Geneva’s Quai Wilson exceptionally open to swimmers this weekend

Taking a dip in Lake Geneva from Quai Wilson on the right bank of Geneva is usually forbidden but tomorrow and Sunday swimmers can cool off in the lake with permission from the city’s authorities.

Four swimming sessions have been organised between 12:00 - 15:00 and 17:00 - 19:00 on both days.

A maximum of 30 people can swim in a channel of about 400 metres alongside the quay. There’ll also be deckchairs and parasols on the waterfront available from 10 o’clock in the morning until 10 o’clock at night along with showers, changing rooms and refreshments.

The association À l’eau Wilson is behind the exceptional opening up of the quayside. The group has been campaigning for open access to the lake and the shore at Quai Wilson from April to October each year and hopes that this weekend will demonstrate to authorities that a permanent development at the quay, such as those at Eaux-Vives and Genève-Plage on the left bank and Bains des Paquis on the right bank, needs to be sped up.

The first pilot swimming weekend at Quai Wilson took place in July 2020 and attracted some 300 swimmers.

Plans have been approved for access ramps to the lake from the quay but it could take some time for them to be put into place.

 

More from Bitesize News

  • Bank details compromised

    British digital bank Revolut has admitted handing customer information to fraudsters who impersonated a European government agency

  • Watch theft victim speaks out

    A luxury watch dealer just across the French border from Geneva has broken his silence about a violent robbery earlier this month

  • Crans Montana hearings due before end of year

    Jessica Moretti, who ran the Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, is now living in near-isolation in the Valais village of Lens more than eight months after the deadly New Year's Eve fire

  • Better news for economy

    Switzerland's economy will grow 1.7% this year — nearly double the 0.9% expansion forecast in June, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said yesterday

  • Geneva budget plan unveiled

    Geneva has now put figures to its austerity plan — a CHF 546 million deficit for 2027, even after CHF 247 million in cuts

  • Summer fires increase

    Firefighters across French-speaking Switzerland tackled far more vegetation fires this summer than in any of the past five years

Download our app

  • Available on the App Store
  • Available on Google Play