Why Swimming Brings Us Closer To Nature

The past few weeks I've been banging on about why London needs more free swim spots. I thought this was uncontroversial — I was wrong.

One criticism which has really surprised me comes from the view that swimming poses a threat to nature & wildlife.

Whilst some of these concerns are valid, my overall view is the total opposite. I believe more swimming is good for nature and can go a long way towards repairing our relationship with our waterways. Allow me to explain.

The Men's Pond in Hampstead Heath. Lush.

Swimming Reconnects Us

Swimming is one of the best ways to reconnect with nature & each other. This motivates everything I have ever done with Swim Peeps.

The more time people spend in nature, the more they respect & care for it. In fact, I believe much of the careless environmental destruction we see today is caused by too many of us being so utterly disconnected from our natural world.

The idea that we should isolate ourselves from our waterways to protect them is, in my opinion, short-sighted & very sad.

Swimming is a natural thing to do — it brings us closer together and fosters a respect & appreciation for nature beyond anything we could ever be taught in a classroom, or see on the news.

Another Hampstead fav, the Mixed Pond.

Swimming Builds Culture

I may be accused of being optimistic (oh no!!), but in my experience most people behave themselves respectfully in natural spaces. I see this first hand with our social swim club, including when we've done wild swimming day trips.

The question then is how do we deal with people who do the wrong thing.

In my opinion the answer lies in a positive approach, where swimmers build a culture of respect for nature at their local swim spots which, over time, proliferates outwards to the wider culture. This means encouraging and increasing access to swimming, not prohibiting it.

Culture is built by people doing things together — not by laws.

Swimming Can Be Balanced With Nature

This summer has seen unprecedented demand for swimming in London, well beyond what the city's existing swim infrastructure has been able to cope with. Most swim spots are paid and require booking 1+ weeks in advance, meaning many have been unable to cool off despite the heatwave.

This has led to some unfortunate scenes — in particular bathers entering protected wildlife ponds in Hampstead Heath and disturbing nesting birds.

The new designated bathing site at Teddington. It's free & unsupervised!!

The best way to prevent this from happening every time we have a heatwave is to improve access to swimming, and that means more free swim spots which balance nature considerations.

Copenhagen harbour is a great example of how this can be done. There are designated areas for swimmers to enjoy alongside areas dedicated to eco projects, such as the transplantation of eelgrass (which simultaneously cleans the water, making it more suitable for swimming).

Final Thoughts

This whole conversation has made me realise how different (and I would say broken) our relationship is with our waterways in England, as compared to other countries.

One person from Sweden reached out to tell me about two Swedish laws (allemansrätten and strandrätten) which give people rights of access to nature, inland waterways & beaches. These laws, in their words, have "created a society where public access to nature and swimming spots is not just allowed, but also encouraged". In doing so, it has fostered a culture where respect for nature is hard-coded in everyone from an early age.

This is very similar to my experience growing up in Australia, where free access to natural waters is a basic assumption. Perhaps this is why I find it so hard to understand people who think swimming should be prohibited or over-regulated.

Yours Always,

Sax

Bobbing Along #18