A second attempt at an organized Baltimore harbor swim this summer was called off due to persistent rains, and organizers don’t plan on trying again this summer.

The decision, announced hours before Saturday’s scheduled swim, comes after organizers postponed the event in June, also in response to storms that washed harmful pollutants into the harbor.

“Waterfront Partnership has made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s Harbor Splash event due to the lingering impacts of Wednesday’s storms and additional rainfall overnight. The choice was made out of an abundance of caution to prioritize participant safety,” said Adam Lindquist, vice president of Waterfront Partnership.

“The news is disappointing to many, as swimming in the Baltimore Harbor is a rare and joyful experience and one that embodies Waterfront Partnership’s vision for a healthier, more connected city. While this year’s event will not move forward, the organization remains committed to making Baltimore a swimmable city. Looking ahead, Waterfront Partnership is exploring ways to build more flexibility into future swim events to better adapt to weather-related challenges.”

Baltimore has made headway curbing harbor pollution over the last two decades, particularly through investments into the regional wastewater system.

Despite progress, though, the harbor struggles with sewage overflows and stormwater run-off, and water quality tends to dip dramatically after heavy rains like the city experienced this week.

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The cancellation is a short-term blow to a 15-year campaign to make Baltimore’s harbor, once an infamous industrial dumping ground, a recreation destination.

The effort celebrated a landmark step a year ago, when close to 150 people, including Mayor Brandon Scott and City Council members, jumped in the Bond Street Wharf in Fells Point in the city’s inaugural Harbor Splash. The event marked the first public swim in the harbor in decades.

This year, though, around 200 people who signed up to swim will have to wait for another, less rainy summer.

Mike Hankin, the Baltimore County businessman and philanthropist who helped launch Waterfront Partnership’s swimmable harbor campaign in 2010, told The Banner this week that, regardless of what happened with this year’s Harbor Splash, the city is closing in on its goal.

He expects the city will have a roped off area for regular swimming within two years.

Still, some are less convinced.

Blue Water Baltimore, a nonprofit that monitors water quality and works to restore ecosystems in the harbor watershed, doesn’t participate in Harbor Splash.

Alice Volpitta, the organization’s harbor water keeper, has emphasized the volatility of the water depending on weather and frequently argues that residents should take precautions and understand the risks if the decide to go in.

It’s been a particularly rainy summer for Baltimore, which has already seen twice as much rainfall this month as it typically gets in all of July. Over two heavy storms this week, the area saw about 2.8 inches of rain, according to National Weather Service data.

Shortly after this summer’s initial Harbor Splash date, Lindquist flew to the Netherlands for the 2025 Swimmable Cities Summit, where he heard from officials behind the new swim sites on the Seine in Paris. The French capital has pumped more than a billion dollars into cleaning the River Seine since becoming host to the Olympics, and opened public swim sites to international acclaim earlier this month.

Closer to home, advocates have pushed for years for a sanctioned swim in the Anacostia River, where swimming has been outlawed since the early 1970s, but storms have repeatedly delayed their event.