George Cselko celebrates the High Court decision with a dive early yesterday morning (Wednesday)

JUBILANT swimmers have won their battle for the right to swim unsupervised in Hampstead Heath’s ponds.
In a landmark High Court decision, Justice Stanley Burton ruled on Tuesday that The Corporation of London acted unlawfully when it banned early morning swimming without lifeguards two years ago.
His judgement – peppered with references to the Heath’s greatness and its historic role – paves the way for winter morning swimmers to brave the icy waters again later this year, and to swim unsupervised in the Mixed Pond, currently closed from September until May.
Ecstatic members of the Hampstead Heath Winter Swimming Club hailed their victory as re-establishing the principle that “responsible adults must be free to decide for themselves whether to pursue recreational activities involving an element of risk.”
Club chairwoman Mary Cane added: “This was a test case with wide implications for all open water swimming in England, and represents another successful attack by ordinary citizens on the nanny state and the government-sponsored cult of ‘health and safety’.”
The Corporation banned unsupervised swimming when lawyers warned that the Health and Safety Executive could sue in the event of an accident.
The HSE had refused to rule out prosecuting the Corporation under the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act, which requires employers to do everything “reasonably practicable” to prevent the public from being “exposed to risks to their health or safety”.
But Justice Burton, said: “The swimmers would also be exposed to risk as they drive or walk or run to the pond, and as they travel from the pond to their work or homes. No one would suggest the Corporation should be responsible for an accident resulting from the risks of a traffic accident, or a heart attack while walking or running to or from the pond. Risk is inherent in life, and some risk is unavoidable.”
Catherine McGuinness, chairman of the Corporation’s Hampstead Heath management committee, said: “We are pleased that we have this clarification of the law that the HSE has refused to provide in the past.
“The next step is for both sides to agree a declaration which will define more clearly the basis on which swimming can take place without health and safety legislation coming into play.
“We are in discussion with our lawyers regarding the wider ramifications of the decision for the provision of lifeguards throughout the day.”