New Swim Healthy advice from Public Health England

07th August, 2019

Public Health England and the Environment Agency have published new advice on swimming outdoors. The leaflet, titled Swim Healthy, sets out common health issues associated with swimming in open water, such as blue green algae and pollution. It also includes links to sources of additional information on local bathing waters and recommends the SAS Safer Seas Service app.

Previous leaflets had discouraged members of the public from swimming in open water. OSS environmental policy expert Rosy Eaton commented: “This is a marked improvement on the leaflet from 2013, which said that open water was not of bathing quality. It reflects the fact that outdoor swimming is becoming more accepted”.