Supervised Swimming

It’s really great to see Bruges so alive, but the City is slightly concerned about the photos we’ve seen of young kids jumping from the bridges into the water. While we understand that the warm weather just begs one to jump into the cool water, we must advise against swimming around the floating platform when there is no supervision and against swimming in the unsupervised zone. There are a great many risks associated with this after all.

The City is not liable for accidents. The police are authorised to act and will certainly do so in situations of extreme danger, such as jumping from the bridges.

We repeat that recreational swimmers are very welcome to come swim in the Canals on Saturdays and Sundays in July and August from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Then there is a clearly delineated swimming area that is supervised by two lifeguards. This way, everyone can swim safely and swimmers can change or use the sanitary facilities at the Sint-Leocollege. The swimming rules, which were drawn up in conformity with the VLAREM, impose this. These rules are there to ensure the safety and security of swimmers and it is therefore in everyone’s interest to respect these rules. This concerns the water quality, quick access to the water, sufficient supervision, with no more than 100 swimmers at the same time, etc.

We advise young people and their parents to use their common sense during warm weather and to wait until Saturday before taking a refreshing plunge in the Canals. Just be patient for two days and then you can safely swim to your heart’s desire.