Open water swimming to return to Bristol Harbourside from April
The City's Mayor, Marvin Rees, has confirmed the scheme will run for two years after successful trials in 2023
Bristol's Mayor - Marvin Rees - has confirmed open water swimming's returning to the Harbour for the next two years.
It follows successful trial periods in 2023, which saw more than a thousand people attend sessions over at the Baltic Wharf.
During the trial last year, the council said it would be assessing the financial viability of keeping such a swimming area long term - and fast forward to 2024, it looks like, for the next two years, it can be kept open.
People have been calling for there to be a publicly accessible place to open water swim for years, with a petition launched to change the bylaw of the council which banned swimming in the harbour and river Avon in the city.
"It's really important for people to be able to access an amenity that provides such huge benefits for their mental and physical health," Kim Graves from Swim Bristol Harbour campaign group said.
"It's such an integral part of Bristol, this harbour.
"You'll see people all the time sitting around, drinking, watching, walking and if this can unite more people to meet people they have shared interests in, just someone to talk to, someone to meet up with, there's no downsides to that."
Sharing the news on X, Marvin Rees said: "Safely-managed open water swimming returns to #Bristol’s Harbour this April, with Bristol City Council set to deliver regular swimming sessions for the next two years.
"1,200 swimmers joined our successful pilot sessions in Baltic Wharf in the spring and autumn of last year."
Read more: Swimmers take dip in new Bristol Harbour swimming zone