Downstream

continued to run Thames
swims every year: ‘we get a
lot of Germans. After the
British, they’re into open-
water swimming; it’s the
Saxon heritage. But ten years
ago open-water swimming
was not nearly as popular or
fashionable as it is now.’
As I set off for Lechlade
I’m wondering what my
experience will be like
swimming in the upper
Thames. Will it be as clean as