Antwerp has recorded its busiest-ever summer for outdoor swimming, with around 178,000 visits to the city’s three outdoor swimming locations. The season ended on Sunday, with both established venues and the new ’t ZwemDok drawing large crowds during a summer marked by several heatwaves.
The City of Antwerp‘s sports agency Sporting A officially opened the outdoor swimming season on 16 May 2026, when De Molen on Linkeroever and Boekenberg swimming pond in Deurne opened for the first time this year. Almost a month later, on 13 June, ’t ZwemDok opened in the Bonapartedok, next to the iconic Museum At the Stream (MAS). The new swimming area has since been officially recognised by the Flemish authorities as an authorised swimming zone.
Together, the three locations attracted around 178,000 swimming visits, a new record for Antwerp.
Boekenberg and De Molen see strong growth
The warm weather in May and June immediately brought large numbers of swimmers to both Boekenberg and De Molen. Both locations recorded record attendance during those months, with De Molen registering more than 6,000 visits in May and Boekenberg almost 31,000 in June.
The heatwaves during the summer holidays pushed visitor numbers even higher. De Molen ended the season with more than 43,000 visits, while Boekenberg attracted almost 109,000 swimmers.
That represents a significant increase for Boekenberg. In 2025, the swimming pond recorded around 84,000 visits, itself a substantial rise compared with 2024.
Antwerp Alderman for Sport Stijn De Rooster (N-VA) said the two traditional outdoor swimming venues had come close to matching their record year.
“With around 152,000 visitors, we had a truly fantastic summer at De Molen and Boekenberg, coming within a whisker of the record year 2022, when we registered around 154,000 swimming visits. That success is, of course, closely linked to the hot summer we have had. When people are sweating and struggling with the heat, the demand for somewhere to cool off naturally increases, and people in Antwerp readily find their way to these two wonderful locations. It was a legitimate demand, which we responded to throughout the swimming season by being as flexible as possible and extending opening hours in response to the weather conditions.”
’t ZwemDok more than doubles visitor numbers
The new ’t ZwemDok also had a highly successful first full season, attracting around 26,000 visitors — more than double last year’s figure.
The busiest days came during the final weekend of June. More than 2,200 swimmers visited the swimming zone on both Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 June. Thursday 25 June, one of the additional flexible opening days, completed the top three.
Sporting A credits the system of flexible opening hours with helping to make the project successful. The swimming zone was open for a total of 30 days from its opening on 13 June, including 10 additional weekdays outside the regular weekends.
The figures suggest that ’t ZwemDok is increasingly establishing itself as Antwerp’s third permanent municipal outdoor swimming location.
Water quality in the Bonapartedok remained good and stable throughout the season. The swimming zone was only forced to close during the final two weekends because of blue-green algae in the water.
The season also passed without significant safety or organisational incidents.
De Rooster said the response to ’t ZwemDok had exceeded expectations.
“’t ZwemDok has exceeded my wildest expectations and is increasingly developing into an absolute crowd-puller and star attraction. A big compliment to our partner Sportoase for providing the flexibility we asked for and for successfully managing every swimming day with such skill and dedication. And thank you to the nearly 26,000 swimmers who visibly and audibly enjoyed this unique swimming experience in the heart of the city. We could ask for no greater motivation for Sporting A to take the offering, infrastructure and overall experience to an even higher level in the coming years.”
Michaël Schouwaerts, managing director of Sportoase, said ’t ZwemDok had become a place where sport, relaxation and safety came together.
“’t ZwemDok has grown into a place where sport, relaxation and safety reinforce one another. Together with Sporting A, we have created an environment where people can enjoy open-water swimming with peace of mind, supported by professional supervision and high-quality on-site organisation. The strong appreciation from visitors confirms that this formula works. That is a credit to all the partners involved. We are grateful for the trust placed in us and look forward with ambition to the further development of this important Antwerp project.”
