Thank you for making waves with us at City Splash 2024! Your participation and support helps make our dream of a regularly swimmable Charles River a reality. Don’t forget to tag us on social media @CharlesRiverConservancy and share your favorite City Splash moments and musings with us at swim@thecharles.org. We’re counting down the days until the next swim!
Artemisia Luk
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City Splash is a community event that provides the public the rare opportunity to swim in the Charles River and raise awareness to bring river swimming back to Boston! This annual state-sanctioned swim, hosted by the Charles River Conservancy, allows the public to experience the joy of swimming in the Charles River—one of the cleanest urban rivers in the United States! The event is held in a demarcated deep-water area off the Fiedler Dock on the DCR Esplanade in Boston. Due to important safety considerations, swimming in the Charles River is only allowed if a permit is obtained from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (MassDCR) and we work in partnership with MassDCR to obtain a Special Use Permit for this unique event. The CRC has a vision for a swimmable river, but does not encourage swimming in the Charles outside of permitted events.
SPONSORS
Our sponsors make this incredibly unique and fun event possible. Thank you to organizations committed for 2024 listed below. Want to be a part of the fun of City Splash 2024? Please review our sponsorship flyer and contact our Executive Director Laura Jasinski at ljasinski@thecharles.org.
Backflip Sponsors
Corkscrew Sponsors
Can Opener Sponsors
PRESS
WBZ News (CBS Boston): More than 300 people to take a dip in the Charles River as part of City Splash event (July 13, 2024)
WBZ NewsRadio: Local Residents Make A Splash In The Charles River (July 13, 2024)
Boston Herald: Scorching summer heat expected to return to Boston, National Weather Service warns (Photos) (July 13, 2024)
WBZ News (CBS Boston): “Is the Charles River safe to swim in? “It’s been getting cleaner,” says EPA expert (June 20, 2024)
WBUR Cognoscenti: The waterfront belongs to all of us (June 20, 2024)
WBZ’s New England Weekend: “City Splash” Celebrates Clearer Waters for the Charles River (June 15, 2024)
State House News Service: Swimmers return to the Charles River this summer (April 27, 2022)
Beacon Hill Times: Charles River Swimming Day (April 28, 2022)
WBZ News Radio: ‘City Splash’ Returns To The Charles River This Summer (April 28, 2022)
Boston Magazine: If You Want to Take a Swim in the Charles River, They Can’t Stop You on June 18 (April 29, 2022)
Boston.com: Cool off with a state-sanctioned dip in the Charles River (May 4, 2022)
Boston University News Service: LISTEN: Day of Swimming at Charles River Returns After COVID-related Cancellation (May 4, 2022)
See our press page for coverage of past events.
PRAISE FOR CITY SPLASH
“There’s something really great about fresh water. It’s just a great feeling to be able to jump in water that, on a hot day, makes you feel clean and refreshed and invigorated.”– Paul Parravano, Resident, via the Boston Globe
“It would be great if they did this more often…I would be happy if any day you wanted to, it was OK to jump into the river.” – Tim Sullivan, Resident, via the Boston Globe
“It’s a fun, safe swim, and it’s part of the Conservancy’s and my efforts to bring swimming back to Charles.” –State Rep. Jay Livingstone, via the Beacon Hill Times
“When you’re in the water and you look out and see the view, it’s incredible,”– Kathleen McDermott, Resident, via the Boston Globe
HISTORY OF THE SPLASH
The CRC’s first City Splash on July 13, 2013 marked one the first public community swims in the Lower Basin of the Charles River in more than fifty years. Swimming has been prohibited in the Charles since the 1950’s when a growing awareness of the health risks posed by pollution in the Charles caused the beaches and bathhouses lining the river to close. After years of environmental health progress, most notably the EPA’s Charles River Initiative, swimming is now allowed through state-sanctioned events such as the CRC’s City Splash events and the Charles River Swimming Club’s annual One-Mile Swim Race, which began in 2007.
MILESTONES
- 1995: EPA Initiative
- 1996: Governor Weld Dives into the Charles
- 2004: The CRC launches the Charles River Swimming Initiative
- 2013: The CRC hosts the first Charles River Community Swim in the lower basin in over 50 years
- As of 2022: over 1,300 community members have jumped into the Charles River
Lead photo by Aram Boghosian.