River Thames to the strong current of the river, but also other river users. Organised swimming events take place at various points generally upstream of Hampton Court, including Windsor, Marlow and Henley. In 2011 comedian David Walliams swam the from Lechlade to Westminster Bridge and raised over £1 million for charity. In non-tidal stretches swimming was, and still is, a leisure and fitness activity among experienced swimmers where safe, deeper outer channels are used in times of low stream. A Thames meander is a long-distance journey over all or part of the Thames by running, swimming or using any of the above
River Thames Its catchment area covers a large part of south-eastern and a small part of western England; the river is fed by 38 named tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands. With its waters varying from freshwater to almost seawater, the Thames supports a variety of wildlife and has a number of adjoining Sites of Special Scientific Interest, with the largest being in the remaining parts of the North Kent Marshes and covering . The Thames, from Middle English "Temese", is derived from the Brittonic Celtic name for the river, "Tamesas" (from *"tamēssa"), recorded in Latin as "Tamesis" and yielding modern