Downstream

swimming.’ Demelza is doing
what people have always
done: engaged with the
Thames as swimmers. For her
it is an obvious thing to do, to
take to the waters on her
doorstep, and so much a part
of growing up that her
education meant learning
about the river from village
elders. Similarly, James
Stewart has been racing in the
Thames on and off for over
half a century, following in