Urban swimming is a popular activity across Switzerland today, but this wasn’t always the case. The trend of floating home from work or enjoying a leisurely weekend swim has gradually become a part of Swiss lifestyle.

According to the latest annual report on bathing water quality, out of 160 sites tested in Switzerland, only one was deemed “poor.” This highlights the nation’s commitment to maintaining excellent water quality standards.

The primary concern revolves around the health of rivers and waterways. To establish more “safe” urban swimming spots, strict microbial standards must be met. This includes ensuring low levels of E. coli bacteria and monitoring for heavy metals, chemicals, and pathogens, as emphasized by Morrison.

Despite these challenges, there are successful models both internationally and locally that could be adopted to enhance access to urban swimming in Australia.

In New South Wales, the Beachwatch program provides valuable insights into water pollution levels. However, certain waterways in Australian cities, such as the Brisbane River and the Torrens, remain unsuitable for swimming due to various pollution concerns.

Speaking with SBS Dateline, an expert noted that urban swimming not only offers recreational benefits but also fosters social connections among individuals.

The benefits of urban swimming

She told SBS Dateline that urban swimming can bring positive effects, including helping people build social relationships.

“One of the things I think that’s difficult for us all to get our head around is that rivers aren’t always going to be swimmable,” Olive said.

Swimming and safety

“They put a lot of investment into real-time public information.”

Switzerland’s model has seen consistent political, financial and community buy-in.

Creating a swimmable city

Amid a worsening climate crisis, addressing extreme urban heat is a political issue.

Since July this year, the Seine has been open to the public for swimming across multiple sites. It’s an infrastructure project that has been decades in the making.

The Seine River opened up three safe swimming spots in July. Source: EPA / Source: AAP / EPA / Teresa Suarez

“What we saw in Paris, the triumph of the Seine, is that there are huge underwater stormwater overspill vats that allow the bacteria to die in the water and the water to clean up before it’s released back into the river,” she said.

There also needs to be sustained “community interest”, as there was in the Swiss case.

The importance of swimmable cities in Australia

Across Australia, there are already examples of urban swimming spots, like Streets Beach on Brisbane’s South Bank.

Streets Beach is a man-made inner-city beach on Brisbane’s south bank. It’s next to the Brisbane River, but uses chlorinated water rather than river water. Credit: Source: AAP / Glenn Hunt

Both Streets Beach and the Seine have lifeguards, increasing their accessibility.

The NSW government recently announced the beach would reopen for the third year in a row. As well as a place to swim, the beach also offers water safety and swimming lessons.

Penrith Beach — also known as Pondi — provides people living in western Sydney with a more accessible place to swim than many of the city’s coastal beaches. Source: AAP / Source: AAP / Dan Himbrechts

Nicky Morrison was involved in the early stages of Penrith Beach’s development, providing supporting evidence for the Department of Planning and Environment’s places to swim grant program.

Projects like Penrith Beach help improve social equity, connectivity, “sense of belonging” and community pride, she said. It also provides an alternative for people in western Sydney so they don’t have to travel hours to the beach — an important consideration in Australia’s warming climate.