Outdoor swim campaigners plan wildcat dip in Brussels park on Wednesday evening

Pool is Cool and other open-air swimming campaigners invite the public to cool down during the heatwave by joining them for a dip in a water hole in Leopold Park on Wednesday evening.

“It’s hot, there is water, let’s splash,” said the non-profit collective, in collaboration with the project herbronnen.ressources.

“It is allowed? NO! Is it necessary? YES,” they cheekily noted of the planned swim in the former zoo’s seal basin, which is fed by a fresh underground source. 

Pool is Cool is the group behind the Flow swimming pool in Anderlecht, which closed in 2025. While its community of cold swimmer continues to occasionally bathe outdoors in private pools, they are campaigning for local authorities to provide outdoor swimming facilities that are accessible to everyone.

The group staged a high-profile initiative earlier this year that transformed the basin at Sainte-Catherine in the city centre of Brussels into a public pool. Coordinator Paul Steinbrück said in March of the public splash: “This is an action to denounce the total lack of open swimming places in Brussels. We’ve jumped into private pools, but we thought, now it’s time to make some more noise.”

Meanwhile, fellow non-profit herbronnen.ressources is behind the project to temporarily draw an underground water source into Saint-Josse’s public square.

Wednesday’s swim in the EU quarter park is planned at 18.00 and participants are advised to bring their swimwear and a towel.

Photo: ©Pool is Cool