Today, over 50 professionals swapped suits for wetsuits at SwiMIPIM 2026 - the annual open‑water charity swim for Streets of London who provide specialist support for those experiencing homelessness.
With 1 in 51 Londoners experiencing homelessness, it felt especially important to keep this crisis front and centre at a global real‑estate conference. SwiMIPIM does exactly that, creating a moment that is refreshing, inclusive, purposeful – and a lot of fun.
2026 in Numbers
A growing MIPIM tradition
SwiMIPIM originated in 2019 when Mark Goodbrand (Elliott Wood) and Julian de Metz (dMFK) recognised an opportunity to rethink how networking at MIPIM could be done. With the Mediterranean coastline as a backdrop, they questioned why so much of the week takes place overheating in suits.
Since then, SwiMIPIM has grown into a fixture of the MIPIM calendar, attracting a cross‑section of the sector. Architects, engineers, planners, project managers, marketers, developers, urbanists, real estate professionals and public sector leaders all took part this year, including honorary SwiMIPIMer Deputy Mayor of London Tom Copley.
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“SwiMIPIM has become one of my proudest moments at Elliott Wood. Seeing so many people work hard to make something so wonderful happen — and seeing it grow every year from the smallest of ideas — is special.”
Thank you to everyone who made this year such a success
The teams at dMFK and Elliott Wood, all our swimmers and donors, SwiMIPIM ambassador Fiona Gibson, honorary SwiMIPIMer Deputy Mayor of London for Housing and Residential Development Tom Copley, Kunle Barker, Katie Tobin, Sea First and MIPIM.
