Post by Laura Reinsborough

A historic first for the ALPS program: a bilateral meeting where a bathing suit is the correct business attire! 🩱💼 Swimmable Cities is mobilizing the movement where “swimmability” is an indicator of “livability.” One of the organization’s co-founders, Ana Mumladze Detering, is part of the grassroots Schwimmverein Donaukanal which seeks to promote safe swimming in the Danube Canal which flows past downtown Vienna. While in Vienna for the Austrian Leadership Programs (ALPS), I had the pleasure of meeting up with Johannes Fandl, architect and member of Schwimmverein Donaukanal. And of course our official bilateral meeting had to include a swim. During the pandemic, many people sought out “blue spaces” for solace, recreation, and connection with nature. In Vienna, Johannes and others noticed many people trying a swim in the Danube Canal — while others showed concern as it definitely was not the norm. The Viennese are not shy to swim in the Danube River, it is alive with bathers in the Little Danube, the Old Danube, and the Alte Donau (Danube Lake) on most summer days. But the Canal has been perceived as dirty and dangerous. It has its dangers, certainly. The Danube Canal remains a busy transportation corridor for cargo ships bringing their goods into the city centre. This is, after all, why the Canal was first regulated as a water channel going back to 1598. The river flows very quickly through the channel, so it requires more safety precautions than a typical swim at an urban beach. Johannes kept a close eye on a boat coming through at 40 km/h, tracking its passage not only by schedule but also in real-time through a live AIS tracking map. We used inflated dry bags as floatation devices, an added precaution that Schwimmverein Donaukanal promotes for safety and produces for retail. And then we were off! We had a lovely float down the Danube Canal: cooling off from the hot June day; waving at fishermen who found whimsy in us swimming; floating on our backs as we passed under a bridge; noticing the city from the more muted and unique perspective of the water’s surface (something that Johannes finds particularly interesting as an architect); and smiling at those who stopped to watch us float. It was indeed a bit of a spectacle. I realized just how counter-cultural this small act was, even in Europe where we Canadians see their urban swimming culture as something untranslatable to our lifestyles. I remember when the swim docks at NCC River House were first announced to the public in 2023 — which is now packed full of swimmers every hot summer day — one person commented: “That’s too European for Ottawa!” After our swim, Johannes and I stopped to change at a small pavilion that Schwimmverein Donaukanal has set up along the bank of the Canal. He designed the pavilion and was able to provide a change room, lockers, and a small gathering area all within the minimum allowable footprint for an unregulated structure. (I love the ingenuity of urban placemakers!) We also stopped to chat with a young family who were biking along the length of the Canal (pictured). They had never seen people swimming in the Canal before and had loads of questions. I felt a parallel with my work founding Not Far From The Tree. When I would first go picking fruit from trees in downtown Toronto—whether on my own or with a group—passersby would have many questions. I emerged from the change room in clothing that would more traditionally be called “business attire” as I was rushing off to my ALPS certificate ceremony at the art museum. But I stand by my assertion that a bathing suit is also business attire when the business at hand is how to make this planet and our communities more livable. I’m grateful to the Austrian Ministry for European and International Affairs for inviting me to participate in the ALPS program and for “taking the plunge” to establish a swim in the Danube Canal as an official bilateral meeting.