Swimmers dive in across Europe to call for cleaner water
Swimmers across Europe will dive into open water on Sunday as part of a campaign to demand cleaner rivers, canals, lakes and ponds, both for biodiversity and for health and well-being.
The Big Jump event, coordinated in Belgium by the NGO GoodPlanet, will take place at six sites in Wallonia and 22 in Flanders.
To ensure safe swimming, water quality is analysed before each Big Jump. Events in Merelbeke and Ostend had to be cancelled due to poor water quality and in Schoten the necessary permits were not obtained. The list of confirmed locations can be found on the association’s website.
Demand in Brussels
Having been denied permission to swim in the canal by the Brussels port authority, non-profit Pool is Cool is instead hosting a party to draw attention to the demand for open-air swimming facilities in the capital.
“We acknowledge that swimming in the canal comes with risks,” Pool is Cool say. “We wanted to use the international Big Jump in 2025 as a moment to inform about the risks and challenges, while shedding a light on the chances too!”
Measurements in 2023 showed that only one out of 195 Flemish watercourses met the criteria of the EU’s Water Framework Directive, GoodPlanet reports. In Wallonia, the status of surface water bodies has been slowly improving, from 36 per cent in good or very good ecological status in 2008 to 44 per cent 10 years later.
“Clean water is vital for nature, humans and animals, but water quality challenges remain,” the organisers say. “Our ground and surface water is highly polluted and often of poor quality, due to various factors.”
More than 1,900 people in Belgium took part in last year’s event. Elsewhere, jumps will take place on Sunday in France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Poland and Croatia.
The Big Jump in Antwerp, July 2024 © BELGA PHOTO ROBBE VANDEGEHUCHTE
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