Methods
Over the seasons of one-year, this project has developed an immersive ethnography of the swimming community of the River Thames.
Summer 2025: Listening to the Thames.
The first part of this project sought to listen to the stories of the River Thames, getting to knwot he river. For one month, I walked from the source of the Thames to the sea, a journey of 232 miles. Using a variety of methods, including taking nitrate and phosphate measurements and recording the life drawn to the Thames, I aimed to listen to this river as it journeyed across England.
Autumn 2025 to Summer 2026: Listening to Thames swimmers.
From August 2025, I immersed into the swimming community of the River Thames. I swam with swimmers in stretches of the river to explore their relations to the Thames and their experiences of river swimming. This is an immersive project that, quite literally, dives into the Thames.
Taking part
Swimmers could take part in this research project if they were 18+ years of age and a river Thames swimmer. From Autumn 2025, I interviewed Thames swimmers in the river to explore their engagements with the river and what the river and river swimming means to them. I asked about people's river swimming practices, their experiences of river swimming and their perceptions of the River Thames.
Across the seasons of one year, I met swimmers up to four times to revisit these themes, in Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. These meetings were held at a stretch of the Thames of the swimmer's choosing and either individually or with their swimming group. If conditions allowed, we carried out a swim-along interview, swimming in the Thames together. If not possible, we typically rescheduled meetings. I recorded these conversations on a GoPro and wrote fieldnotes following our meeting.
You can find a map of the swim spots by scrolling down.
