Why is it illegal to swim in the Thames?

The tidal Thames is a fast-flowing waterway and the busiest inland waterway in the UK accommodating over 20,000 ship movements and hosting over 400 events each year. It is for these reasons the PLA restricts swimming throughout the majority of its jurisdiction for the safety of swimmers and river users.



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Each year the tidal Thames sees at least 30 swimmers get into difficulty in the river.

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The Thames is considered to be the cleanest river in the world that flows through a major city. The Thames is home to 125 species of fish and more than 400 invertebrates. This is in spite of the fact that raw sewage is routinely pumped into the river during heavy rains.

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The River Thames, known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At 215 miles, it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn.



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The Greenwich Foot Tunnel is an underground walkway that allows you to walk from Greenwich to the Isle of Dogs in London. The reason why this tunnel is so special is that it allows you to walk under the River Thames which is the main river that snakes through the city.

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According to Ian Tokelove of the London Wildlife Trust, there are 125 types of fish in the Tidal Thames (from the estuary mouth to Teddington Lock). Ed Randall of the Thames Angler's Conservancy names bream, perch, pike, roach, rudd, dace, ruffe, barbel, native and non-native carp, chub and gudgeon among them.

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The river is 215 miles long, and the Thames River becomes an estuary before it reaches the North Sea. Some of the animals that now reside in and around the Thames are seals, oysters, seahorses, eels … and venomous sharks.

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Crocodiles definitely aren't native to London's waters, but this is the strange beast that city workers spotted in the Thames yesterday afternoon. They panicked after thinking there was a crocodile resting on a floating pontoon, only yards from where children were paddling.

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Over the years, reports of body parts showing up in the waters of London have included chins, pelvises, arms, and even the dead body of a sheep wrapped in a duvet. Worryingly, this is not as uncommon as you might think. It is reported that, on average, a dead human body is found once a week1 in the River Thames.

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In 1759, a 24ft grampus or orca was caught at the mouth of the river and brought to Westminster bridge on a barge. In 1772, another grampus, 18 feet long, was caught; in 1788, 17 sperm whales stranded on the Thames' lower reaches. And in 1791, a 30ft orca was chased up the river as far as Deptford, and slain.

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A bald and astounding police statistic comes back to me every time I look into its steely waters: along the 213-mile long Thames, a body is retrieved from the river on average every week. The majority (39 last year) are found in the London area.

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The Congo is the deepest river in the world. Its headwaters are in the north-east of Zambia, between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa (Malawi), 1760 metres above sea level; it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

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Between Teddington and Chelsea the tidal Thames is freshwater, from Chelsea downstream it becomes more mixed (brackish) until it becomes a marine environment below Greenwich. This change in salt levels impacts the types of fish and wildlife you find in different stretches of the river.

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