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 means. It is often carried out as an athletic challenge in a competition or for a record attempt. The River Thames has been a subject for artists, great and minor, over the centuries. Four major artists with works based on the Thames are Canaletto, J. M. W. Turner, Claude Monet and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. The 20th-century British artist Stanley Spencer produced many works at Cookham. John Kaufman's sculpture "The Diver: Regeneration" is sited in the Thames near Rainham. The river and bridges are portrayed as being destroyed – together with much of London – in the film "Independence Day