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Apr
Illegal swim to take place at Swinsty Reservoir this weekend
Bathers will illegally enter Swinsty Reservoir tomorrow (April 26) as part of a campaign to promote the right to swim in UK open waters.
Swimming is not allowed in reservoirs in England and Wales.
But an annual mass trespass swim takes place at Kinder reservoir in Derbyshire each year. Kinder is chosen to mark the 1932 protest that established the right to roam.
In recent years, similar events have sprung up at other locations across the country, including Swinsty in the Washburn Valley.
Members of the Outdoor Swimming Society support the gatherings, which it says exercise “the uncontested right to swim in open water”.
It says:
Swimmers often have to trespass when they swim because there are so many places swimming is not allowed inland that otherwise they wouldn’t get many swims.
Bathers taking part in the right to swim at Swinsty in April 2023.
The society urges participants to be safe and responsible but Yorkshire Water, which owns Swinsty Reservoir, urged people not to take part.
A spokesperson said unauthorised swimming has led to deaths and the gathering “poses a real risk to the safety of swimmers”.
They added:
We are aware of the intention to hold a mass trespass swim event at Swinsty reservoir this weekend and would strongly advise against this.
We don’t permit swimming in our reservoirs because of the inherent risks associated with this. The water at Swinsty Reservoir remains cold, even in the summer, posing a real risk of cold-water shock which can lead to drowning.
Strong currents caused by water extraction create dangerous swimming conditions and reservoirs are operational assets with machinery hidden beneath the surface, which pose a real hazard to anyone entering the water.
Reservoirs are often in rural areas a long distance away from emergency services. Whilst our rangers will be on site over the weekend, they are not trained lifeguards or emergency service members and will be there to observe and report.
We know that this poses a real risk to the safety of swimmers, and sadly, we have experienced the very worst outcome of fatalities in the past due to unauthorised swimming.
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