In the news

You should have tried going the other way.

Waterloo also has tough currents, mate got lifted by cops swimming there once.

Report regarding one of the missing people. Horrible news.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-49094523

@ric_a5 - a year ago, no-one swam in that end of Shadwell other than me. But they closed off access to the water level pontoon at the other end early last year, so anyone who wants to swim has to dive 7-8 feet, instead of jumping in at water level. That makes it much more dangerous, as there's more risk of people panicking, having trouble and being unable to get out etc.

They're not going to stop people swimming there, but they've just made it more dangerous so they can shift the blame to others.

Is the water quality of the Thames so good you can swim in it everywhere?
Notwithstanding other dangers, of course.

If you swim in the spree inside Berlin you most likely catch something nasty. The sewer system can't retain enough when it rains heavily.
Of course also to do with it flowing so slow.
In summer I really miss Bern and the river Are.

The sewer system can't retain enough when it rains heavily.

Similarly, the Thames is the overflow for the combined sewer system - when it rains raw sewage is discharged into the river. They are currently building the "super sewers" to increase capacity. Opponents say it can and should be dealt with instead by removing much more rainwater from the system, reducing impermeable surfaces, increasing ground drainage, green roofs and rainwater harvesting.

The water quality of the Thames is normally very good though. As I understand it, it's one of the cleanest capital city rivers.

As Hoefla mentioned, it does fill with shit when rain gets torrential though.

other dangers of wild swimming

when rain gets torrential

It doesn't need to rain that much. The system doesn't have much spare capacity for rain. It's too full of shit.

Same, or the Limmat in Züri too! Werdinsel or, when I was working in the centre, d'oberi Lette... paradise.

I lived in Kingston for years. There’s so much stuff dumped in the river that you’d never want to jump into the Thames there for fear you’d land on top of something or get tangled underwater. The periodic dredges brought up some odd stuff.

Nobody swims in the Lagan river here thought the water is decent.

But Holywood beach is just a few miles from Belfast.

So Epstein has either tried to off himself or someone has tried to off him. Anyone’s money either way?

the lizards first attempt to silence him

factors are likely to include lack of swimming ability

Speaking to the Heath lifeguards the usual people they pull out are when there are groups of kids/youth that go swimming and some aren't as good as their mates. In a group they try to do too much and then get into trouble :(

Is the water quality of the Thames so good you can swim in it everywhere?

As others have said it depends on the weather. I've swum in the Thames without getting anything nasty. I tend to keep an eye on things like http://csoalerts.blogspot.com/ and would ideally leave it a week since a notification. I broke that rule last year for the Totally Thames swim (https://www.londonlive.co.uk/news/totally-thames-festival-launches-with-a-tidal-swim) which was two days after a notification.

If you are tempted by swimming in the Thames then I'd suggest getting some life-guarded pond/dock/lake/reservoir experience and then head to http://tidalthamesswims.co.uk/. That's timed with a turn at slack tide but by the time you get back to the steps to get out the current is remarkable, I can easily see how people that haven't planned the swim and don't know the area can get into trouble.

have you seen the thames in central london, brown doesn't do it justice, you definately can't see the bottom, that would be my one criteria from swimming in, well, most things,

why the murky brown thames would entice anyone in is beyond me... well apart from alcohol

head up the river lea to the broxbourne area and you'll see nice clean water, the lea in the river channel, the stort both beautiful and clean

The brown is mostly silt. The floating debris (bits of wood, trainers etc) are kind of annoying though.

It's fantastic when you are in. So much space and so calm!

silt ? is that a euph ? or an incorrect spelling

No. It's silt. Sediment finer than sand.

This is some utterly, utterly top notch trolling. Next level stuff. Bravo to whomever did this.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/24/trump-presidential-seal-doctored-russia-golf-turning-point

So the sewer problem is basically the same. Interesting about more water retention in general, Berlin has a fun plan in someone's drawer to build retention docks that could be used to hang out.
But it's Berlin, so probably nothing will happen.

@jellybaby thanks for the tips, certainly good advice. Educating people on the dangers of water is quite important. If I ever make it back to London in summer I will try to nip in.
If you enjoy swimming in challenging water, please visit Bern one day!
The Aare is quite a beast and it goes right trough the city.
There is a dam at one place, so the water is comparatively slow. That's where I take people with little experience.
But the part where the big lido is dangerous.
There's narrow steps with handles, and to get out can be hard work.

It's often so clear that you can dive and play superman, flying over the ground.
We also had fun as teens getting deliberately sucked into whirls.

1 Attachment

Same goes for Basel.
Unfortunately those places are in Switzerland and I don't want to go back permanently...

It is very common for alcohol to be the main contributory factor in adult drownings, that fits with all three people on Wednesday going missing around the early evening of a very hot day. The guy at Waterloo would have found himself in an increasing ebb tide flow too fast to swim back to where he started and very hard to find a place to get out of the water.