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 whale has since been nicknamed 'Benny' by several news outlets, and was sighted again the following day near Gravesend, Kent. River Thames whale The River Thames whale was a juvenile female northern bottlenose whale which was discovered swimming in the River Thames in central London on Friday 20 January 2006. According to the BBC, she was five metres (16 ft) long and weighed about seven tonnes (24,400 lb). The whale appeared to have been lost, as her normal habitat would have been around the coasts of the far north of Scotland and Northern Ireland, and in the seas around the Arctic