. Speaking at the screening, Toby Robinson, one of the swimmers, mentioned swimming through the night, in the dark rural upper Thames, underneath a stunning canopy of stars. Amber Keegan, another of the swimmers, recalled a glorious sunrise across the river.

However, the film focused more on the horror: the water quality testing that revealed massive spikes in bacteria, sudden unpleasant changes in the smell and taste of the river, the prophylactic antibiotics taken after an inadvertent gulp of water, litter in the water – including a pot noodle – and, finally, Amber’s hospitalisation two days after the swim with fever and vomiting.

Watching the film might leave you feeling the Thames is unswimmable. And this is a shame, as the discussion afterwards revealed a more nuanced picture. In some parts of the Thames the water quality was excellent, while in pockets it was terrible.

The water quality was monitored throughout the swim, and the team decided to pull out at one point where testing said swimming was unsafe. Regular swimmers don’t have access to this technology. But citizen science testing of the river is providing us with better information than we’ve ever had before, allowing water users to make informed decisions about using the river.

The film does a great job of highlighting the dangers and damage of pollution. The message is strong. We need to stand up and defend our rivers, and encourage our politicians to increase pressure on the regulators and water companies to protect and improve our waterways.

But I do wonder if downplaying the beauty of the Thames, and the fact that many parts are swimmable, is a mistake. The more people use the Thames, the more they come to care for it and want to protect it. If they are put off, polluters have a freer hand to continue with business as usual.

Find out more: https://www.sas.org.uk/water-quality/our-water-quality-campaigns/the-thames-swim-against-sewage/

Watch the film: https://youtu.be/LXnYjjAXJcA