Thames swim relay repeatedly hindered by polluted waters

Eight swimmers who tried a 200km (124-mile) relay alongside the size of the River Thames say they might not swim stretches of the route due to water air pollution.

The contributors, coordinated by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), set off on Monday from Lechlade, Gloucestershire, and completed at Teddington Lock on Thursday.

They then travelled by boat and kayak to Westminster, the place they referred to as for “urgent action to protect the UK’s rivers, lakes, and seas”.

SAS chief government Giles Bristow mentioned: “The fact that citizen scientists found E. coli levels so high that the athletes could not safely swim through Henley shows how dangerous this crisis has become.”

The swim featured athletes from all four nations of the UK navigating by means of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey.

SAS tracked air pollution within the Thames in the course of the problem, monitoring E. coli, ammonia and oxygen ranges.

The group deliberate to swim the relay repeatedly over the 4 days however had been pressured to journey components of it by boat.

SAS mentioned there have been excessive ranges of E. coli at Henley-on-Thames and close to Little Marlow sewage therapy works, and discharges close to Old Windsor and Chertsey.

The swimmers included two-time world champion Amber Keegan, Olympians Toby Robinson and Hector Pardoe, and ultramarathon swimmers Jessika Robson and Daniel Smyth.

Ms Keegan mentioned: “This was one of the toughest challenges I’ve ever taken on, but what shocked me most wasn’t the distance or the fatigue, it was the state of the water.”

She mentioned some factors alongside the river had been “absolutely disgusting”.

“Nobody should have to risk their health just to enjoy their local river. It’s 2025, and this simply isn’t acceptable.”

Mr Maclean referred to as it a “tough week that tested us all”.

He added: “The fact we literally couldn’t swim the full route proves our point, and I hope one day an uninterrupted Thames relay will be possible.”

Thames Water, which was lately granted permission to pay its record fine of £122.7m in instalments, described “clean, safe rivers” as a “shared priority”, and mentioned it supported efforts that raised consciousness and drove enhancements in water high quality.

It mentioned it was addressing its “ageing infrastructure” with £9.5bn of funding in the direction of its wastewater belongings.

A Defra spokesperson mentioned: “This government has put in place the building blocks to clean up England’s rivers, lakes and seas for good.

“We have reset the trade, with new legal guidelines to dam bonuses for 10 polluting water executives.

“Now we are going further, investing over £104bn of private investment to upgrade crumbling pipes and halve sewage pollution by 2030.”