Elite athletes are swimming length of River Thames demanding action on the sewage crisis

Eight world-class and Olympic swimmers representing the UK’s four nations are swimming 200km in relay from the source of the River Thames, arriving at Parliament on 4 September

From 1–4 September, eight world-class and Olympic swimmers representing all four UK nations, are taking on The Thames Swim Against Sewage, a non-stop, three-day relay from the source of the River Thames, finishing at Westminster, in an action coordinated by campaigning charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS). Covering more than 200km, the endurance swim will be both a fastest known time attempt and a powerful call for urgent Government action to end the UK’s sewage crisis.

Hector Pardoe and Amber Keegan kicked off the relay yesterday (Monday 1 September) from Lechlade, Gloucestershire. The relay team includes Toby Robinson, Jessika Robson, Emily Forwood, Colleen Blair, Calum Maclean and Daniel Smyth. The relay will end at Teddington Lock (the end of the non-tidal Thames) on Thursday morning. Along the route, they will be joined by clean water campaigners from river communities who are supporting the challenge and amplifying calls for urgent change. From Teddington, swimmers and communities will travel by boat and kayak to Westminster, arriving on Thursday 4 September to deliver a symbolic call for urgent action to protect the UK’s rivers, lakes, and seas, as parliament returns from summer recess.

Alarming data

The sewage scandal remains a major concern for the UK public. Last year, over half a million discharges polluted rivers, lakes and seas for a total of 4.7 million hours. New data from Surfers Against Sewage shows the crisis is continuing in 2025. Thames Water, scrambling for investment to avoid collapse, has discharged sewage more than 7,000 times since January. The company has also faced record fines for environmental breaches and breaking dividend rules.

Since the start of the year, Surfers Against Sewage data also shows that water companies have caused over 14,000 discharges into designated bathing waters in England and Wales. 1,118 of these occurred during the peak summer season in July and August.

Protected waters?

The UK has over 600 designated bathing waters, popular sites for swimming and water sports that are the only official locations where bacteria is regularly monitored and data published. Monitoring takes place during the bathing season (mid May to the end of September). These sites are critical for providing safety information to the public and creating a legal duty for polluters to act. Yet the data shows that sewage pollution remains a serious problem, even in these protected waters.

Surfers Against Sewage is calling for transformational reform of the privatised water industry in England and Wales, which it says is responsible for destroying the country’s blue spaces. The charity believes the Cunliffe Review into the privatised water sector did not go far enough and that Government must legislate so water companies are forced to prioritise public health and the environment over profit. Surfers Against Sewage is also urging the Government to modernise the Bathing Water Regulations and revise the proposed reforms that are due to be legislated this autumn, calling for the introduction of year-round, real-time testing and monitoring to protect the health of the UK’s vibrant community of water users.

A message to Parliament

Throughout the challenge, SAS will track pollution in the Thames, monitoring E. coli, ammonia, and oxygen levels with a Seneye water quality sensor. The Thames Swim Against Sewage will carry the demands of the UK’s water community to Parliament, highlight issues across all four nations, and unite athletes with local groups fighting to protect their river.

Dani Jordan, Director of Campaigns and Communities at Surfers Against Sewage said: “As parliament returns after another summer plagued by sewage pollution, the Thames Swim Against Sewage delivers an urgent message to our leaders: end the sewage scandal now. It is highly symbolic that the swimmers will be passing Thames Water’s HQ, the poster child of a broken industry that has prioritised shareholder profits for decades while the public and environment pay the price. We need the government to urgently deliver fundamental transformation of our failing water industry, not hollow speeches and tinkering at the edges. Reform must include fit-for-purpose Bathing Water Regulations with real-time, year-round water quality testing, so our laws finally reflect how people use the water in 2025.

“By joining forces with Olympians and world-class swimmers in this epic event, we are not only shining a spotlight on the sewage scandal but also on the bravery, determination, and unity of those across the UK who refuse to accept our wild waters being treated like open sewers. By swimming from source to the city of the iconic, yet chronically polluted, Thames, this challenge demonstrates the urgent need for action and the public’s clear message to Government: protect our wild waters now.”

Toby Robinson, Paris 2024 Olympian and member of the event relay, adds: “The Thames is absolutely iconic. I’m doing this swim to tell the story of the river – the positive communities working to clean it up and the challenges it faces. I’m also trying to build upon the legacy of the Paris Olympics last year. The Games set a precedent that our urban rivers can be cleaned up enough for city dwellers to enjoy and dip in. This should be a right for all people. Cleaning up the Thames brings this dream one step closer for Londoners.”

Watch our Virtual Q&A with Toby Robinson just a few days before the Thames challenge

Images by Richard Dawson/PA Media Assignments